It’s not every day you’re invited over the threshold of one the most advanced and respected hifi and engineering companies in the UK.
So when the offer landed to visit Chord Electronics‘ expanded Farleigh Bridge HQ in Kent, I was in the Audi quicker than you can say “where’s Farleigh?”.
It’s in Kent, to be precise, a picture-postcard corner of the countryside where Chord Electronics’ original HQ has been for some three decades. The pale building in the background to the left of the shot above is Chord’s original home where manufacturing, assembly and repairs have taken place since the company renovated the building in the early 1990s.
More recently Chord Electronics has expanded its footprint into the partnering building that’s in the foreground above right on the river (and below), allowing extra space for vital admin, marketing and development, signalling the company’s success and ambitions for the future.
Its newly acquired premises and hifi hardware have plenty in common too thanks to their shared industrial design language and heritage. Chord Electronics has been more than sympathetic to the building’s history in bringing this Grade II listed space back to life, taking care to respect its origins and features.
Inside we were treated to talks from the team, including Company MD Matthew Bartlett on Chord Electronics’ own history spanning pro and consumer, past, present and future.
Like Matthew, Audio Engineer Tom Vaughan (above) has forged his career at Chord Electronics and knows more than a thing or two about the company’s audio ethos and approach, from its PSUs through to why the company favours multiple banks of smoothing caps over less and large, for example.
We were also treated to some tasters of things to come. Here’s a prototype pro audio DAC which was soft launched at January’s pro audio NAMM Show, sensibly codenamed ‘ProDAC’. And the Nerf gun? Don’t ask!
And it wasn’t just the new gear getting their tech experts’ attention, this longstanding preamp is some years old, getting a check up from the team before being pressed back in to service.
Assembly is thoroughly underway for these amps, all lined up and ready to be fettled and finished.
Dedicated to the cause. It takes a steady hand to get a Suzi on song, and here’s Jamie expertly assembling one before final testing.
And when it comes to final testing, here’s your man, Service Manager Mitch ‘the Juice’ Duce, surrounded by his tricks of the trade.
Just some of the many awards from over the last thirty years that adorn Chord Electronics’ walls.
Future tech
Company Founder, Owner and Chief Designer John Franks was also on hand to welcome us and gave an exclusive tour of Chord Electronics’ off-site engineering facility, where its been developing its own unique cutting-edge copper nano tube tech.
Described as a super conductor on a scale rarely seen, the science behind this is truly astonishing, as is its potential for the future which goes well beyond the realms of hifi. with industries ranging from space to power distribution and electric cars all being potential beneficiaries.
These nano tubes are developed in house and grown on copper cores like the one John is holding above, with the tubes themselves measuring around 0.5mm each and made in Chords Electronics’ purpose built machine above, which was incredible to behold.
What this also highlights is that Chord Electronics is not your normal hifi company, and is instead pushing the boundaries of engineering and physics in a way few, if any, of its rivals can.
Yours truly couldn’t resist a seat at the top table, aka John Frank’s desk which, as you’d expect, was home to circuit boards and solder instead of paper and laptops, with John forever innovating, as is the Chord Electronics’ way.
A special thanks to John and the Chord Electronics team for giving us such a welcome and for a day and demo to remember.
