For UPS, FEDEX or other shipper use:
Empirical Audio c/o Steve Nugent
13852 Bishops Cap
Black Butte Ranch, OR
97759

Business Phone:
(541) 595-1001

Business Hours:
10:00AM to 6:00PM Pacific Time

About Empirical Audio
Empirical Audio^® was formed in 1994. During our first 5 years we developed
technologies, applied for Patent protection and developed our web-site.
We launched our web-site in 2000. We sell primarily to end users over the
Internet. Steve Nugent, who is an Electrical Engineer with 25 years design
experience, designs all of our products. We currently manufacture and test
all of our products as well. Each cable product built is measured to insure
quality. As you can see from our website, we do not clutter our pages with
those pesky ads from other vendors which we believe can be irritating to
our customers. We are completely dedicated to the pursuit of reproduced
audio that sounds live. To this end, we have invented a set of technologies
that make it possible to use bare conductors and air dielectric in our cables.
We disclose the theories and technology behind our cables and their
characteristic measurements. We do not claim to have all of the answers, but
we have theories with technical backing that support all of our designs.

We have recently started modifying components, using our PC wire where it is
beneficial. Our modifications include improving power delivery, signal paths and
digital circuitry where applicable. To do these modifications, we often cut traces
and do some redesign of circuit boards. We do this because machine-produced
products often contain design trade-offs in order to make them mass-produceable.
We feel that the only way to get the most out of a component is often to redesign
it and make it a combination of circuit-board and point-to-point wiring.

Sources --- USB Off-Ramp Turbo 2 USB-to-S/PDIF converter and laptop
Squeezebox3 and Pace-Car
Off-Ramp I2S

DAC's ----- Benchmark DAC-1 with:
I2S input, Turbomod, dual op-amp, volume cntrl and
input transformer/BNC upgrade

Spoiler USB TubeDAC

Preamp --- Mark Levinson #38 with Turbomod or DAC-1 direct

Amps ----- Parasound Halo JC-1 monoblocks with Turbomod

Speakers - Bolender-Grabener customized 4 foot ribbons w/Vifa 10"
backup - KEF Reference 104/2 with Turbomod

Analog Interconnects - Holophonic-PC

Digital Interconnects - Bitmeister

Speaker Cables - Clarity7

Power Cords - Custom Silver "Top Fuel" for DAC's, Gold for amps

Goals:
Empirical Audio's uniquely designed interconnect products have three things in
common:

1. They minimize the insulation that is in direct contact with the conductors.
2. They utilize air dielectric wherever possible and effective.
3. The wiring is balanced impedance, whether they are SE or balanced cables.

For explanations of the benefits of each of these, refer to the individual product
descriptions.

Process:
Our design process starts by first examining the fundamental physics of the situation.
We do this by building analytical models for the cables which are verified for
correctness through measurement. These models allow us to intensively study the
cable geometry and materials through simulations. From these simulations (usually
thousands of them), we derive a geometry and construction that optimizes the
important parameters. Then we verify the performance by measurements in our lab.
Finally the prototype is fine-tuned by ear until it is optimized by auditioning with a
variety of equipment and program material.

Empirical Audio cables are engineered using state-of-the-art techniques and materials
to optimize electrical performance. We use computer simulations and modeling to verify
that our designs are superior to alternative geometries and materials. We publish
measurements on all of our cables and welcome benchmarking against the competition.
We believe that we are unique in the industry in the engineering rigor that we apply to
our designs. Our Chief Engineer, Steve Nugent has 26 years experience developing digital
interconnects and I/O circuitry in the computer industry at companies including: Intel
Supercomputers, Intel Corp., Unisys, Siemens, StorageTek, Burroughs and Honeywell.
Steve has also been an active contributor in the audiophile community for more than 10
years and has excellent hearing. Because of his technical background, Steve is able to
apply many of the methodologies and tools that are used to develop digital interconnects
and circuit boards to audio cable.

Every reference cable that Empirical Audio offers is meticulously handcrafted from the
ground-up using the highest quality materials. Our cables are inherently difficult to mass-
produce because they typically include uninsulated conductors suspended in air. It is the
combination of uninsulated conductors and air dielectric combined in an optimum geometry
that makes Empirical Audio cables perform so well. It has been Steve's goal from the
beginning to find ways of suspending bare conductors in free-space, since this is the ideal
configuration for high-bandwidth, low-loss cables.

Empirical Audio designs optimize the critical parameters of each interconnect
to address the physics of each situation. For example, unlike some manufacturers,
we use very different designs for our speaker cables than for our interconnect
cables. Just because we have an excellent design for an interconnect cable
doesn't mean that this will work well as a speaker cable. In fact, the requirements
for optimizing interconnects are significantly different from speaker cables.
When we see other manufacturers building speaker cables almost identically to their
interconnect designs, we suspect that they do not understand the physics of each
situation.

The materials we use in our products are high quality and have excellent physical
properties. Our goal is to use the right material in the right configuration for each
cable type. Many manufacturers overkill by putting shields around their speaker
cables or teflon jackets around their interconnects etc.. These "features" are a
waste of your money and there are no beneficial effects that are measurable or
audible. This is what results when cable designers are not trained engineers. They
have no way of determining the relative benefits of these "exotic" materials. We
do use Teflon where it provides a benefit as well as pure silver conductors for
interconnects. Using the right material in the right place is key to producing a
cost-effective and technically optimum cable.

Superior Cables can make a positive difference
Contrary to to the beliefs of some Objectivists, any cable type can a make a positive
difference in a system's sound. However, any link in a system can become the weak
one and will ultimately limit the entire system, minimizing any improvements that might
be achieved with superior cabling. Therefore, it is important to insure that all
components are of sufficiently high quality that they will not impose this limitation.
All components in the chain should be suspect, including CD or DVD transport,
interconnects, preamps, processors, speakers, speaker cables and amplifiers. Also,
contrary to the beliefs of some "objectivists", CD transports and amplifiers do sound
different. Empirical Audio has a lot of experience installing cables in home-theaters,
so we have heard a lot of equipment in clients homes. If you need assistance in
selecting high-quality components for your system or otherwise wish to identify the
weak link, our customer service can assist you with this.
Just drop us an Email.

Liability:

1) Sound Quality

We at Empirical Audio will do our best to improve any component that
customers entrust us with. However sound quality is subjective. There
is no guarantee that every customer will like the sound that we consider
reference quality. There are also system synergy considerations. When
we mod a component, the high-frequency extension and dynamics are
usually improved. This can actually aggravate other system components
and even cables to produce more sibilance than was present before the
mods. This may not be the fault of the source component that we modded.
It may be completely sibilance-free. The source of the sibilance is now
elsewhere in the customers system and was previously masked because
the high-frequency extension/dynamics of the system prior to modding
was limited. When these limits are removed, sibilance occasionally results.
Likewise, when we mod a Transport, we generally speed-up the edge-rates
and match the output impedance to precisely 75 ohms. If the customer
is not using a 75 ohm digital cable or their DAC is not matched well to 75
ohms, reflections will result, with resulting jitter and fuzzy high-frequencies.
These are the risks that the customer takes when they decide to have
their components modded by Empirical Audio. These mods usually
void the factory warranty as well. We will take steps to try to make every
customer happy, but this does not include refunds, removing all of the
mods, buying the component or paying a third party to remove the mods.
In order to achieve the best possible results, it is sometimes necessary for
the customer to send their Transport, cable and DAC so these can be "tuned"
as a system for optimum results.

2) Shipping

Empirical Audio will automatically try to repair any item that incurs
shipping damage when received, unless we consider it beyond simple
repair. All components will be tested upon receiving and unpacking them
prior to performing mods. If this initial test indicates damage, but there
is none visible, Empirical will try to repair the unit by re-seating cables
inside or mechanical repairs such as teeth skipped on gears etc.. In the
event that there is obvious damage by the carrier, we will transfer the
component to the carrier for claims disposition at the customers request.
It is the responsibility of the customer to file the insurance claim with the
carrier.

For items shipped from Empirical Audio to the customer, the customer
is responsible for transfer of the package to the carrier and making the
insurance claim. For a claim to be made, the item with box and packing
must immediately be given back to the carrier.

Empirical will generally pack the component in the original packing that
was received with it. If we feel that this is insufficient, we will notify the
customer, who will have the option, at additional expense, of improved
packing to help insure it arrives without damage. The customer is also
responsible for installing any retention mechanisms, including screws,
bolts, tape etc.. that the manufacturer specifies for the component for
safe shipment. Empirical will install these in the same way that they were
installed when the component was received to help insure a damage-free
return shipment. Empirical Audio will not be responsible for damage that
occurs due to negligence, such as omission of necessary restraining
mechanisms by the customer.

Policies:

1) Payment

Payment for all products is in advance of delivery. All monies due must
be paid in order for the product/modified component to be shipped. Payment
can be by personal check, money-order or by PayPal, which adds a fee.

International orders must be paid by international money order in US
dollars.

The warrantly will not be in effect until the balance is paid in full. If the
balance is not paid within 30 days, the warranty will be voided.

2) Order of work

Jobs will be executed in the order in which the units were received. If
payment is included with the unit, it will have priority over a unit that is
waiting payment.

S.F.N.
Copyright © 1998-2002 Empirical Audio^®. All rights reserved.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks
or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.