insideKENT Magazine Issue 21 - Nov/Dec 2013 | Page 144

GADGETS MAKE A SOUND INVESTMENT THIS CHRISTMAS WITH KENT-BASED Chord Electronics LUXURY GOODS CAN TAKE MANY FORMS: WATCHES, HANDBAGS AND HAUTE COUTURE ARE ALL WELLKNOWN EXAMPLES, BUT HOW ABOUT LUXURY SOUND? KENT-BASED CHORD ELECTRONICS HANDCRAFTS MUSIC SYSTEMS FOR THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE WORLD AND YET ITS PRODUCTS CAN BE BOUGHT ON THE HIGH STREET TOO. Chord Electronics, based in East Farleigh, near Maidstone, has been handcrafting fine home audio systems for some of the biggest names on the planet for almost 25 years. Discerning music lovers everywhere seek out the extraordinary expertise of this Kent-based specialist who has an international reputation for making world-class music playback systems. The company’s extensive customer base includes: Sir Paul McCartney, Ray Charles and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), plus worldfamous organisations such as The Royal Opera House, Abbey Road Studios and the BBC. Chord’s extensive product range stretches from studio-worthy systems in excess of £100,000, to home audio products starting from as little as £480. And regardless of price, everything is handmade to order by some of the UK’s finest electronics engineers, right here in Kent. Since 1989, Chord Electronics has been manufacturing internationally recognised hi-fi components designed to replay music without compromise. Its CD players, amplifiers and more recently, music streaming systems, are renowned throughout the world and the company has collected multiple awards in the world’s press over the past few decades; three major awards in 2012 alone. The company’s founder, owner and chief designer, Maidstone-based John Franks, created the company following a remarkable career in the avionics industry, where he applied his electronics expertise to create advanced power supplies for black-box flight recorders in aircraft. He discovered that the no-compromise design approach inherent in avionic electronics could be transferred into high-performance audio products, such as domestic and studio-grade amplifiers. 144 www.insidekentmagazine.co.uk After developing his own proprietary techniques for making advanced audio products in the 1980s, affordable components emerged that enabled Frank's designs to be developed into commercial products. The technologies had been developed and finessed throughout the 1980s and a year after Chord Electronics was founded in 1989, it had supplied the BBC with amplifier samples that in a very short time, gave birth to a broadcastqualified unit. Word soon spread and other notable organisations such as EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, Sony (New York) and Toshiba (Japan) soon followed the BBC’s lead in the professional arena. Today, the company operates from a beautifully restored, fully modernised converted pump house on the River Medway. As with other prestigious high-end manufacturers, the products are built to order, ensuring a bespoke service whereby customers individualise their request and choose special finishes, such as hand-polished nickel and high-gloss gold. The product range includes standalone products that can be added to an existing set-up, as well as complete music playback systems that are ready to go straight from the box. Chord has a number of specially selected, highly trained retailers who have the expertise to help customers create the Chord system of their dreams and install it in the home if required. These specialist dealers can be found across the world and a handy Dealer Locator tab on the Chord Electronics website can help locate your nearest specialist. Chord Electronics has three distinct ranges that all provide the same level of innovation, bespoke engineering and handcrafted luxury, whatever the budget. For the aficionado, there is the Reference Series, which provides discerning music lovers with the best possible audio experience and is a performance-tuned version of Chord’s Standard Series. The two other ranges, Choral and Chordette, move away from conventionally styled and sized hi-fi components to offer beautiful aesthetics and build quality, designed to complement any interior. Both ranges offer complete systems for highquality music playback solutions, including streaming products that can find and replay digital music files stored on a network, computer or drive. The handcrafted nature of the products, which all have advanced casework beautifully machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium by a Kentbased specialist, means that they are built to last. Unlike today’s smartphones, tablets and computers, which have a built-in obsolescence, Chord’s audio products are designed and built to last in excess of 20 years, and the company’s legendary service and back-up department ensures that owners continue to enjoy their systems as new technologies emerge. Chord’s products are not only revered by enthusiasts internationally, they are also used as ‘reference’ by consumer technology magazines here in the UK. The world’s biggest audio magazine, What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, uses Chord Electronics’ components to benchmark other review products against and media giants including Channel 4’s The Gadget Show to The Mail on Sunday have extolled the benefits of a Chord system. If you love music, Chord Electronics really is a sound investment. Chord Electronics 01622 721444 www.chordelectronics.co.uk www.facebook.com/chordelectronics