Cary Audio Design was founded in May, 1989 by Dennis Had and his wife, Donna, on their dining room table. Dennis' passion for electronics started when he was seven years old. He and his boyhood friends used to build all types of vacuum tube amplifiers. The contest was to see which one sounded the best. As Dennis states, "Nothing ever could sound as good as his single-ended amplifiers." Dennis won his first blue ribbon when he entered one of his amplifier designs in a seventh grade science project. This simply fueled his passion to continue to design and build audio electronics. As time progressed, Dennis founded several other companies, primarily in the RF field. However, his passion for audio electronics remained. One day while in a High-End audio store, Dennis had the opportunity to see the products of several High-End companies. As he examined them, he realized that he could make a superior product. Thus, Cary Audio Design was born.

With personal assets and an investment from an outside shareholder, Cary Audio Design used the funds to build its initial corporate structure. Cary Audio leased an 800-square-foot portion of a building located in an industrial park in Cary, NC. The initial products designed and manufactured by Cary Audio was a PD-1, which was a passive line stage preamplifier, and a CAD 100, which was a 100 watt per channel mono block amplifier. With the two products firmly in hand, Cary Audio started its first four-color advertising in the pages of Stereophile magazine. The advertising campaign along with participation in the 1990 Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) fueled strong demand for Cary Audio's products.

As Cary Audio's sales were growing exponentially, the need for dedicated personnel in certain areas of the company become more apparent. Through mutual business associates, Dennis was introduced to Billy Wright. As with Dennis, Billy was a true entrepreneur at heart. With his background in Operations and Finance, Billy came on board in 1992 to bring the operations side of the business to order. Dennis' and Billy's talents complemented each other well and helped elevate Cary Audio to a new level in the high-end audio electronics industry.

With the business booming, growing pains were a part of the next few years. In 1991, the lack of factory space determined the decision to lease an additional 800 sq. ft. next door to the current space, knocking the wall out and creating one large space. All too soon that square footage was utilized, and the acquisition of additional space was again at the top of the list. After adding another “hovel” (what Dennis calls these individual small spaces) Cary Audio was up to 2400 sq. ft. We were taking the building over, one area at a time. At last, Cary had outgrown the current space and in 1992 decided to build a new 5400 sq. ft. building. This space allowed Cary Audio Design to grow, and worked well for many years, until 2002 when Cary Audio moved into the 10,000 sq. ft. space we currently call home.

In the last 10 years, Cary Audio Design has expanded the business and segmented the products into four different Series, each with its own specialty or focus. New products include DVD players, and surround processors for the Home Theater industry, and exceptional cost efficient 2 channel components in the Concept Series. The core business of tube products and 2 channel components continues to set the standard in the high end audio marketplace. The four product categories are:

	The Classic Series offers audiophile products with time proven innovation, technology and materials that bring the glorious classic Cary sound to the 21st century.			The Cinema Series offers breathtaking video and sound quality for home cinema lovers. The Cinema products are easily integrated with complete home automation systems.
	The Concept Series focused on digital technology in an affordable price range. The components offer high end quality and sound reproduction you would expect from much more expensive units.			The Xciter Collection is compact and designed for the desktop. Listen with speakers or your favorite headphones. Amazing sound from your disc or computer source.Connectivity and big sound let the Xcitement begin!

In the early months of 2006, Cary Audio introduced a CD player and digital integrated amplifier in the new Concept Series. Our new DVD 7 player and Cinema 11 processor solidify Cary’s presence in the high-end electronics market, helping propel Cary to the top of the Home Theater Industry.

Cary Audio is a leader in vacuum tube technology and continues to maintain that leadership role, as we expand into other markets.