Austin AudioWorks is a new company with a rich hifi history. How’s that work?
Barry Thornton, Founder and CTO, started out in the hifi business in the 1960s and has designed products for SAE, ESS, and Parasound to name a few, company President Bill Leebens is a walking talking hifi encyclopedia (that’s a book, or set of books, with deep knowledge) and General Manager Steve Wallenfelsz is a lifelong audiophile and attorney-turned-production manager who has worked with several headphone companies.
Austin AudioWorks will be showcasing two products at Axpona 2024—The Black Swan MM and MC Phono Preamplifier and The Black AMP Headphone Amplifier. One bit of commonality between the two is zero-feedback, ultrawide bandwidth Class-A circuits using Current Carrier Technology. Think purity at a very nice price.
The Black Swan supports MM and MC cartridges and offers a nice array of loading options mounted right up front, which is where these things belong as far as I’m concerned speaking as a user who hates fiddling with DIP switches on the wrong side.
The Black Swan employs passive equalization and offers a host of inputs and outputs.
From Austin AudioWorks:
The Black AMP is four independent, no feedback, current mode power amplifiers configured as two truly balanced mono-block power amplifiers. Each channel operates on its own with no internal commingling of any of the four audio information signals or processes. Eliminating common ground gets rid of signaling contamination due to electrical and magnetic field interactions between the channels. Everything is floated above ground in a truly balanced environment.
The Black AMP is equipped with single ended RCA and balanced XLR inputs and front mounted Balanced XLR and TRS headphone outputs. And VU meters!
The Black Swan MC and MM Phono Preamp is priced at $1,649 and The Black AMP Headphone Amp comes in at $1,849.
Here’s the press release:
Introducing Austin AudioWorks!
The company will be exhibiting soon at AXPONA
Austin, TX, March 26,2024—Austin AudioWorks is a new company, with products that are very different from the mainstream. How are they different?
AAW’s first two products are The Black AMP headphone amp, and The Black Swan phono preamplifier. Sonic purity and only positive interaction with transducers— headphones or cartridges—are their defining qualities, achieved through the use of zero-feedback, ultrawide bandwidth Class-A circuits using Current Carrier Technology. Sound is reproduced with unaltered timbre, unlimited dynamics, and dead-quiet backgrounds.
Those are bold claims—but all have been validated by rave reviews in the media and dozens of positive online comments from users of the products. The Black AMP can drive even the most-difficult planar headphones with realistic volume and impact, allowing the true sound of the ‘phones to come through unaltered. The Black Swan has three inputs for both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges, and loading adjustments on the front panel allow listeners to maximize cartridge performance on the fly. Both single-ended and balanced outputs are provided to ensure compatibility with any system.
Both products feature functional, bling-free casework, and exemplify designer Barry Thornton’s mantra: feedback sucks the life out of music.
Why is feedback bad?
It’s entropy. Noise from the past. It swallows the present, dynamic information that brings life and impact to music. Feedback is a loss of fidelity that is easily detected by the only test equipment that really counts: your ears and your mind.
Having said that—AAW products measure extremely well, with very low distortion of all forms, and are dead quiet. But more importantly, they sound natural, and real.
Both products will be demoed at AXPONA, April 12-14, in the Ear Gear Experience area. In addition to streaming demos, turntables will provide vinyl playback through both the Swan and the AMP.
AAW may be a new company, but it comes out of a wealth of experience. Barry Thornton, Founder and CTO, began as a repair tech in the ‘60s, then went on to start Quintessence Audio Group. He later designed products for SAE, ESS, Parasound, Monster Cable, and many other well-known audio companies. Bill Leebens, President, sold hi-fi as a teen, and went on to manage small businesses, promote the 2012 NYC Audio Show, edit Copper magazine, and work in communications and marketing with dozens of audio companies. Steve Wallenfelsz, General Manager, is a lifelong audiophile and attorney-turned-production manager who has worked with several headphone companies, and has used pretty much every high-end audio contender on the market.
“Our products emphasize versatility and sound quality, rather than glitz and fancy casework,” said Leebens. “Our approach is no bullshit: we put money into quality parts and controls that enhance sound, and allow the listener to hear the best that headphones and phono cartridges have to offer.”
“Some folks will find our products ugly. That means something if you listen with your eyes—but the sound is beautiful.”
Austin AudioWorks will be demonstrating their current products in the Ear Gear Experience, booth 8211, at AXPONA, April 12-14.Show hours : Friday, April 12, 10-6; Saturday, April 13, 10-6; Sunday, April 14, 10-4.
For more information on Austin AudioWorks, please visit our website.