Born as Gabe’s undergraduate-thesis distraction in 2012, Littlecat Labs is a Brooklyn-based audio design project that develops compact high-fidelity speakers. Its signature Sphere speaker uses a 3D-printed triple-helix bass-reflex port, an unusual acoustic design refined through years of prototypes from a bedroom workshop to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The project’s development is currently on hiatus.
United States Design Patent
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Bache AudioBache Audio is a small Brooklyn company that handcrafts high-fidelity speakers and single-ended amplifiers, an effort that began when founder Greg Belman built audio equipment for his own listening. Its designs favor wide-band drivers, quasi-coaxial alignment, and straightforward circuitry, while custom finishes and made-to-order builds let listeners tailor speakers to their rooms. A Brooklyn listening room offers customers the chance to hear the speakers before buying.BROOKLYN, NY
Grado LabsFrom a Brooklyn building owned by the Grado family since 1918, Grado Labs has made headphones and phono cartridges since 1953. Founded by Audio Hall of Famer Joseph Grado, the family-owned American company is known for inventing the moving-coil stereo cartridge and developing the first true high-end dynamic headphone. Wired headphones are still assembled in Brooklyn, where a third generation of Grados is learning the business.BROOKLYN, NY
Lightning Boy AudioEstablished in 2011 by Mike Congilosi II, Lightning Boy Audio designs and hand-crafts audio transformers and studio equipment in North Collins, New York. The company grew from Congilosi’s early vacuum-tube studio gear and pedals into a transformer-focused operation, with manufacturing, testing, and R&D conducted in its own laboratory. Its equipment is built in the USA around a longstanding interest in high-fidelity sound, tube character, and careful noise performance.NORTH COLLINS, NY
Meadowlark AudioBorn from Pat McGinty’s 1987–1993 garage speaker-building project, Meadowlark Audio now makes limited-production, digitally active high-end speakers and luxury custom architectural audio in Redwood, New York. Founded in 1993 and built into an international brand by 2004, the company moved from carefully tuned passive designs to multi-amplified speakers with onboard digital signal processing. Its current work includes the Raven, a twin-subwoofer three-way, and the unusually deep-reaching Pelican infrasonic system.REDWOOD, NY