Cloney Audio is one of Ireland's oldest established hi-fi businesses. But the story of Cloney Audio goes back even further than the shop itself. In the early sixties, a young Noel Cloney started his first job in the audio business at Brownlee Brothers while also studying electronics by night at Kevin Street College.
This was back in the days when trade restrictions meant that selling in Ireland frequently required a parallel manufacturing presence. And so it was that Noel began his career in the test department at Brownlee Brothers in Molesworth Street, donning his white coat to grade and match the transistors for Brownlee's TR80 Pilot Radio. Imagine his surprise when he ended up on the assembly line and moving later to quality control.
Ironically, Brownlees were following the successful Japanese management technique of ensuring that staff gain experience of all aspects of the business before promotion. By the time the young Noel was let loose on customers, he knew Brownlee's business inside out.
But Noel had wider horizons and moved on from Brownlees to spend several years in the London of the swinging sixties, at first with Teletape on Shaftsbury Avenue and later at the hi-fi Mecca of Edgeware Road. When not immersed in the world of recorded music, Noel spent much of his free time attending concerts at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and the Festival Hall becoming intimately familiar with the "absolute sound" of live acoustic instruments.
Then in 1966 it was back to Dublin where Noel opened his first premises. The search for a premises that would meet the demands of the business continued over several years until Noel purchased Cloney Audio's current premises at 55 Main St Blackrock.
Over its thirty years of history, Noel and his colleagues have built up a vast knowledge of the audio and home entertainment business. An insatiable curiosity and constant search for the best have ensured that every development has been explored and rigorously evaluated. The sixties saw valves give way to transistors, only to see valve equipment make a resurgence in the 1980s and continue to develop even now. In the Seventies, A&R Cambridge introduced its groundbreaking A60 amplifier which, along with the Rega turntable, brought real hi-fi to affordable levels for the first time. A&R continues (as Arcam) to maintain the tradition of excellent affordable hi-fi, as well as becoming a major player in home theatre. Bowers and Wilkins speakers were taken on in 1968 - later to become B&W.
From the seventies and into the eighties, two products Linn and Naim marked out the upper echelons of the hi-fi business and Cloney Audio spent many long hours engaged in the intricacies of setting up the LP12. Despite the cultism that surrounded these products at the time, Cloney Audio was never willing to be shackled by any particular orthodoxy. Thus it was that the Roksan Xerxes and Pink Triangle turntables were also offered to customers. (These days Project turntables represent our high quality budget record player, priced from around 200 euro, whereas Clearaudio's range, the German turntable manufacturer, are our high-end record players - superb sound quality and stunning looking.)
Likewise, Noel's global contacts brought him news of an emerging high end manufacturer, Classé from Canada, whose amplifiers established an entirely new reference standard for many Irish hi-fi enthusiasts.
Throughout this period, Cloney Audio spread the hi-fi message to the masses via its hi-fi shows, which were held on a periodic basis at venues such as the Killiney Court, Jury's and Burlington hotels.
Fast forwarding to the present day and Cloney Audio is still continuing to expand its horizons. The Dublin Hi-Fi Show has now become an important feature in the international hi-fi and home cinema calendar. And while two channel hi-fi remains the heart of Cloney Audio, multiroom and home theater have become increasingly important parts of the business.
Its a long way from dusty rooms and white shop coats, but the search for the best possible sound (and vision) remains the spirit of Cloney Audio.
