Company Tours

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Written by: Jeff Fritz

Category: Magico, March 30, 2011

Created: 05 April 2011

Magico's new Q-series products best represent their current thinking on high-performance loudspeaker design. The Q-series loudspeaker line currently consists of the four-way Q5 ($59,950/pr.), three-way floorstanding Q3 ($34,000/pr.), and the two-way Q1 (price TBA). On the day of our visit, evidence of Q-series speaker construction was everywhere. 

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Written by: Jeff Fritz

Category: Magico, March 30, 2011

Created: 05 April 2011

To better control all aspects of production, Magico acquired a full CNC (computer numerically controlled) machine shop in San Jose, California, which is where all of their Q-series speaker cabinets are manufactured. This vertical integration gives the company tremendous capability to create exactly the parts they need for their products.

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Written by: Jeff Fritz

Category: Magico, March 30, 2011

Created: 05 April 2011

Unlike companies that modify or spec drivers sourced from outside suppliers, Magico has designed their own driver platforms and builds them with parts they've had manufactured from the ground up. You won't see variants of these drivers in any other company's loudspeakers.

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Written by: Jeff Fritz

Category: Magico, March 30, 2011

Created: 05 April 2011

Magico, LLC is a manufacturer of high-fidelity loudspeakers and, while founded as a custom, boutique fabricator in the 1990s, has been operating in its present commercial mode since 2004. The products are conceived by the company's founder, Alon Wolf, and engineered by Yair Tammam, Magico's chief technical officer.

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Written by: Jeff Fritz

Category: Coda Technologies, March 25, 2011

Created: 25 March 2011

Coda Technologies builds power amplifiers, linestage preamplifiers, and phono preamplifiers. During our tour on March 25, we focused on the building of power amplifiers, which is fitting given that amplifiers are what Coda is best known for.

What was most impressive about the production was seeing the quality of workmanship and the attention to detail. Coda Technologies is certainly not a large company, but they're able to build audio components that are truly world-class in terms of technology, build quality, and performance.

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Written by: Jeff Fritz

Category: Coda Technologies, March 25, 2011

Created: 25 March 2011

Coda Technologies introduced its first product, the 01 preamplifier, in 1988. It seems hard to believe that a company that specializes in traditional analog amplifiers and preamplifiers would still be alive and well 23 years later, but such is the case when the commitment to the product genre is strong and the quality of work is worthy of being classified as high-end. It also helps when the founders have passion and plenty of experience. Company co-owners Doug Dale (systems engineer) and Eric Lauchli (analog designer) worked for the original Threshold company back in the mid '80s, and they went on to form Coda Technologies.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: JL Audio, February 23, 2011

Created: 23 February 2011

We created SoundStage! Global to showcase specialty audio/video direct from the places we travel to worldwide. For our first factory tour on this site we chose JL Audio. Why? Mostly, it's for the impact they've had in the home subwoofer market and because of what they have the potential to create in the future.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: JL Audio, February 23, 2011

Created: 23 February 2011

After individual components -- drivers, cabinets, and electronics -- are manufactured, they're sent to various areas for final stages of production. In the case of products for the home, they're sent to the department JL calls Home Products Assembly.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: JL Audio, February 23, 2011

Created: 23 February 2011

The TW5 thin woofer used for the IWS-SYS-1 and IWS-SYS-2 in-wall subwoofers requires high precision to manufacture . . .

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Written by: Administrator

Category: JL Audio, February 23, 2011

Created: 23 February 2011

JL Audio is one of the few companies that makes state-of-the-art drivers onsite. We watched the complete assembly of the W7 driver that's used in a number of JL Audio products, including the Fathom and Gotham home subs.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: JL Audio, February 23, 2011

Created: 23 February 2011

Since JL Audio produces products for home, mobile, and marine use -- sometimes needing extremely complex cabinet shapes -- fiberglass fabrication and finishing are key to their manufacturing capability. Fiberglass is also used for some of their top-of-the-line products. We were fortunate enough to see the fiberglass-based Gotham subwoofers in various states of manufacture. The Gotham g213, which retails for $12,000, is JL Audio's best and is considered to be among the state-of-the-art in the subwoofer marketplace.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: JL Audio, February 23, 2011

Created: 23 February 2011

JL Audio has extensive in-house manufacturing capabilities, including a large woodworking area. There were numerous computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machines in use during our visit. Various types of wood -- MDF, HDF, plywood, etc. -- were in evidence, and stacks of finished parts were everywhere. JL likes to build as much as they can in-house. In fact, we learned that JL Audio even makes much of the furniture being used within the company offices!

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