There is no short cut to mastery. Exceptional components infused with genius are the result of a lifetime of dedication by gifted individuals. Find out what makes them tick.
Our product portfolio reads like a who’s who of iconic British Hi–Fi; such thoroughbreds as the Naim NAP 250–2 amplifier, Rega RP3 and Roksan Xerxes 20 turntables…
Every Naim Audio product is conceived, designed and engineered in service of the sound, revealing a pure experience that is as close as possible to its original live source…
“You can get bored of listening to rock and do three months on opera and then move onto something else…”
“It hits a groove and it stops but once you’ve played it once you can hear that groove beginning all the way…”
“When I was in a little band we used to say ‘we’ll never do covers’ but if we do it would be hers, because it’s so..”
“I have a very different approach to loudspeaker design compared to the majority. The first thing I do…”
“I’ve always been interested in building and tweaking with electronics and that became a retail thing…”
“My motivation is to discover new stuff. I’m still a teenager with a big toy, which is our factory facilities…”
“A passion for music, a passion for style and there’s a vision that I have for the future…”
“With cables you get barbecued from all sides for different things to utilize, and you end up with a larger range than…”
The company was founded by James Edward Sugden in 1967, a division of Research Electronics.
Formed in 1974 by Billy Woodman to manufacture custom drive units for the professional sound industry…
The Harbeth company was founded forty years ago to commercialise the BBC’s loudspeaker R&D.
Chord Electronics first took flight from the aviation world, where engineering without limits means uncompromising standards.
Talking to the people who design and build audio components for a living I was struck by how much passion they have for the job and how much of a kick they get out of it. There are undoubtedly easier ways to make a living but not many that produce the rewards that audio engineering can. Several mentioned that what thrilled them most was the enthusiasm with which their creations were received by end users. These guys, and they are nearly always guys, are driven to build the best sounding components for themselves in the first instance, but in the long term are motivated by the happiness that the products bring to customers.
The effort involved is clearly great and the hours long, but they got into this because of an obsession with sound quality and a love of music. Both come through in their responses, there was no point in asking what they’d be doing if it weren’t building Hi–Fi, they wouldn’t know.
There’s a good variety of personality among the interviewees, you have the deep thinker Roy Gandy, the music nut Nigel Finn and the innovator Touraj Moghaddam. But they all share a common purpose, a desire to make equipment that reveals more of music; the way it’s played, the message it contains, the shape and colour of the recording. These guys know what counts, listen to their stuff, you’ll hear it without trying.
* The interviews were conducted in 2014
Jason Kennedy
‘Purveyors of iconic British Hi-Fi’ | tel: 01727 810047 | email: tunes@tomtomaudio.co.uk
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