Treehaus Audiolab "The Preamplifier"

Imagine navigating the hectic rooms of an audio show at which a sea of similar-looking, similar-sounding gear blends into a predictable thrum, drawing a chorus of familiar nods.

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Then you stumble into the room occupied by Rich Pinto and his Treehaus Audiolab components. Here, the expected evaporates, replaced by designs that offer something different, both inside and out, sparking curiosity among jaded journalists and seasoned listeners.

Now step into the Southport, Connecticut, workshop of Treehaus Audiolab, where Rich Pinto crafts Treehaus Audiolab's products, loosely but richly inspired by echoes of Western Electric and Klangfilm. Picture SET amplifiers and SUTS forged like '50s-era muscle car motors standing in contrast to field coil loudspeakers that recall large woodland sprites. Artistry and engineering intertwine: Pinto shapes the handsome, industrial-looking exteriors, while Radu Tarta of Simple Pleasure Tube Amps¹ handles the circuits. It's a collaboration of rugged beauty and sonic inventiveness.

"We approach our electronics, as well as our speakers and complete systems, as a recipe," Pinto wrote in an email when I asked him about his design goals. "We aim for a high degree of clarity and purity, with a bit of DHT (directly heated triode) tube seasoning and spice. DHTs have a magic about them, a bit of second-harmonic distortion, that fits the essence of the brand's sonic signature.