This article is part of our coverage of the 2025 CE Pro Masters.
Having a father who was a music lover and a jazz aficionado instilled a passion for music and audio in Jeff Goldstein from an early age. There was always music playing on the stereo at home growing up and he enjoyed learning how to hook up and use the system. He started reading Stereo Review in his early teens and would stop by HiFi shops in New York and New Jersey to listen to different speakers and audio components he’d read about.
In college, Goldstein took a part-time job selling audio gear and learned how to talk to customers, listen to what mattered to them the most, and help them pick gear that would fit their needs. Out of school, he worked for a couple of TV/Appliance retailers in the metro area selling AV on commissioned sales floors.
Goldstein rose through the ranks and became a buyer for a chain of 30 stores. Often, he would conduct sales trainings with the retail staff to explain how to take a customer through a demo of a product and make a sale.
In 1989, Sony hired him as a product trainer for the Personal Audio division, which marketed iconic products like Walkman, Discman, and Boom Boxes. Goldstein worked on key product launches of the time like DAT and Mini Disc. From there, he became the business manager for key audio categories when Sony was the undisputed leader of the personal audio space.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
A key turning point, he says, came in the mid-’90s when he was asked to take over the burgeoning Sony Custom Install (CI) team. He spent considerable time touring the country to meet dealers, understand their pain points, and look for ways to make purchasing and integrating Sony products better for the integrator.
In 10+ years, he guided the CI business to 10x growth. He also kept active on the manufacturer’s council of CEDIA, and managed Sony’s presence at shows every year.
Goldstein’s team took countless groups of Sony engineers from Japan out to see how integrated home systems were designed, and to hear directly from the dealers how to improve channel products. Sony’s front projector business was born out of these meetings, as well as countless other product introductions, and feature additions focused on performance and integration.
His career evolved to lead Sony’s Home Audio Video business for the U.S. launching Blu-ray during this time. I then went on to manage Sony’s U.S. television business, which at the time was Sony Electronics single largest business unit globally.
In 2013, Goldstein exited to pursue other interests but was asked to return to his former role in 2020. He says his goals this time around were to improve dealer and buying group relationships, cement Sony as the premium choice for integrators, find ways to help our dealers market themselves and to expand the industry, and most importantly bring the voice of the integrator back to his counterparts in Japan.
During the past five years, Sony launched countless award-winning tech solutions; created a co-marketing program for its dealers; collaborated with buying group partners on bringing more visibility to membership programs; and recovered Sony’s share of the premium TV market in the CI channel.
He adds that he’s been incredibly fortunate to have worked alongside the industry’s best and brightest, and truly value the partnerships and people that make the CI industry a unique part of the CE business.
To read through the profiles of any previous Master, or to find out the full list of CE Pro Masters for 2025, check out the main article here.
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