The founder of Audiopax, Eduardo de Lima, began in audio in his teens with the production of his first loudspeakers and amplifiers, something that led him a few years later to design his first SET ("Single-Ended Triode") amplifier using a 300B tube. This implementation was, according to him, a key event in his career - the musicality and naturalness of that strange little amp exceeded all expectations, allowing for some limitations in the highs and slow and poorly controlled bass (characteristics known for the average 300B amplifiers) the midrange frequency band was simply magical. So, Eduardo de Lima spent the next years to explain and, mainly, control the elements that produce that magic, to achieve it without the limitations imposed by a single device.
He started the company in 1997 with his first commercial amplifier - the model SE310 (a 300B SET amplifier), that was presented with the speaker CX305 at the VSAC Show in Silverdale, USA. During this same year he developed the LM3® technology (Low Mu Triode with Higher Raw Efficiency Emulator - LMTHREE), a circuit that emulates the behaviour of 300B valves with KT88s and that was used on the SE388 model, presented in the 1998 editions of the Sao Paulo Hi-Fi Show and VSAC Show, with enthusiastic response in both cases. The same technology was used the next year on the Model 3 amplifier, a 7.5W SET based on the 6L6 tube and that received with the loudspeaker CX303 our first international review from John Potis of Soundstage!
From 303B to Model 88
A major step came in 2001 with the launch of the Model 88 - a tube amplifier full of technological innovations that became a real "classic" in its category. One of these inventions was Timbre Lock®: a unique concept, absolutely innovative and exclusive. Simply put, it can be described as a feature that allows the most appropriate interface between the different components in the audio chain, putting the concept of "synergy" over the customer’s control (for the first time an adjustment is aimed at the whole and not just a part of the system). Besides Timbre Lock® the Model 88 also presented the natural evolution of the LM3® topology concept: if we can emulate a specific device (as the 300B or any other "real" tube), why not use it to emulate a perfect device, even a model that was never before produced? That's IDS® - "Ideal Device Simulator", a technology which makes Audiopax tube amplifiers the only ones in the world that use "Ideal Triodes" for audio application.
International Recognition
The Model 88 won many awards, headlines and magazine covers. Reviews all over the world acknowledged the innovative technology with brilliant results: Stereophile's "Class A Recommended Component" list for 7 continuous years, Blue Moon Award at 6moons, highest classification in the Brazilian Audio & Video Magazine, Industry Award from Hi-Fi News in Great Britain and "Best of The Show" in every audio show that he had participated.
In 2004 the development of another revolutionary product was completed: the Model 5, the first preamplifier to incorporate the Timbre Lock® feature. The launch took place at CES2004, where the system consisting of the Model 5 and Model 88 with the new loudspeaker Ref100 were quoted by several magazines and audio sites as the best of the event. The Model 5 has followed a trajectory similar to the Model 88, receiving enthusiastic reviews worldwide and became part of the reference systems of leading experts.
New products were introduced over the years: some variations on the Model 88 (like the Stereo 88, the Model 78 and Model 98), new speakers (like Ref150 and the whole new "Luthier" line), the Model 55 (the first solid state amplifier also with the Timbre Lock® feature) and Model 7 (an entry level preamp).
New challenge
A new challenge was assumed in 2011 with the launch of the Maggiore line - a series of equipment designed to be an absolute reference in SE amplifiers and preamplifiers. This new product line debuted at the 2011 edition of the Munich High End Show with the prototype of the Maggiore M100, a 100W Class A1 SE amplifier (the only one in the world). Once again,our room was considered by several renowned audio publications (as 6Moons, Stereotimes, Alen Audio and Bartimex Audio) as one of the "Best of the Show".
Sadly Eduardo passed away at the end of 2012. Since then the Company has been controlled by his long time partner and friend Silvio Pereira and by his son Lucas de Lima, both committed to follow the same main concepts and ideals of innovation and quality.
In 2015 the Maggiore line was increased with the introduction of the Maggiore L50, the reference preamplifier for this product line (that won a "Blue Moon Award" on its first review by 6Moons) and the Maggiore M50, a 50W version for our single-ended Class A1 tube amplifiers.