Audio Research   Audio Research is one of the oldest continually operating manufacturers in American audio.The company was founded in 1970 in Minneapolis with one goal in mind: to advance the state-of-the-art in music reproduction. Today, Audio Research remains a performance-oriented company by philosophy and design. New product introductions are driven only by genuine advances in technology and performance -- the HIGH DEFINITION that is the hallmark of the company's products. The company has grown steadily over the last quarter-century, with a network of top audio specialist retailers across North America and country-by-country distributors throughout Europe, Asia and South America.The company occupies a 48,000 square-foot, technically-advanced production plant and administrative headquarters in Plymouth, Minnesota, where approximately 50 technical, assembly and support staff guide the product line from concept to finished goods. A research-only facility has also been established in Palm Desert, California. Audio Research was instrumental in refocusing the audio industry on designing products for musical performance, and not merely for the sake of new technology or mass-market pricing. Audio Research was founded by William Z. Johnson, who began designing custom audio electronics in the early 1950's and who also operated a specialty audio retail store until the mid-1960's. Johnson's efforts almost single-handedly revived vacuum-tube designs at a time when major industry manufacturers had abandoned this technology in favor of low-cost solid-state devices which were markedly inferior in terms of musical accuracy, a fact widely acknowledged today. Many industry observers consider Johnson one of the true originators of the entire concept of "high-end" audio as it exists today -- an area of technological expertise in which American companies remain the clear innovators and leaders on a global scale.   Furutech Furutech, founded in 1988, designs and manufactures an extraordinary range of A/V cables made with extremely high purity OCC single-crystal oxygen-free copper. We have several complete lines of analog and digital, power and coaxial cables available in terminated and bulk quantities. We make a wide range of highest quality OEM A/V connectors and other signal transfer parts including power, speaker, IEC and specialized Hyper Audio Quality outlet receptacles. All metal components all treated with Furutech’s proprietary 2-Stage Alpha Cryogenic and Ring Demagnetization Process during manufacture that ensures the lowest achievable levels of distortion and noise.   Marantz For more than half a century, the name Marantz has identified the best in home entertainment. And today, even in the midst of burgeoning and often confusing technology, these components still emulate the vision that originally drove Saul Marantz to expand the sensory horizons of even the most demanding aficionados.   Ortofon Ortofon was founded in 1918 by two Danish engineers, Axel Petersen and Arnold Poulsen. These two pioneers had one very clear objective in mind - to put sound onto film, and with this, they established the Electrical Fonofilms Company A/S, which later on was renamed Ortofon A/S. A few years later, in the Palace Theatre, Copenhagen, they were able to present the first fully-synchronized sound films and in so doing, created a world sensation.   Rega Manufacturer's of high performance turntables and other audio equipment from the U.K.   REL REL Acoustics Ltd of Great Britain designs and manufactures high quality, award-winning sub-bass systems for use in two-channel and multi-channel music and multi-channel home theatre systems.   Stones Sound Studio Ribbon Speaker Kit design plans drawings PCB crossovers cable components Custom high-end speaker cabinet passive crossovers, active filter and speaker driver measurement and design facilities using Leap 5 and LMS4. Stones Sound Studio manufactures the Artisan Audio Art series of high-end speakers. Russell Storey is Stones senior speaker design engineer audio and acoustic consultant. Stones supply high-end amplifiers audio products and accessories including Audio art furniture by Alan Briscoe woodcraft designs. Nakamichi Service Peerless Scan speak Fountek Ribbon Tweeter Focal Seas SB Acoustics speakers Acoustic measurements & driver parameters.     Usher High End should be captured in new, affordable designs and marketed to a broader, music loving audience. We are dedicated to the goal of understanding the factors driving consumer behaviour in today’s crowded marketplace and to craft offerings that help bring new customers to the industry.     Velodyne Velodyne Acoustics, Inc., founded in 1983, is universally recognized as the leading manufacturer of high-performance, low distortion powered subwoofers at all price levels. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, California.     VTL Today VTL is a second generation family business still run by one of the original co-founders, who is as comfortable in the concert hall as he is at the test bench. When it became obvious to both Luke and David that the company needed a full-function manufacturing facility, they decided to relocate production to Southern California, to take advantage of the readily available supply of electronics and manufacturing vendors and the labor force that were servicing the defense electronics industry in the Los Angeles basin. In 1987 the factory was moved to its present location in Chino, CA -- where all VTL products are made for worldwide consumption, and the same location that VTL occupies now. In 1989 the Manley line of products was started under the VTL banner, as a line of professional products for studio use, initially as a secondary business division of the company. These modern manufacturing practices will assure you that every piece of VTL product is manufactured with consistently high quality and will reliably work in your system for many years. We spend time with our customers, working to make music and home theater the satisfying personal experiences they are intended to be. With our experience and commitment to high quality in all that we do we specialize in offering you a full range of limited production, hand-built high quality pure tube amplifiers and preamplifiers for your home.     Wadia Digital   Wadia Digital, founded in 1988, is one of the original companies dedicated to high performance digital audio reproduction. Wadia was formed by a team of engineers from the Minneapolis based 3M Corporation (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) who shared many years of experience in advanced digital telecommunications research and development. In the early 1980's, these engineers became intrigued by the emerging compact disc technology. Disappointed with the sound quality of early CD players, they examined the workings and designs of these early components and found them to be unsophisticated when compared with the technology available in other areas of digital design. In response, they founded Wadia Digital - a company based on the philosophy of applying advanced technology to improve the performance of digital audio components. Wadia's first product, the Wadia 2000 Decoding Computer, was an absolute breakthrough in digital audio. For many discerning listeners, it proved that Digital Audio was a musically responsive, evolving, and engaging format. Building on a tradition of excellence, Wadia continues to develop innovative technology; refining, listening, engineering, and improving along the way. Since the Wadia 2000, new generations of industry-leading designs have been introduced and embraced by listeners around the world. Each step of the way, Wadia has consistently raised the standard for performance of Digital Audio playback.