Absolute Sounds has been appointed as sole distributor of Nagra audio equipment for the UK and Ireland with immediate effect.
Nagra was formed in Switzerland in 1951 by Stefan Kudelski, a gifted young engineer who set up a workshop at his family’s home in Prilly, near Lake Geneva. His first product, the reel-to-reel Nagra I, was the world’s first professional-quality portable sound recorder. It was a class apart from contemporary alternatives due to its compact size, reliability and sound quality, and a revelation for radio broadcasting, cinema and music recording.
Matthieu Latour, sales and marketing director at Audio Technology Switzerland, explains why he is excited to partner with Absolute Sounds to distribute Nagra’s hi-fi products in the UK and Ireland, “Absolute Sounds is among the most prestigious high-end audio distributors in the world, with an expert team led by Ricardo Franassovici – a man whose experience and influence in the field is unrivalled. The company has long-standing relationships with some of the finest audio brands on the planet, many of which have excellent synergy with Nagra components – for example, Wilson Audio, Magico and DeVore Fidelity loudspeakers, and Transparent cables.
“Through Absolute Sounds’ unrivalled network, we can access the finest specialist retailers in the UK and Ireland to ensure Nagra customers receive the exceptional service they deserve. We look forward to writing the next chapter of the Nagra story together!”
Commenting on his company’s partnership with Nagra, Ricardo Franassovici, Absolute Sounds’ founder and managing director, says, “As the UK’s foremost high-end audio distributor, we’re regularly approached by brands from around the world who seek our expertise. We’re fortunate to already work with many of the sector’s most revered and influential manufacturers; few others measure up to the standard required to add something unique to our portfolio.
“Nagra, however, is truly special – the original Swiss innovator in high-performance audio electronics whose products I’ve admired since my days in the rock music industry in the 1970s. I’ve waited patiently for the opportunity to work with the company and, when it came, I instantly embraced it.
“The late, great Dave Wilson, the doyen of high-end loudspeakers, once said, ‘There is no other brand of electronics that is as unique as Nagra in its history, and in the thorough professional design, concept and execution [of its products].’ The company has a wonderful brand story, and products that stand apart from others in their design and performance. Unquestionably, Nagra is among the finest high-end audio manufacturers in the world, and we are delighted to be working with the company to the benefit of discerning music lovers here in the UK.”
Over the ensuing decades, Nagra remained firmly established as the gold standard in portable audio recorders. Though its roots were firmly founded in the analogue age, the company straddled the advent of digital audio with ease and earned multiple Oscar and Emmy wins for its technical achievements along the way.
The Nagra IV-S has been used in the recording of The Beatles’ Let It Be, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, David Bowie’s Heroes and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
In the world of cinema, numerous films that won Oscars for sound used Nagra recorders in their production, from The Exorcist to The English Patient. In fact, as Academy Award winning sound engineer Chris Newman puts it, “There was virtually no film made from 1961 until the 1990s that did not use Nagra.”
The company’s distinctive devices have been a common sight in movies too, as well as being used to make them, from Beatles film Help! (1965) to Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and The Informant! (2009).
Another string to Nagra’s bow over the decades has been the development of technologies and devices for high-security applications, including covert surveillance. This began in the early 1960s with the SN (Série Noire) miniature reel-to-reel tape recorders, originally developed for the CIA reportedly at the request of President John F. Kennedy. These devices were used extensively during the Cold War era, capitalising on Nagra’s ability to make small portable audio recorders of unique quality and reliability. These characteristics proved invaluable for other adventurous applications, including expeditions to the summit of Everest, the deepest depths of the ocean and even into space with NASA’s Apollo missions.
It was not until 1997 that Nagra chose to expand its expertise into the domestic setting. The PL-P preamplifier launched at £5,700 (more than £11,000 in today’s money).
In 2012, a separate company called Audio Technology Switzerland was spun out of the Kudelski Group, which owned the Nagra brand. Operating independently but with the Kudelski family still the main shareholders, the new company looked to steer Nagra’s consumer and professional audio products to even greater heights, while the Kudelski Group focused on other products and services in different industries. To this day, Audio Technology Switzerland remains the custodian of the Nagra audio brand.
Nagra has produced a steady stream of high-end hi-fi, encompassing valve and solid-state amps, DACs and turntables, whilst also maintaining its unique reputation in the world of professional sound recording.
The company and its equipment continue to be inextricably linked with the Montreux Jazz Festival, a partnership that began with the first festival in 1967; other customers include the BBC, NBC, Universal, MGM, Columbia, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures and NASA. Contracts with law enforcement and government agencies are also ongoing – and top secret.
Nagra sources the finest circuit components from around the world, many custom-made to its own unique specification. Its products are designed, assembled and tested at its facility in Romanel-sur-Lausanne, just a few kilometres from Prilly where Nagra was founded, with key procedures such as the winding of the company’s unique audio transformers performed entirely in house.
In 2025, Nagra’s high-end audio range comprises four product lines – in ascending order, these are the Compact Line, Classic Line, HD Line and Reference Line.