John Curl will now be working across all of the new design projects for the Southport-based sister companies iFi Audio and Abbingdon Music Research (AMR).

Curl will be collaborating closely with iFi's Technical Director Thorsten Loesch to ensure that all circuit designs are fully optimised.

The first products to feature his input include iFi's forthcoming ZEN range of desktop audio products – the first of which launches at the end of August – together with all-new high-end components from AMR, due in 2020.

John Curl - A Quick History

John's place in high-end audio's hall of fame was cemented when he developed the "complimentary differential-input" circuit while building the Grateful Dead's mixing console in 1968. You can still find this solid-state circuit namechecked as a benchmark in high-performance audio in application handbooks.

Additionally, Curl was working with a young Mark Levinson in the early 1970s to create the now legendary Mark Levinson Audio Systems JC-2 preamplifier. The JC-2 is the first standalone product to incorporate Curl's complementary differential-input circuit. The JC-2 was then followed by the ML-2 Class A power amplifier.

Since then, John Curl went on to work with many other luminaries of the high-end audio scene, including Dave Wilson and Jeff Roland.

John Curl Today

Today, Curl works with a select group of highly reputed audio companies. iFi Audio and AMR are no doubt delighted to reap the benefits of the exceptional experience he has gained while devising some of the best audio circuits of the last 50 years.

Vincent Luke, Sales Director at iFi Audio and AMR, told StereoNET:

We are excited to have the opportunity to add John's exceptional expertise to our talented team of technical designers, led by Thorsten Loesch. His insight will help us to further raise the sonic bar with products from both iFi and AMR – from portable and desktop audio to the very finest high-end hi-fi components, we will continue to push the boundaries of design, functionality and performance.

We at StereoNET are excited to see what this new appointment adds to the already great products from iFi and AMR.