A new high-end, high-performance, direct-to-consumer audio company called Austin AudioWorks is officially launching the brand during the upcoming AXPONA show at the Schaumberg Convention Center in Chicago, IL from April 12-14. The company says its products “are very different from the mainstream” and show attendees will want to stop by and audition the new line in person at the show.
See what makes Austin AudioWorks different…
A boutique manufacturer, one of Austin AudioWorks’ (AAW) differences is immediately signaled when you simply look at either of the first two products with which the company is launching – The Black AMP headphone amplifier and The Black Swan phono preamplifier. You can instantly recognize the no-frills aesthetic of the industrial design…(emphasis on industrial). Simple black boxes with easy-to-read white lettering shows you the company has made a deliberate choice to prioritize the finest quality internal componentry for the best possible performance over flashy, glitzy, bougie pretty faces.
Another key difference is a unique philosophy of the internal circuit design, which is expressed as “…sonic purity and only positive interaction with transducers – headphones or cartridges” as the key defining qualities of its products. Austin AudioWorks products achieve greater purity by incorporating an ultrawide bandwidth Class A circuit using Current Carrier Technology and zero-feedback. The result is an “unaltered timbre” with “unlimited dynamics” and “dead-quiet backgrounds.”
Claims Confirmed
You may have heard claims similar to these from other lesser companies. However, the fact that Austin AudioWorks delivers on these claims has been confirmed in multiple media reviews and many online comments from users.
Thanks to this design philosophy, the company says that The Black AMP headphone amplifier can drive the most challenging planar headphones with realistic volume and impact. And its The Black Swan phono preamplifier sports three inputs for both moving coil and moving magnet cartridge designs and loading adjustments on the front panel such that end users can maximize cartridge performance on the fly. The company includes both balanced outputs and single-ended outputs to facilitate inclusion in any system.
A Refreshing ‘No Bullshit’ Approach
AAW says its goal is to offer the audio enthusiast market a new alternative with a refreshing, no-nonsense approach. Or as the company puts it, “…no bullshit.” (That would be refreshing!)
Our products emphasize versatility and sound quality, rather than glitz and fancy casework. 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.
Bill Leebens, Austin AudioWorks President
A Brand New Company with a Historically Significant & Deeply Experienced Team
Although Austin AudioWorks is a new company, the team behind the brand possesses a deep history with a wealth of experience thanks to decades of designing many top products revered in the high-end community. The mad genius behind the technology philosophies embraced by Austin AudioWorks in its product design is well-known industry engineer Barry Thornton, who is Founder and CTO. Thornton, the company says, previously founded Quintessence Audio Group and was also responsible for designing products for SAE, ESS, Parasound, Monster Cable and more.
Joining him in this new company is occasional Strata-gee guest poster Bill Leebens who is AAW’s President. Like Thornton, Leebens has held multiple influential roles in and around the audio industry, mostly working in communications and marketing with dozens of companies.
Finally, Steve Wallenfelsz is also part of the management team at AAW, serving as General Manager. Wallenfelsz, the company says, is an attorney-turned-production manager. He is also a lifelong audiophile and has worked with multiple headphone companies. AAW adds that Wallenfelsz, “…has used pretty much every high-end audio contender on the market.”
See (and Hear) Austin AudioWorks for Yourself at AXPONA
Austin AudioWorks will be showing and demonstrating its new line in Booth 8211 at the upcoming AXPONA in Chicago, running April 12-14.
Learn more about Austin AudioWorks by visiting austinaudioworks.com.
Ted, this is a nightmare scenario. Please keep reporting on it.
Hi Steve,
“Nightmare scenario?”
Ted
With all due respect Steve, its not a nightmare scenario, calm down. If anybody can sell little black boxes of audio wonder, its Barry Thornton. In the 1980s, SAE was already flying high with their fully complementary circuit design by James Bongiorno when Barry was welcomed into their engineering dept with a radical idea to double the number of transistors per channel on their amplifiers to generate more amps of current, not just watts.
Exotic speakers from Infinity, Magnepan, and Dahlquist craved current to reach their highest SPL and best bass response. He brought the “01” series into existence that became SAE’s flagship products for the remainder of the 80s. I was the SAE rep in So. Calif. at the time and worked with him doing Saturday morning training meetings for Pacific Stereo. stores and other dealers. He was really good at telling stories people could relate to, people loved him then and still do now.
He knows how to build meaningful circuits that usually sound better than the competition. His goal is specifically not meant to dazzle your senses because lets face it, there are plenty of those on the market already. Barry made his look mid-century classic, just the hottest design trend going in art, architecture, and industrial design. Its smart marketing if you ask me.
Bill will know how to get it the attention it deserves, he’s a well-known and respected industry veteran. They’re doing their first show and I wish them all the best for a successful and fun adventure.
The nightmare scenario is spending a lot time and money to start a company without the skill set to run a start up.
What evidence do you have to support your opinion? How would you feel if somebody said that about you on new venture you were starting?
Why not withhold judgement until you see some evidence of failure or success?
Why not be kind and generous, wish them good luck on their new venture?
I still can’t get my head around what Bill Leebens wrote here about MQA. All BS, now he’s learned his lesson and there will be no more BS?
Comments
You mean what everybody said to me when I left Washington DC and headed to Phoenix 10 years ago?
I grew up in the Silicon Forest and have 38 years’ experience advising startups as a CPA. Maybe just maybe I know stuff you don’t?
I’m not in a forgiving mood about the folks who kept writing about MQA after RMAF 2017. In a meeting at the end, I told everybody to stop writing about MQA or there would be consequences. Bill chose not to.
And yet, here we are with MQA going bankrupt because it was BS garbage and people figured it out. So you’re butthurt about people saying bad things about a con you fell for? You’re falling back on the “… in my experience” defense? Maybe Austin will work Maybe it will fail. Time sorts that out. Your shitposting about it doesn’t tip the scale one way or another. You should learn to edit yourself because not every thought that races through your head deserves oxygen. Sit down. Be quiet.
Nice Post Jeff. You have it backwards. I was the guy who organized the opposition to MQA with the help of my friend the late Charles Hansen and received the help of many others. Foolish for you to not realize I wrote MQA is Vaporware and did a lot in the professional world to kill it.
Bill’s articles here were the BS. I’ve met Bill several times and talked with him about his MQA articles. I recognize the skillset needed for a successful startup. Bill doesn’t have the skillset needed.
Maybe you can point me to something of value you have posted.
Hi Ted – How much are these items ? What is the warranty ? Direct to consumer like Outlaw or PS Audio ? Why not going through the contemporary Brick n Mortar ?
Hi Tom,
If you follow the link to their website, I think you’ll find the answers to your questions. Regarding why D2C, I’m not entirely sure that they won’t sell to dealers. You can try reaching out to them if you are interested…
Reach out to bill@austinaudioworks.com…
Ted
Hi, Tom—-thanks for your interest. In order:
1. The Black AMP, $1849; the Black Swan, $1649.
2. “Austin AudioWorks warrants to the original purchaser that this product shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for three (3) years from the date of purchase.“
3. Yes. We sell direct in order to keep prices as low as possible, and in order to get product out to people quickly. Developing a dealer network requires time, money, and manpower, and we prefer to keep our burn rate low and our organization lean (we may not be lean, but our company is!).
Hi Bill – I wish you the best of luck, I follow my passion which is why I have chosen to stay in the Industry and not retire and also I love introducing my clients to Steinway Lyngdorf –
Tom
I have a lot of respect for Peter and his collection of companies. I spent a terrific day with him and the PuriFi crew at Munich, pre-pandemic. A brilliant group!