May 9th, 2012 by Ralph Karsten
After some years of work (finding/building parts, refurbishing existing mechanical and electronic elements) our LP cutting lathe is finally on line!
It is a Scully lathe equipped with a Westerex 3D cutter head. We went with the Westerex 3D as it is an easy load for a tube amplifier, just the thing for what we had in mind! This is the first LP cutting system known to use on OTL as a mastering amplifier, in this case a modified Atma-Sphere M-60 Mk3.1. We are working on initial releases already- there is a lot of interest in vinyl…
February 29th, 2012 by Ralph Karsten
I will be taking some training in a week-long class.
January 16th, 2012 by Ralph Karsten
The Audio Beat has given us their Product of the Year Award for 2011! Product of the Year is the only product award that they give out in any given year. We are pleased and somewhat stunned, but Thanks! 
December 14th, 2011 by Ralph Karsten
We are reintroducing the M-60 kit after a 12-year hiatus! The new kit is based on the Mk. 3.1 platform- and has the same performance.
December 12th, 2011 by Ralph Karsten
This year we are showing with Classic Audio Loudspeakers, Triplanar and the US ZYX distributor in Flamingo room 4087 at T.H.E. Show in Las Vegas. We expect also to have a set of MA-1s and an MP-1 in the Sound Lab room on the same floor.
If all goes well, we will be unveiling a new amplifier at the show, a model not seen before
November 25th, 2011 by Ralph Karsten
We’ve added a remote volume control system to the MP-3. It is similar to the one used in the MP-1. The goal was the same- to prevent the remote system from affecting the sound of the preamp. We’ve studied the remote control situation for a very long time (and built some very expensive prototypes); most of the controls (including all non-mechanical solutions) that allow for remote operation also represent a compromise in the total performance of the volume control, and therefore the preamp that employs it.
About the only way we have found that works is to use a mechanical system to advance the control. We use a custom-built switch for the volume controls in our preamps, as that has proven over the years to be the best volume control setup (remote or not) available. We did not want to back away from that performance in order to offer a remote. So our systems use a motor to advance the volume control switch, using the same style of switch that we have always used.
Older preamps can be optioned with the control, which was also one of our goals.