Designed, engineered, and built in Maryland.
Full Transparency
First, let’s put our cards on the table. We are an American company based in Maryland. We design, engineer, do final assembly, build, and QC everything in the United States. We’ve moved all production to the USA and source as much as possible stateside. Our overseas workshop was closed in 2024.
Black Ice does not outsource our production to a third party. We control the quality and the components we use, with no shortcuts. We don’t use an OEM, we are the OEM. Our products and components are designed by us in Maryland, so there is no cheap version or copy of our gear made under a different name.
Simple. We want to explain how Black Ice is able to offer amazing performance, reliability, and value. Our quality is on par with, and often superior to, any competitor at any price point, and we challenge anybody to prove us wrong.
This is why we stand behind our gear and will service and repair Black Ice Audio equipment for as long as we have the parts. That includes the legacy Genuine Jolida gear too!
Why We’re Telling You This
Our Design Philosophy
We have four basic principles that make up the Black Ice Audio Design Philosophy.
Acoustic Quality
Sound quality that can be perceived by everyone. We test to make certain our designs have low noise and clarity without sacrificing smoothness, weight in the midrange, appropriate dynamics, three-dimensionality, a wide vertical and horizontal soundstage, and transparency.
Volume-related characteristics matter to us too. We look for clarity and proportion at extremely low volumes, bloom at mid-level volumes, and smoothness, dynamics, and no distortion at high volumes.
Value
The products we design and build provide top performance in their price category, as well as useful features.
Sustainability
We believe each of our products is an investment and should never end up in a landfill. Your amplifier should be passed down to the next generation, and we will repair it as long as Black Ice Audio can source the parts needed. We will provide parts, information, or support to any customer or repair center trying to keep our products making music.
Reliability
We have a saying in the factory: “Don’t scare the straights.” If tube equipment were seen as twitchy or unreliable, first-time buyers would never try tube gear again. So we build reliability into the design.
Our ultra-linear design improves the sound at low volumes and helps the amplifier run cooler and at lower currents, which means longer life and more reliable operation. We wire the tubes back to the fuse and the digital protection circuit, so if a vacuum tube short circuits, all you lose is a replaceable fuse, or the unit goes into standby.
All of our units use high-quality parts for sound and reliability. Every unit is tested for both physical quality and electronic stability for a minimum of 48 hours before it ships.
Our Promise
That’s it. No sales pitch or gimmicks, no crazy promises. We listen to and stand behind our gear. Give us a chance and we will not disappoint!
How We Build It
Step One
We design and engineer all of our products here in the U.S. with collaboration from Jim Fosgate and Jerred Dunkerson. Sometimes hundreds of prototypes are built and tested until we feel a design is ready for final production.
Step Two
We settle on a final design and coordinate with our suppliers. We have moved to building our products in Maryland.
Step Three
Every Black Ice product is tested and then burned in for a minimum of 48 hours.
Step Four
Each product is thoroughly inspected for quality, cleaned, and packed before shipping to customers around the world.
Step Five
Our customers get to enjoy their music like never before and know that in the unlikely event something goes wrong, we are here to get you rocking again!
Built in Maryland
Designed, engineered, and built in Maryland. From the first prototype to final inspection, every Black Ice product is made right here at home.