Node - A very British HiFi
What does it mean to be a modern, British loudspeaker company? This is a question that has guided Node since the beginning.
Joining a long line of manufacturers, Britain has always had a strong tradition for high-end Hi-Fi. With roots in the musical ‘British Invasion’, this relationship began in the early 1960s, when British bands were enjoying much international success. Needing increasingly sophisticated audio equipment for recording, including loudspeakers, very quickly did homegrown Hi-Fi brands emerge like KEF, B&W and ATC to meet the demand (with a particularly British emphasis for sonic clarity contrasted with an American obsession with bass.)
Today, this heritage is alive and well, and many British loudspeaker manufacturers still have their global headquarters in the UK, shipping their illustrious products globally. However, economic and technological pressures, while bringing their own opportunities for the industry, have also forced a departure from their more local origins. But for Node, this is less of a concern, thanks to the company’s close and ongoing relationship with the community of Cambridgeshire, UK.
Drawing inspiration from the region’s uniquely rich sonic history as well as its world-renowned technical community, Cambridge has been a huge boon for Node’s success. Indeed, with a platform for design, prototyping and production on its doorstep, Node has a claimed a place in the nation’s Hi-Fi story in this corner of the UK.
A hub for sound engineers during this early period of British loudspeaker innovation, thanks to the strength of the University’s technical department, Cambridge was also a crucible for bands like Pink Floyd, venues like the Cambridge Corn Exchange, and music festivals like the Strawberry Fair Music and Arts Festival, which are just as much a part of this story (with Cambridge alumni in contemporary composers like Judith Weir and Steven Price, and modern pop bands like Clean Bandit, this continues today).
Cambridge’s technical community has ultimately been intrinsic to Node’s success – from sonic engineers to CNC machinists and SLS experts, as well as painters and leather specialists, every HYLIXA loudspeaker is the product of local effort - assembled by people who take pride in their work, a rigorous attention to detail is employed to ensure that this unique combination of cutting-edge manufacturing and time-honoured craftsmanship remains seamless.
Node’s CNC technicians carefully craft the baffle fascia and feet from solid billets of high-grade aluminium, ensuring complete accuracy in their surface finish and fit to the loudspeaker body, while each cabinet and baffle assembly are subject to a manual smoothing process, painstakingly honing the surface ready for painting. The paint technicians then finish each loudspeaker in a range of colours, with the lacquer option meticulously polished to ensure a piano-level quality with absolute reflective clarity. Coupled with a five-year warranty from Node, HYLIXA adheres to the classic staple of British quality.
The British commitment to sonic purity likewise lives on in Node’s innovative approach to cabinet design, with HYLIXA’s cylindrical shape unlocking new levels of performance and aesthetics, whilst its internal helix and talented BMR placate the desire for bass by dramatically extending it.
Node now has numerous listening rooms in the UK as well as in China and Japan, but, as a product designed in Britain and part of the nation’s Hi-Fi heritage, Node has made sure that HYLIXA exists as not only a long-term investment in sonic enjoyment but also as a celebration of local manufacturing, quality standards, musical culture and expertise.