The Company History
Marsh Sound Design, Inc. is dedicated to bringing you extraordinary components that are true, above all, to the art of music.
Just as great performers spend years learning their instruments, so a master designer spends years understanding the complexities of audio circuitry and the science of electronics.
Marsh Sound Design: Not Just another Hi-fi Electronics Company
After 30 years of building his own High End systems (from preamp all the way to speakers, including wire), and designing and consulting for other companies, Richard Marsh started his own firm in 1999. Marsh Sound Design is dedicated to developing electronics that represent the distillation of his years of experience and research in audio.
The Marsh Sound Design Philosophy
“Marsh Sound Design, or MSD, has two aims,” Richard Marsh says. “The first is to build the best, simplest, and most reliable line and power amplifiers possible, using top-quality modern parts and the most elegant circuit designs. Our second aim is to offer these products at prices all music lovers can afford. This is a challenge today, when fine audio products cost as much as a small house, and the ‘trickle down’ designs are either not well built or hopelessly compromised to reduce cost.”
Marsh Sound Design ’s motto is: Complex on the inside; simple on the outside. The complexity, Richard explains, reflects his decades of circuit design (he invented the popular Servo Control circuit and many innovations in the concepts of power line conditioning, some patented by other companies). Simple on the outside reflects the choice of elements the listener really needs in his audio and video systems. “We believe in performance, not gimmicky features,” Richard says. “A good preamp and amp form the heart of a long-term system. An MSD amplifier will allow the listener’s system to grow. It will bring out the best not only in small speakers and inexpensive front end units, but in the finest associated equipment.”
“The most important aspect of any new business is the team,” Richard goes on. “It has taken me 20 years to find the right team: Pongtorn Malakul of Bankok is our manufacturing partner. He brings us years of experience in building fine components, and a construction crew that is, in my experience, without peer. Vern Smith is our marketing partner, with years of experience at Monster Cable Products, Inc., where I have also worked for a number of years.”
“I’ve always wanted to represent products by a single top-flight designer,” Smith says. “This is a sure way to bring fine sound to a broad base of customers.”
“For me, this is a dream come true,” writes Pongtorn Malakul from his offices in Bangkok. “In the world of hi-fi, American products are the Thai's dream. I have spent 12 years building audio products and selling them in the East, but never the US and European markets. I knew we would need something special there. I made the acquaintance of Mr. Smith through Monster Cable, and when he told us he knew Mr. Marsh, I was very excited. . .we knew his work, you see! I admire the American's creativity. I want to make good products for everybody, more than I want getting rich. Though I don't mind both if they happen at the same time!
“We are trying to make the best product at the most modest price,” Mr. Malakul continues. “When I was young I dreamed of having Audio Research or Krell or Jadis in my home. But I couldn't afford them. Now is my chance to help my kind of young people - who appreciate the virtues of music - to afford the best products: Japanese price/American quality! That makes me happy.”
Marsh Sound Design’s first products were a tube-hybrid line amplifier, MSD P2000t; a solid-state line amplifier, P2000; a 400 watt stereo power amplifier, A400s; and a 200 watt power amplifier, A200s. The line now includes many more exciting audio/video products. Go to the menu above to see them for yourself.
Complex? Yes, but elegant and effective.
