Craftsmanship
Machines made one at a time, by the people who designed them.
In Montans, near Toulouse, a small team designs, assembles and listens to every Métronome unit. Production runs are short, hands are few, and no unit leaves the workshop without having been listened to.
From design to listening
Three moments, in the same workshop, for every unit. The last one decides whether it ships or stays.
Everything is decided before the first part
The internal layout of a unit comes down to millimetres. Every element is given its place, and that place has been chosen.
This work is done in the workshop, before anything is built, and then holds for every unit in the run.
Assembled by hand
Boards are soldered in the workshop, then each unit is assembled piece by piece and checked individually, in the same order from one machine to the next.
The consistency of a short run rests on the steadiness of the hand.
Tested, then listened to
Before leaving the workshop, every unit goes to the test bench, input by input, then to listening.
The bench validates, listening decides. A unit that does not hold up stays in the workshop.
Two choices that commit the unit for as long as you listen to it.
Tubes, when you want them
Depending on the run, the workshop fits transistors or tubes: two ways of carrying the same music, one for speed and grip, the other for body and texture. Where both are present, you move from one to the other without opening the unit.
Each listener tunes their own sound, rather than settling for a voice fixed once and for all.
Built to last, not to be replaced
Units are designed to evolve after purchase, at the pace of formats and uses, without everything having to be replaced. They come back to the workshop that made them.
What leaves here is made to stay in a system for ten years and more.