Brands

Scottish cable maker designing and assembling in Kilmarnock. Atlas build to order rather than to stock, using OCC copper and their own cold-weld termination in place of solder.

Californian cable maker founded in 1980 by Bill Low, and one of the most widely stocked names in the industry. Known for solid-core conductors, controlled directionality and the DBS battery system, alongside the DragonFly portable DACs.

English cable maker hand-building in Amesbury, Wiltshire since 1985. Independently owned, with its own insulation material and a research programme that has produced the ARAY conductor geometry and the GroundARAY noise units.

British mains specialist working on one problem: the quality of the electricity reaching a hi-fi system. IsoTek filter each socket independently so components cannot pollute one another through the block.

American cable maker founded in 1991, built on insulation and extrusion techniques originally developed for aerospace use. The flat cable geometry and micro mono-filament construction are Nordost's own and remain unusual in the industry.

Danish cartridge maker founded in 1918 and the oldest brand we stock. Ortofon built the first commercially available moving coil cartridge in 1948 and still manufacture in Nakskov, Denmark.

British cable maker founded in 1973, and one of the most widely recommended names in hi-fi. QED publish their research, hold patents on conductor geometry, and terminate without solder using their own Airloc process.

American maker specialising in power delivery, founded in 1998 by Caelin Gabriel. Shunyata's designs are also used in cardiac catheterisation laboratories, where noise reduction has to be measured rather than described.

British cable maker in Somerset, designing around one stated goal: reducing phase distortion in the cable. Tellurium Q publish very little about construction and ask to be judged on listening instead.

American cable maker founded in 1992 by David Salz, who built a comparator that lets a cable be measured against a direct connection. DNA Helix geometry and Composilex insulation both came out of that test method.