Thales

About Thales

Thales is a Swiss high-end audio manufacturer founded by Micha Huber, who trained as both a mechanical engineer and a professional musician — with five years of experience developing fine Swiss watches before turning to audio.

The company's defining innovation is the Thales Tonearm, a patented design (CH 694567, filed May 2004) that solves a problem that has challenged tonearm designers for decades: how to achieve the geometric accuracy of a linear tangential tracking arm while retaining the low-friction advantages of a conventional pivoted bearing. The solution is based on "Thales' circle" — a classical geometric construction — applied as a three-dimensional mechanical system. The result is geometrically correct tangential tracking without the friction and complexity of a true linear arm.

Huber founded HiFiction AG in 2008, and the company has since expanded into a full range of products including tonearms, turntables, cartridges, phono electronics, and cables — all made in Switzerland.

All Thales products are manufactured in a production facility in Turbenthal, near Zurich, housed in a converted spinning mill from 1833. Components are machined in Switzerland, with long-standing local suppliers often involved from the development stage. The design philosophy emphasizes understatement — letting engineering precision and materials speak for themselves rather than visual showmanship. The approach has earned multiple international design awards.

A genuinely unique company with a singular founding idea, executed at the highest level of Swiss craftsmanship.