Music First Audio

Founded in 2002 by Jonathan Billington in Rye, East Sussex, Music First Audio emerged from Stevens & Billington Ltd, a specialist audio transformer winding business established in 1963 by Mr Stevens and Mr Billington. Jonathan Billington, who took over the family business in 1986 after earning his BSc Honours in electronics and communications engineering, transformed Stevens & Billington into a supplier for prestigious organizations including the BBC, Soundcraft, and The Royal Opera House. Music First Audio launched in 2003 with their transformer passive preamplifier, immediately acclaimed by Hi-Fi World as 'the best pre amplifier ever made.' The company specializes in transformer-based passive preamplifiers (TVCs) using their legendary TX102 transformer, the result of 40+ years of transformer design. Their current range includes the Baby Classic (£2100), Classic V2 (£2900), Baby Reference V2 (£5975), and Reference V2 (£7200), along with moving coil step-up transformers. With six decades of transformer winding expertise, all products are hand-built in their workshop near Rye, maintaining Music First Audio's position as the premium brand in transformer passive preamplifiers worldwide.