BAG END Loudspeaker Systems is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2001. In the past quarter of a century, the Barrington, IL.-loudspeaker manufacturer has established an enviable reputation among performing artists, recording studios, post-production facilities and sound reinforcement companies alike for extremely high quality loudspeaker systems and components that can be found in all corners of the globe.

BAG END loudspeaker systems can be found performing from China to Norway to Africa, Russia, Australia and in venues large and small across the United States.

And no one is more surprised at the company's success than co-owners Jim Wischmeyer and Henry Heine - well sort of.

“We always knew we would be successful,” said Wischmeyer, who serves as president of the company.

“It just took two or three times longer than we expected,” cracked Heine, who heads up BAG END's engineering, research and development department.

To say the company started on a small and inauspicious scale is to understate the facts. Wischmeyer, 47, and Heine, 46, don't remember the first time they actually met, but mutual interests in music and theater brought them together in the theater department of Luther North High School on Chicago's northwest side.

The two got involved in the technical side of theater: sound, lighting and scenery. Often they built their own scenery and sound equipment to help create special effects.

Following school, Heine - whose parents were both professional musicians - also became a professional musician, playing guitar and bass in local bands, while Wischmeyer studied technical directing at the Goodman School of Chicago's Art Institute before becoming a sound man for a local band and a sound system designer/installer for Foster Sound Systems in suburban Wheeling.

“We started making our own systems in the early 70's,” Wischmeyer recalled. “I think the storyline goes, 'Dissatisfied with the available equipment, Henry and Jim embarked on building their own equipment,' but in the very beginning it was more of a hobby, it was something to do just for fun.”

“Truth of the matter is, there wasn't much professional quality equipment on the market for musicians at that time,” Heine said.

They got a “grant” of $500 from an uncle, and bought a table saw to cut wood for cabinets. After selling a few rigs to other bands in the early 70's,“We kind of ended up with a company,” Wischmeyer said. “We were buying components and selling rigs and had incomes - not much, but some - so we had to get two envelopes: one for cash and one for bills. That was our first accounting system.”

Their first location was the basement of the parental home of an early partner, Bill Schwingel, in northwest suburban Palatine. Soon they expanded, adding the garage of Heine's parents for storage, and were doing administrative work out of an apartment. The business continued to grow — at times, in spite of themselves — finally forcing them to incorporate. And then, in 1979, they leased larger quarters in northwest suburban Barrington. In 1990 they moved into a larger space in the same suburb. In 1993 they doubled the floor space at the company's present location and as they enter 2001, Wischmeyer and Heine are once again are on the prowl for more space.

“We are either going to have to build our own manufacturing facility or lease at lot more space near our present location,” Wischmeyer said.

From building speaker systems for a few bands in the Chicago area, BAG END Loudspeaker Systems now distributes a wide range of products to every state in the United States and to more than twenty countries around the globe.

And while Wischmeyer is guarded about income figures for the privately-held firm, he concedes that income tops the “multimillion-dollar mark” and has enjoyed a steady 20-plus percent annual growth rate over the last several years.

Their accounting system is more sophisticated now, they have upgraded their in-house computer network system many times, developed a sophisticated web site, they each have “real” offices, and both manufacturing and warehouse space has steadily increased to keep pace with demand.

But Wischmeyer and Heine tend to shun the corporate executive image with a preference for T-shirts over white shirts and ties, and well-worn sneakers over wingtips. Wischmeyer's business cards don't bear his title of president and Heine, although he has Business cards somewhere, is usually hard-pressed to find one.

Both Wischmeyer and Heine are quick to point out that the company, in reaching the 25-year milestone, has certainly been anything but an overnight success.

“There was no quick gimmick that made them successful,” agrees one industry expert. “It's been 25 years of quality products and hard work for them. They offer high quality, well-manufactured products with more sophisticated components than you'll find in speakers mass-produced by the larger manufacturers . . . Their cabinets are well-crafted and have staying power.”

Beyond that, what makes BAG END loudspeakers so Successful? Wischmeyer has a very interesting explanation. "While science is very advanced these days, the definitive book on sound reproduction has not been - and probably never will be - written,” he said. "We understand very little about the actual mechanics of the hearing process, and the underlying math that acoustics is measured by is still under debate by top scientists. The Reproduction of sound is a blend of art and science.”

“We have our particular blend of that we think is appropriate and other manufacturers have their blend. That's why there is so much diversity in this area.” he said. “There is definitely a degree of art involved - the final test is the human ear.”

Another of the keys to BAG END's success is the company's close and long-time affiliation with Long/Wickersham Labs of California, headed up by sound gurus E.M. “Ed" Long and Ron Wickersham. BAG END sound systems feature Long's “Time Alignment" concept. And BAG END's revolutionary ELF," or extended low frequency, technology for subwoofer systems is the brainchild of Long/Wickersham Labs.

While the manufacturing of speakers and components for sound designers and contractors is a major portion of their business, there is no doubt Wischmeyer and Heine are most proud of the list of artists who use and endorse their products. And what sets BAG END artists apart is that very early in the company's history, Wischmeyer and Heine established a policy of not providing gear to artists free of charge for “promotional consideration.” “In the beginning That was done mainly out of necessity," Wischmeyer laughed. “We needed the money. Now its a point of pride.”

So if an artist is listed as a BAG END user and/or endorser that means he or she has purchased the equipment - not always the case in the industry.

One of BAG END's first - and most loyal - endorsers is jazz keyboardist Chick Corea. “Chick is an artist who has access to the best of everything,” said Mick Thompson, Corea's engineer and road manager. “He's tried a lot of different speakers and he has always gone back to BAG END because, to his ear, the sound he hears is natural and a very realistic reproduction of what he wants to hear. They give back what you put into them, and that's very pleasing, musically.”

No, “overnight success” doesn't describe BAG END's rise to become a force the sound industry, but during the company's steady climb up the ladder of success Wischmeyer and Heine have not forgotten the reason they got into the business to begin with.

“From the very start, our philosophy was to build loudspeakers and systems that were of better quality and tougher construction than any others available on the market,” Heine said. “And we have never altered that basic philosophy.”