QUARK Audio

My name is Damien Norwick, and I am the founder of QUARK Audio. Working in the high end audio industry has always been my dream, and after many years of hard work I found that not many doors open for a newcomer, or simply that I wasn't happy with the mass produced audio where many companies are disconnected from their customers. I wanted something different than mainstream, something more personal and qualitive. So I chose to build upon what I have learned over almost a decade of different aspects in the audio industry to create QUARK, the Quantum Unification of Audio Related Knowledge. 

 I had a small local repair business years ago founded around 2017 by the name of Voltaic Symphony. This company had originated simply because I was too poor to afford new equipment, so I would purchase old broken equipment and repair it to upgrade my own system, and after a while all of my audio friends brought me their vintage equipment to fix. Within a few months all of my weekends were full cleaning and repairing some of the monster receivers of the 70s, integrated stereos, and tape decks. With the onset of the pandemic, faced with financial difficulties where I needed to focus on full time employment for my family, and the need for more tools and equipment to provide my services, I decided to shutter VS. 

Years later after much planning and hard work building capital to invest, I was able to rebuild and launch my long time passion project QUARK. Like many businesses of old, QUARK was founded in my basement building up my reputation in the industry, and the name being a solute to one of my audio idols Arnold Nudell. I had spent time during the pandemic doing various jobs in high end audio marketing for brands such as JansZen Electrostatic and Massimo, so I leveraged this experience to get my foot in the door providing marketing services and later providing even more services such as assembly and electronics modifications.  I even spent some time as the general manager for Vera-Fi Audio dealing with logistics, dealer sales and customer service, as well as building some of the products for the company. 

After having spent time in the audio industry, hearing and working on multiple brands of audio components, I have realized how much is simply marketing or rebranding. I found myself relating to and enjoying vintage equipment more than most new equipment because of the thought put into the design, sound quality, and the user experience. I don't want yet another app, or a remote control, I cant afford or substantiate the cost of cabling for me to need a remote besides for volume, and besides the mechanical switches of old were much better. There is a certain pleasure in the physical things where our world is populated by programming and screens. Seeing Angela-Gilbert's work and hearing it in person reaffirmed everything that I have been questioning, reminding me of my original passion and reasons why I wanted to be in the audio industry to begin with. I want to be able to provide the world with quality, purpose built equipment by people who care and will be honest with you on what will truly benefit your system, bringing you closer to the music. Though I do have plans to build and provide my own audio components in the coming year, uniting with Gilbert Yeung is the first step in the right direction. He has been fighting this crusade for years, being one of the only true remaining innovators who care about bringing you closer to the music and providing you with choice in a world full of plain boxes. 

For more on my audio journey, please read my article on my blog at Modest Midwest Audiophile