The History

Galactron's journey from the beginning to today

How our adventure began

s in all businesses of the past worthy of mention , even in the story of the genesis Galactron history and legend mingle , creating a fascinating mix of truth and fiction. History tells us that it all began on a cold night in January ( it was the year 1966) , when you’re college hopefuls , gathered around a table , over which towered a huge bottlae of whiskey , to decide how to baptize the small company that would produce the amplifiers created by their team. Bernardini , at the head of the unusual team formed by Berardi , Finocchiaro , Edward Arnold , Lojodice and Paw (as he called our heroes ) was looking for something that would evoke the future , progress : so, there was oriented names such as Galaxy or Electron. However , no definition convinced them fully , until two o’clock at night , Paw, now almost completely overshadowed by alcohol and sleep, he had the brilliant “… and why not Galactron ? ” . There was a scream and Lojodice , on the spot, created the brand .

Thus began one of the most prolific Italian hi-fi adventures : in a market just starting out, plagued by an absolute unpreparedness technical and commercial (not even exist the magazines !) , The Galactron was preparing to embody the dream future of every audiophile .

The birth of the first products : CC50 and PA25

In a small local street Mordini , in Rome, he began to produce his first hearing , the CC50 and PA25 , a mono preamp and power amp of which only 50 examples were built . However, it was not easy to enter the circuit of retailers , blinded dall’esterofilia and convinced that the only names on which was worth the risk were those of Harman Kardon , Marantz , Mc Intosh . Yet, for the time, Galactron accomplishments were definitely innovative : the use of silicon transistors , compliance with MIL and, above all , the idea that an amplifier should be an object constructed according to the needs of the user, with many inputs and a switch of the same equalization, projecting these products in a future unthinkable then for the short-sighted mentality of insiders.

So , to make ends meet , members Galactron were forced to do a bit ‘ of everything from the production of small hi-fi systems for the furniture factories up to the implementation of traffic light systems transistorized

( the famous DITRAC , Digital Traffic Controller) .

The golden years: 197

1975 was the year of management success: the Hi -Fi grew exponentially, but Galactron was able to resist the temptation to make a commercial success , limiting output to 24 pieces a day and focusing all his cards on the quality . The ’75 also saw the birth of a second integrated amplifier , the MK- 120 , which reproduced the aesthetics and functionality of the MK -16 + MK- 160, but was positioned at a level slightly lower market. The moment of maximum splendor touched in ’76 , however, he saw happen events that caused the rapid collapse of the shining meteor Galactron : Aris Bernardini , Director General and CEO since 1966 , outvoted on the development strategy to be followed in later years, he abandoned the ‘ company giving its shares before Galactron began the work of rehabilitation and expansion determined using the funds of the Cassa del Mezzogiorno , shortly after , Dr. Strampelli , the majority shareholder , passed away suddenly and ran the financial fortunes of the industry, remained already orphaned of her spiritual father and guide ( Bernardini ) and the designer ( Lojodice ) that had been able to give shape to ideas Galactron . In 1980 and ceased all production in 1984 was finally decreed the company out of business .

In the meantime , he had seen the light 1’MK2 , an integrated stereo 25 + 25 Watt , a fusion of the two previous models with a look created by Gianmaria Lojodice . It was a device traits markedly original : it was completely transistor and , thanks to its ” features” , was able to have , as part of the system , a function almost ” creative .” Thanks to this new trump card , the name Galactron began to penetrate in some shops in Milan , including Go is worth mentioning the memories of Via Montenapoleone and Ielli . The MK2 was produced until 1969 and were made ​​around 700 . The real success , however, came with the MK -1O , a truly revolutionary device , which united in himself all the audiophiles then they wanted but they could not imagine condensed into a single amplifier , a mixer to five inputs with possibility of fade, inputs adaptable with plug-in boards , monitoring tools input , tone controls to split ups and downs. The year was 1969, and the strong ‘ recklessness of youth , our heroes are put under the arm MK- I0 and began to contact foreign distributors , as long as a test carried out by the German magazine Hi-Fi stéréophonie , a sacred text for European audiophiles then ( in Italy there was still no specialist publication ), marked the success definitivodi Galactron .

In 1971 , on the occasion of the first edition of the SIM , they proposed two equipment intended to remain the dream of a generation of audiophile preamplifier MK- 16 and MK -160 final . Again, Galactron anticipated time materializing the wildest fantasies of fans of Hi-Fi. The MK -16 resumed the concepts presented by MK- I0 extending , implementing a ten-band equalizer , a variable loudness proportionally controlled by the volume knob and a removable tray that allowed the insertion of a quadraphonic matrix decoder . The finish was a four-channel , but it offered the possibility of working in stereo bridging two at the final stages .

E ‘duty , at this point, emphasizing the crucial role supported by the newly formed Italian printing Hi-Fi in the process of ” myth ” of the image Galactron : SOUND before, Stereoplay shortly after , even the venerable and prim DISCO ( … who remember that? ) poured rivers of love and support on the small Roman company , making her dream and loved by an entire generation of audiophiles. Paradoxically, even the detail: love-hate relationship that was created with that peculiar character by the name of Marino Mariani and which manifested itself through its infamous magazine audiovision , contributed so much to consolidate the image of the undisputed leader of the Galactron that historical moment . In the early ’70s, the press around the world spoke of Galactron , from the aforementioned Hi-Fi stéréophonie , the Revue du SON, by HiFi CHOICE to HIFI NEWS to finish the famous HIGH FIDELITY AUDIO and the sanctuary .

Product , marketing, passion , enthusiasm and support of the specialized press created the magical cocktail of success. In 1973 he was presented a second end stereo , MK- 100 , which supplemented the range and in the meantime , the aziendaera grown , occupying 350 square meters, more than a third of the production exported to over 21 markets and employed about sixty of people.

1-Chi-siamo

Rebirth of New Galactron

The first generation Galactron had shown an economic theory that seemed at that time forgot : the creation of “needs” in the users . The market grew measurably continuously reproducing itself by offering products standardized and devoid of personality and showing a flatness creative striking results that reached the market only taking advantage of the favorable economic wave , but does not embody the desires of the buyers. Galactron knew instead materializing dreams .

Today, even in a market reality completely different from the economic point of view , the type of supply is very similar to that of then , since very few brands offer products with really sound personality and aesthetics. The miracle , then , is repeatable !

The Galactron since 1966 , always working with great seriousness is so well established in the fields and HI -END HI – FI in Italy and in various countries around the world , founding its origins in professional experience achieved . The HiFi approach was strongly anomalous , we dare say opposite to that followed by the classic design philosophy , which defines ” objectively ” the quality of an audio amplifier from the result of a series of measures in what you want fine . Three decades of audiophilia have convinced the company that the correlation between the results of electrical measurements and the actual “quality” of an audio amplifier are rather modest . This does not at all mean that the measures are misleading or useless , but only that they do not tell you EVERYTHING about the sound quality !

From this considered conviction , in 1993 they started the job not by the circuit design but from experimental research bijective relationship between the sound quality of an amplifier and its electrical and construction characteristics . This attitude of “candid humility ” forced them to reject a priori any axiom that it had not been experimentally tested directly from the internal research team , according to a sort of cancellation of the past that has made it possible to overcome prejudices and false dogmas , but has forced designers to make a long and exhausting series of tests and urged the involvement of specialists in diverse fields , such as medical doctors ( otolaryngologists , neurologists , psychologists ) , in addition to requiring constant intervention and constructive specialists in electro- which was assigned the task of avoiding any solution of continuity between the amplifier and a speaker system , considering that these elements as a single component.

Once identified experimentally the ideal characteristics of an amplifier for the reproduction of music, the definition of the circuit is triggered by such reflections as a logical consequence.

The entire project is centered on electric hybrid module GSM 001 closely built “custom” from Galactron , which represents the entire range of audiophile amplifier , both in the preamp , which in the end of power, and of course in Integrated .

All circuits strictly comply with the conditions by comparison, identified as a result of psycho -acoustic experiments.

In 1994 he finally moved the production of Galactron with the new MK series in 2000 and then in 1997 with the Signature series . Even today, the MK series 2000, some news is very real.