Draft:Onix Audio

• Comment: Fails WP:NCOMPANY, lacks any sources or references. Dan arndt (talk) 09:13, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

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Onix Audio was a British HiFi manufacturer based in Brighton.

The company was formed in 1979 by a partnership between Tony Brady and Craig Hill.

History

Tony Brady had completed an Electronics apprenticeship with Thorn EMI and had a keen interest in High Fidelity Audio. Tony was a customer of Brighton Cassette and HiFi which was owned by Craig's father, from which he had purchased a Turntable, MC phono cartridge and phono stage. Tony found the phono stage too noisy so designed and built his own phono preamplifier. Upon evaluation, Craig Hill considered this very good and the two decided to build more and sell them through Craig's Dad's shop. A partnership was formed and this was 1979.

In 1981, Tony designed an integrated amplifier which was the first Onix Audio product given a model name - the OA20. Whilst Tony did the electronic design work, Craig Hill took charge of the casework design, marketing and other business tasks. He played an important part in the success and and further products were developed. In 1986, Tony Brady brought his then friend and former work colleague Adam Worsfold in when Onix needed PCB assembly staff and Adam needed work. Adam then bought a share in Onix and eventually took full ownership in 1986. In 1991, Swisstone Electronics takes a share of Onix to relieve its financial difficulties and eventually takes full ownership. In 1997, Taiwan company Sound Art acquires Onix with the intention to restart it in Asia, but plans stall. In 2002, Shanling of Shenzen China acquires Onix and develops new product lines. Shanling is restricted to ROW trade due to Onix Trademark ownership dispute for the UK. Adam Worsfold had retained the UK Onix Trademark. In 2021, Shanling acquires the UK Onix Tradename from Onix (GB) Ltd with the intention to market products within the UK.

Products

The first Onix products were the phono preamplifiers which Tony Brady had initially designed for himself. In 1981, the OA20 Integrated Amplifier was produced and this developed into the OA21A.

Integrated Amplifiers

Introduced	Ended	Model	Details
1981	1982	OA20	75W 6'' wide 'shoebox' case format, later stretched to 8'' to become OA21A. MC or MM phono via plug in head amp board
1982		OA21A	75W - OA20 amplifier in 8" wider shoebox case to provide more room layout.
		OA21B	75W - LM317T regulator instead of a OA21A gyrator supply for the pre amp.
		OA21C	50W - Power dropped to 50W as Onix found a lower voltage but higher current transformer sounded better. Sliding bias added: as the output level increased, so did the bias up to a point. Input switching was done by relays instead of the rotary switch of the previous versions. All above models had DIN connectors.
		OA21D	50W - RCA phono inputs instead of DIN. Some later models have OA21E circuit improvements.
	1989	OA21E	50W - Mainboard changed to better accommodate improved circuit of resistors being put in series with some transistor legs. Also found on late examples OA21Ds but without revised mainboard layout.
1985	1988	OA20/2	30W Integrated Amplifier with on-board MM phono stage.
1988	1992	OA22	30W - Revised version of OA20/2 with extra input; onboard MM phono stage.
1989	1995	OA21S	50W - Revised OA21 circuit. Fuses removed and an over-current trip board-used instead. Sliding bias of previous versions removed. Input switching now by Alps slide switch replacing the relays except for mute.
1992	1995	OA22/2	30W? - Line only version built on OA21S pcb
		OA30	30W? - Re-cased OA22/2 in 430mm style case. Bass and Treble controls.
1992	1996	OA31	50W? - 430mm wide version of OA21S, early versions with tape record selector
		OA32	30W? - Update to the OA30 with option for phono board on some versions
		OA88	80W - Higher power version of OA31 for export

Tuners

Introduced	Ended	Model	Details
1987	1995	BWD 1	FM Tuner.
1995	1996	TU39	Limited edition FM tuner 430mm wide case with large internal power supply.

Power Supplies

Introduced	Ended	Model	Details
1984		SOAP	SOAP - Special Onix Audio Power supply to work with OA21C- built in a 6 inch wide case. Auto power on. Designed to help the OA21C drive difficult speaker loads, especially the Linn SARAs of that time.
1984		TPS	TPS - Turntable Power Supply for Oracle Turntable, built in 6" SOAP case.
1985		SOAP1	Updated SOAP to work with OA21 (C-S) & BWD 1 Tuner. Built in a 8 inch wide case with +/- 36V output to OA21 amplifier to provide more current with difficult speaker loads.
1989		SOAP2	As SOAP 1 but with 2 x 24V output added to power OA24 pre amp or OA21S phono section.
1987	1995	T SOAP	T SOAP - Small power supply for BWD 1 Tuner.

Preamplifiers

Introduced	Ended	Model	Details
1989	1995	OA24	Pre amp with internal MC & MM phono stage
		OA35	Pre amp with optional MC or MM phono board - no remote - 430mm wide
		OA36	Pre amp with optional MC or MM phono board - with remote - 430mm wide

Power Amplifiers

Introduced	Ended	Model	Details
1989		OA401	50W Stereo power amplifier with internal supply for OA24 preamp
1989		OA601	75W Stereo power amplifier with regulated power supplies for each channel
1989		OA801	100W Mono power amplifier with separate regulated supplies for input and output stages
1992	1996	OA701	Revised OA601 in 430mm style case
1992	1996	OA901	Revised OA801 in 430mm style case
		OA1200	100W Stereo power amplifier for export

CD Players

Introduced	Ended	Model	Details
1992	1995	CD33	CD player with Philips DAC7 chip
1996		CD33/3	HDCD CD player in 430mm wide box. Burr Brown DAC chip