Electronics and sources

FM Acoustics

FM Acoustics builds precision electronics in Egg bei Zürich, Switzerland: phono linearizers, line stages and power amplifiers. Absolute Sound is the distributor for FM Acoustics in Singapore and Malaysia.

A laboratory that became a manufacturer

FM Acoustics began in 1973 as an acoustics and vibration research laboratory, not a manufacturer. When commercial power amplifiers kept damaging the firm’s reference loudspeakers, Manuel Huber built one that would not: the FM 800A. Musicians who borrowed the prototype refused to give it back, and the lab became a manufacturer by demand rather than design. FM Acoustics has stayed independent and family-owned since, funding its own research and holding patents that run from a non-resonant horn to the in-gap cooling used in its voice coils. The FM 222 Phono Linearizer, which corrects the different pre-emphasis curves used on vinyl before the CD era, is still cited by record libraries handling historic recordings.

The FM Acoustics range

FM Acoustics Resolution Series preamplifier with a gold front panel, resting on a pale stone surface.
Close-up of an FM Acoustics Resolution Series front panel with gold rotary tone controls and input selector buttons.
Close-up of an FM Acoustics Resolution Series front panel with gold input selector buttons and a tape button.

Phono Linearizersrestore the equalisation curves used on vinyl before the CD era, so a historic pressing plays back as its mastering engineer intended.

Line Stagesthe preamplifiers at the centre of an FM Acoustics system, matching every input to the rest of the chain to fine tolerances.

Linear-Phase Electronic Crossoversdivide a signal between drivers without disturbing its phase, for loudspeaker systems built around separate amplification per driver.

Harmonic Linearizerscorrect distortion introduced upstream in the recording or broadcast chain, restoring a signal closer to the original performance.

Power Amplifiersthe Resolution Series, four decades of amplifier development driving loudspeakers of any sensitivity or impedance.

Loudspeakersthe Inspiration System, driven by FM Acoustics’ own amplification and crossovers as a single system.

Model-by-model specifications live on the manufacturer’s site: fmacoustics.com

FM Acoustics in our projects

Common questions about FM Acoustics

Why does FM Acoustics call its phono stage a "Phono Linearizer"?

Most vinyl records are not cut to the exact RIAA curve assumed by a standard phono stage. FM Acoustics’s Phono Linearizers add continuously variable controls for turnover frequency and high-frequency attenuation, so a record can be corrected to its own mastering rather than to an industry average. That is also why the company does not call it a phono stage.

Does FM Acoustics make loudspeakers?

Yes. The Inspiration System is FM Acoustics’ own loudspeaker line. It is sold as a complete system: transducers, dedicated cabling, and FM Acoustics’ own amplification and crossovers, specified and supplied together. Everything else in the range is electronics, built to partner any well-designed loudspeaker.

Is FM Acoustics only for home listening?

No. Alongside its audiophile range, FM Acoustics builds precision microphone preamplifiers and linear-phase equipment for recording and mastering studios. That is the professional work the company was founded on in 1973, before private collectors and home listeners followed.

What is the Resolution Series?

FM Acoustics’s current generation of power amplifiers, developed over four decades with no fixed constraint on time or budget. It runs on the company’s own Enhanced Class A output stage and removes fuses from the audio signal path, an engineering answer rather than a shortcut.

Hear FM Acoustics for yourself

Come and hear FM Acoustics at our showrooms. Tell us what you would like to listen to and we will have it playing when you arrive.

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