WHAT WAS AND NO LONGER IS
This time abroad

⌈ Over the course of 20 years, that is, since 2004, when our magazine was founded, the audio scene has changed completely and dramatically. Both in terms of the main developments in the industry, the way companies are financed, and the presence and non-presence of many brands. This is a good time to look at the latter from our perspective . ⌋

TO BE HONEST I DID NOT PLAN to write the second part of last month's editorial. Devoted, let me remind you, to Polish brands who came to be before or during the existence of HIGH FIDELITY, and who disappeared at some point. As I say, I didn't plan it, but a few emails that came regarding Polish products got me to think about it. And the avalanche came down when one reader wrote directly that, to paraphrase, I had finally written something that reads well. So, also for him, here is the second part of the editorial What Was and No Longer Is, an international version.

Once I decided to write this editorial, the nameHALCRO momentarily came to mind. It is the “brainchild” of Bruce Candy, a well-known physicist and inventor, born in South Africa, who studied at Cambridge, and lived permanently in Australia. Dr. Bruce Candy - his middle name is Halcro - invented a power supply and audio amplifier topology that was supposed to almost completely eliminate distortion. It was his hobby company, and Halcro was a subsidiary of Bruce's metal detection company, Minelab Electronics.

⸜ Halcro dm38 • photo press mat.

As it happens, back in the second issue of High Fidelity, in June 2014, I tested this company's system, consisting of the dm10 line preamplifier and dm38 power amplifier. This was one of the formative moments for me, and it's no coincidence, so it seems to me, that years later I “entered” so strongly into the world of another high-end company, Swiss Soulution that reminded me of Halcro in similar thinking about amplifier’s design. Despite its excellent products, and later entry into the world of home theater, this Australian company disappeared from the radar for many years.

The main reason was that in 2008 it was bought by Codan, a military contractor, which ‘extinguished’ the audio branch. Until, in 2023, Magenta Audio, an Australian importer and distributor of hi-fi equipment, decided to bring it back to life. Magenta's Dr. Peter Foster and former Halcro chief engineer Lance Hewitt founded Longwood Audio to remind the audio world of the brand. So this is a story about a company that disappeared, but which nevertheless has a chance for new life.

As you can see, we started the “High Fidelity” story at a high H, so to speak, right? And after all, in the same issue there was a test of another, in the 1990s and early 2000s very well known and loved in Poland, German company ZOLLER. Although the speakers we tested → IMPRESSION MODEL 1 did not belong to expensive ones, they had everything in them that its top designs offered.

As I wrote at the time, Manfred Zoller was the restless spirit of the audio world a passionate musician, in 1973 he began his career as a bass player in a jazz-rock band. And such were the kind of speakers he proposed - fast, dynamic, transparent. And they offered high efficiency too. This offered great possibilities in combining them with amplifiers, including tube designs. There is no trace of the company anymore.

There is a trace, but not one we'd like, remaining from two other speaker brands, INFINITY and CELESTION. We tested speakers from the former, the → BETA 20 in № 5 of September 2004. Infinity Systems is an American loudspeaker manufacturer, a company founded in Los Angeles in 1968 by Arnie Nudell, John Ulrick and Cary Christie. In 1983, it becomes part of Harman International Industries, which since 2017 has been owned by Samsung Electronics.

⸜ Infinity Beta 20 • photo press mat.

Nudell's designs, for he was the “ghost in the machine”, were fantastic, and the solutions he offered - such as the Servo-Static - were outstanding. In 1991, Nudell left to found Genesis Technologies, a high-end speaker company, with the top model, the 1.2, costing a then prohibitive $235,000. Infinity continued to offer both speakers and car sound systems. Today it still exists, but only as part of the “car” world.

Celestion, on the other hand, is a British brand and one of the oldest. It was founded as early as 1924, and presented its first speaker a year later. In the 1970s it became part of a company from outside of audio industry, and in 1992 the loudspeaker part of Celestion International was sold to Kinergetics Holdings (UK) Ltd. which also bought KEF. And for a long time both were manufactured at KEF's headquarters, which I had the opportunity to visit.

In № 42 issue, in October 2007, we tested its F38 speakers, more → HERE. The brand still exists today, but has returned to its roots and offers products for professionals - for stage and studio. The same as, by the way, the company A.D.A.M., which for a long time had in its portfolio, in addition to studio, active monitors, also passive speakers, for audiophiles; the test of the HM2 model → HERE, № 35, March 2007.

But one of the most interesting audio companies I encountered back in September 2005 (№ 17) was Italian AUDIONEMESIS. Founded by Fabio Camorani, it offered the DC-1 DAC, followed by a phono preamplifier, model PH-1, and power amplifiers (more → HERE). All in small enclosures with proportions reminiscent of the Naim NAIT amplifier.

I won't be too wrong if I say that it was a revelation. The DAC was inexpensive, and fantastic, so good that even high-end systems wouldn't be ashamed of it. Interesting, but the AudioNemesis was a side project for Fabio, with whom we became friends and a few years later he visited me in Krakow, Poland. For the loves of his life were, and probably still are, tube and analog devices. His more important company, therefore, was AudioNautes. It offered amplifiers, but also distributed top LPs, for example the reissues of Three Blind Mice by Cisco Music (“TBM Super-Cut Analogue Disk”).

⸜ Fabio Camorani with DC-1 DAC at Munich High End Show 2005

The last entry mentioning AudioNemesis I know of dates back to 2014, and today Fabio is mainly focused on publishing. Top LP reissues, such as One Step (Jazz At The Pawnshop, Cantate Domino), as well as CDs, both in UHQCD and Crystal Disc (!) formats, are released with the AudioNautes logo. He also offers copies of analog tapes (“reel-to-reel”). His coolest products from the early 2000s, however, are no longer on the market.

It is impossible not to talk about disappearing audio companies without talking about one of the legends of our industry, namely WADII. But not in the context of the brand, but in the context of the products offered by this company. For the company is still in business and although it is no longer as prominent in the specialized press as it was a dozen years ago, it still exists. The thing is that this American manufacturer owes its career to Compact Disc players. And ones in which he used a VRDS drive from Japanese TEAC.

Do you remember the 861 model? It was a fantastic machine! And, by the way, a benchmark for all other manufacturers. An important part of that success was the self-developed digital filters that were the basis of its DACs, such as the Model 27ix, tested by us in № 36 of April 2006; more → HERE. However, the company went bankrupt trying to put its most ambitious project, the 790 PowerDAC, a digital amplifier, into production. As it happens, however, it is this part of its lineup that is the core of its business today - digital power amplifiers, the PowerDAC echoes, D/A converters and, a sign of the times, file players.

Let’s not forget one of the less recognizable, but important for audio companies, the American Don Garber’s FI. As Marek Dyba wrote in a 2009 test, Don became a well-known person in the States in 1992, when he opened a store in Soho (New York), at 30 Watts Street, under the name Fi (short for Hi-Fi):

Don was already assembling tube kits many years before Fi opened. The showroom and the group of enthusiasts that gathered around pushed him to prepare his own designs. At first he worked together with JC Morrison, also with Noriyasu Komuro, and later on his own. The circuit that Don decided to create on his own was an amplifier based on the 2A3 tube. The work took a long time. When a good result was achieved, Garber took to simplifying the circuit. Each successive simplification improved the sound.

Eventually, an amplifier good enough to present it and offer for sale was ready. It was called The Fi 2A3 Stereo. The first unit was bought by a stranger who happened to walk into the store, listened and decided to spend $1475. Later there were more copies and improved versions, and eventually more products, in the wake of which the reputation of one of America's greatest tube “gurus” was established.

⸜ „High Fidelity” № 61, November 2009, → HIGHFIDELITY.pl, accessed: 25.09.2024.

It was of those ‘garage; companies, as the devices were assembled to order, and there were no advertisements in the press. The only tests were published by editors who decided to buy them for themselves. Sadly, in June 2017, we received the sad news that this fantastic man had passed away; he was mentioned in a Positive Feedback magazine article → HERE.

⸜ FI pre + 2a3 monaural amplifiers • photo by Marcin Olszewski

Also absent from the market is the very interesting company → SOLACOUSTICS, founded and run by Elson Silva, as well as → SOLPHONIQUE. The latter was distributed in Poland by Studio van den Brug, run by Willem van der Brug's brother, designer of electronics for Van Den Hul, but also sold under his own brand → ARRAY. The interesting thing is that the brother in question was living in Krakow at the time, not far from me, and audio was his hobby.

For some time it seemed that a solid position in audio would be taken by the Chinese company SYNERGY HIFI, along with tube manufacturer CREATE AUDIO. A representative of both, Mr. Ningsheng Liu, visited us at the Cracow Sonic Society with KT88 tubes and fuses. These were really nice products, plus the company offered nice, very pleasant-sounding tube mini-amplifiers, such as the 6F3 model we tested in № 78 of October 2010; more → HERE, report from the visit → HERE.

Anyway - quite a few companies from the Middle Kingdom evaporated from the market at that time. In fairness, however, it must be said that some new ones appeared, much more technologically advanced and with better products, such as, for example, Psvane. Because it is not the case that only companies from countries exotic to us are failing or rolling into oblivion. The above mentioned examples show that it can happen to anyone. For example, a German company like FONEL AUDIO.

I can't find any information about its activities anywhere, and its website directs completely elsewhere. And yet it was such a cool manufacturer! Fonel's head, Mr. Buchakchiysky, wrote at the time that its roots were to be found in Ukraine, and that it was only in 2003 that he founded Fonel Audio GmbH, based in Berlin. The Compact Disc player tested at the time was elegantly finished and technically interesting. And above all - it sounded cool; more → HERE.

Also lost was a brand that was seemingly destined for success, OLIVE, owned by Olive Media Inc. and managed by Oliver Bergmann. He co-founded it with Robert Altman in 2005 and offered file players that looked great, which stood out from other devices of their kind (they would still catch the eye today), and had a convenient user interface. Yet the company is no more; test of O2M, O3HD and O6HD models → HERE. How can such a company disappear? - This is beyond my imagination.

These are all brands that are a thing of the past. But there are, after all, many companies that have disappeared not from the market, but from Polish stores, or at least from the Polish infospace. These are, for example, the American CONVERGENT AUDIO TECHNOLOGY, № 76, August 2010, the New Zealand’s PERREAUX, № 28, August 2006, MONRIO, an Italian company tested in № 46 of February 2008, American VIOLA AUDIO (№ 26, June 2006), or - also from the US - WAVELENGHT AUDIO. The latter was known for being the first to offer D/A converters with asynchronous USB input. Let me remind you that this was at a time when no one yet understood how it all worked. And they already knew it; more → HERE

⸜ Olive O6HD • photo press mat.

It still exists, but only locally in Japan, company → MUSICA with great amplifiers and DACs. Every now and then, with new products → B.M.C. AUDIO makes their presence known, but not on out market and rather quietly. The same goes for, by the way, the American company → WYRED4SOUND. Another company that disappeared from our radars was LOIT with its great Passeri CD player, Oh, what a machine it was! No wonder it was featured on the April 2011 cover of № 84; more → HERE.

In the twenty years that “High Fidelity” has been published, there have been other changes as well. French JMLAB is now FOCAL, Slovakian EDGAR became CANOR, Japanese company TRI has changed its name to TRIODE (№ 29, September 2006, more → HERE), the Italian BLUE NOTE first changed into BLACK NOTE, and ultimately into GOLD NOTE, and JELCO, a company from the same country, has ceased operations altogether. And also → OPPO, today is no longer a manufacturer of multi-format players (DVD/DVD-A/SACD), but a manufacturer of smartphones.

Products of CREATIVE, a company that is part of the computer world, which has stirred up our market with extremely successful D/A converters turned out to be a meteorite just passing by. In turn, a large group of British brands, such as WHARFEDALE, QUAD, CASTLE, LEAK or AUDIOLAB have migrated to China and are now part of the International Audio Group.

⸜ LOIT Passeri CD Player on the cover of our magazine

And these are just some of the companies we have featured in the pages of High Fidelity. Please note that in their roster I did not go beyond 2011. Because audio is a difficult industry, even a very difficult one. Some even say - brutal. But it's also an industry that gives so much joy and fulfillment, as long as everything “works”, everything falls into place and starts turning, that it's hard to compare it with anything else. And that's because we are in the business of music, one of the most beautiful arts.

If we keep this in mind, even all the losses I've written about will prove to be apparent, because they will be the foundation of something else. Hopefully - a better one. Because, as they say, the best always stand on the shoulders of their predecessors. ●

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▌ Brands referenced in the text:

HALCRO, ZOLLER, INFINITY, CELESTION, A.D.A.M., AUDIONEMESIS, WADIA, FI, SOLACOUSTICS, ARRAY, SYNERGY HIFI, CREATE AUDIO, FONEL AUDIO, OLIVE.

CONVERGENT AUDIO TECHNOLOGY, PERREAUX, MONRIO, VIOLA AUDIO, WAVELENGHT AUDIO, MUSICA, B.M.C. AUDIO, WYRED4SOUND, LOIT, JMLAB, FOCAL, EDGAR, CANOR.

TRI, TRIODE, BLUE NOTE, BLACK NOTE, GOLD NOTE, JELCO, OPPO, CREATIVE, WHARFEDALE, QUAD, CASTLE, LEAK, AUDIOLAB.

WOJCIECH PACUŁA
Chief editor