EveAnna Manley Talks Tubes

EveAnna Lectures At CRAS

Manley is to tube gear as Sterling is to silver. Their signature gear such as the VoxBox, Stereo Pultec EQP1A and Variable MU compressor/limiter is found in the racks of major studios all over the world, not to mention the racks at the Conservatory of Recording Arts. The newly expanded Chino, California-based manufacturing firm not only makes their own line of audio gear for studio and audiophile use; they also manufacture George Massenburg's renowned GML line of audio products. EveAnna Manley owns the whole operation, which employs more than 40 people and is about to expand beyond their current 11,000 square-foot facility.

Manley recently visited the Conservatory campus in Tempe to talk to the students about tube gear and the path that her career has taken. "I thought the facility was impressive and it was great talking to the students," said Manley of her visit to the campus. In her talk to the students, Manley emphasized high quality, service, and organization as the key to success in her business. "The kids were very attentive and it was a great audience to talk tubes to," said Manley. "I get a lot of requests to talk to recording schools, but I don't usually have the time; I'm glad I had a chance to visit the Conservatory and talk to these students about what it's like to work in audio."

Manley is a true Renaissance woman who can perform many of the tasks in the factory from soldering printed circuit boards to creating circuit designs. The Columbia University grad started working for, and eventually marrying, the company's founder David Manley back in 1989. Since then, she bought the company and has grown it into the U.S. tube gear powerhouse it is today.

The students got an insider's view of audio manufacturing not often afforded to up-and-coming audio pros. For instance, who would guess that there is great difficulty in finding tubes for specific products because of limited manufacturing and because of events such as the war in Yugoslavia? Manley also profiled how they test tubes for different qualities depending on the application. It was also ironic that she talked about her dislike of heavy compression in the mastering stage of CD production, even though her products are probably the most responsible for this. "We're making guns, not pulling triggers" was her pithy answer to that indictment.

EveAnna Manley joins a growing list of audio luminaries who have visited the campus including; console guru Rupert Neve, engineers Mike Farrow, Mike Sokol and others.