(FORTUNE Magazine) – BOSTON ACOUSTICS Oh, the glory of Boston's music: the symphony, the operas, and of course the Pops -- renowned for its American repertoire and Fourth of July fanfare. Increasingly, though, it's another Bean Town outfit that's tickling the ears of music lovers -- Boston Acoustics, whose mid-priced loudspeakers bring luster to the Made in America label. While not everyone thrills to the crescendos of John Philip Sousa, even competitors admit that, for the money, Boston Acoustics speakers are hard to beat. Says John Strohbeen of rival Ohm Acoustics Corp.: ''Using conventional technology, they make an excellent product.'' Like the Pops, Boston Acoustics derives its success from its all-American lineup. Many other U.S. companies that produce audio components are struggling with quality as shoddy products made in the Far East or Mexico must be scrapped. But Boston Acoustics invested heavily in robotics at its Lynnfield, Massachusetts, plant and today can produce woofers -- a crucial part of the speaker that sends out low-frequency sounds -- almost seven times faster than before. Says CEO Francis Reed: ''Our robotic equipment is state of the art.'' A stable work force helps too; last year not one of the company's 122 U.S. workers quit. All this keeps costs low and lets Boston Acoustics undercut many comparable quality speakers by 25%. Its bookshelf models list for $150 to $440 a pair, floor speakers for $550 to $1,200, and car speakers for $50 to $650. ''I'm proud of being an American company, but I'm doing it because it's good business,'' says Reed. ''I make speakers better and cheaper than the Japanese.'' Boston Acoustics gets ovations from stockholders as well. Total return to investors -- stock price appreciation plus dividends -- grew at an average rate of 29% annually for five years, and the company has no debt. Profits have increased 29% annually since 1987 and reached $4.2 million last year on sales of $29.8 million. Analyst Andrew Beja of Advest sees income climbing 21% next fiscal year while sales grow 15%. The stock recently traded at $18.25, or 13 times Beja's per-share estimates for fiscal 1993. The care Boston Acoustics pays to manufacturing resonates in its marketing. Reed avoids mass merchandisers, where salespeople often don't take the time to demonstrate speakers properly. ''What I ask from a dealer is to fairly present our speaker to uncommitted customers,'' he says. Being finicky has its price: Boston Acoustics has no dealers in some large markets, including Kansas City and Atlanta. But at dealerships that have signed on, low prices and superior sound help give products from Boston Acoustics an edge.

SANDWICH CHEF This fast-food chain in Birmingham, Alabama, is pioneering a brave new business strategy: Close more outlets, make more money. During the energy boom of the early 1980s, Sandwich Chef sprinkled its bare-bones shops serving basic fare in suburban office parks throughout the oil patch. Then, even as the boom went bust, people started demanding better quality food. Says CEO Alan Kaufman: ''Times changed, and our niche just faded away.'' So Kaufman is shuttering Sandwich Chefs and opening outlets under the Wall Street Deli and R.C. Cooper names. Aside from a spiffier design, the newer delis typically offer home-baked bread, more kinds of sandwiches, and healthy pastas and salads. Even gourmet coffee. While the number of shops has fallen from 172 in 1988 to 129 now, earnings growth has averaged 131% annually on an 8% rise in sales. Each new outlet does about four times the volume of the old ones. Analyst David Geraty of Equitable Securities expects earnings to rise 18% to $1.2 million next fiscal year on a 13% increase in sales, to $49 million. Shares traded recently at $11.75, or 19 times estimated per-share earnings for next year, vs. 30 times for the average small-cap fast-food chain.

CAERE CORP. The drudgery of keying documents into computers is now a thing of the past, thanks to Caere Corp. of Los Gatos, California. Back in 1986, Caere CEO Robert G. Teresi sent five Berkeley scientists to a warehouse with orders to find a way for a scanner to enter data from a magazine page into a computer. Fourteen months later Caere came up with the software. Teresi persuaded Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Microtek to include demo versions of the software, called OmniPage, with their scanners. Together they account for 70% of all scanners sold in the U.S. Says analyst Stuart Johnson of Wertheim Schroder: ''These companies are effectively marketing Caere's product for it.'' He expects net income to rise 23% this year to $6.5 million on sales of $40 million. The stock traded recently at $17, or 14 times his 1992 estimate of earnings per share. One version of OmniPage, for black and white scanners, lists for $695. Another, for color scanners, costs $995. Also available from Caere is a $595 hand-held scanner with software, called the Typist.