PS Audio - Historic Products (1990 To 1997)

Historic Products (1990 To 1997)

From 1990 to 1997, co-founder McGowan left the company and joined Infinity (audio) founder Arnie Nudell to form Genesis Loudspeakers. During the 7 year period between 1990 and 1997 the company was owned and operated by Steve Jeffery, President and general manager and Randy Patton, VP of sales, marketing and product development.

Products during this era of the company took a somewhat different direction under the design guidance of Dr. Robert Odell and product development VP Randy Patton (Sumo). Preamplifiers built during this era included the 6.0 and 6.5 and were IC op amp based rather than discrete high-voltage designs of the past era. It was during this time period the company acquired a more modern look to the industrial design.

The biggest contributions to the company product legacy was the line of digital audio products engineered by the outside vendor Ultra Analog located in the Bay Area. Ultra Analog, headed by Dick Powers, was an engineering centric ODM/OEM producing some of the world's first 24 bit DAC modules. These modules were hybrids potted in epoxy and were built around multiple Burr Brown 16 and 18 bit DAC chips. The first products from this partnership were the PS Audio Ultralink DAC, ReferenceLink DAC and A/D converter and Lambda transport. The Ultralink garnered Stereophile magazine's product of the year. The Lambda transport was built around a Marantz CD mechanism. The Ultralink, ReferenceLink and Lambda transport were designed and built by Ultra Analog and marketed under the PS brand for nearly 5 years. PS Audio Inc. acquired Ultra Analog in 1994.

In 1995 PS Audio also acquired Hales loudspeakers and the Threshold Corporation. Following the two acquisitions Randy Patton purchased all shares of PS Audio from Steve Jeffery and owned 100% of the corporation. Steve Jeffery went on to be appointed President of the Wadia Corporation, a competing high-end audio DAC manufacturer.

Patton ran PS Audio and the Threshold Corporation until 1997 when the entity ceased operations and declared bankruptcy. Steve Jeffery, the primary creditor of the corporation, liquidated the remaining assets of the company and sold the name PS Audio back to McGowan who restarted operations in 1998.