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- By KEN MICALLEF

In the high-end audio industry, the representation of women in professional roles is strikingly low. Yet these women are integral to every facet of the industry, from engineering and design to leadership, proving that their contributions are vital.

To name just a few: There's EveAnna Dauray Manley, who recently sold her company, Manley Laboratories, Inc., to music tech entrepreneur Dirk Ulrich. There's Inès Adler of Voxativ, whose "contagious passion for audio is built right into her components," which "makes every Voxativ visit a blast," I wrote about the Voxativ room at High End Munich 2025. Voxativ's founder and chief engineer, Adler holds patents in engine design for Daimler Mercedes-Benz. She even started her own electric vehicle charging company. Carolyn Counnas is the industrial designer for Zesto Audio; she and husband George Counnas manufacture an extensive line of preamps, amplifiers, phono stages, and transformers. The Zesto Bia 200 Select Power Amplifier and Zesto Leto Ultra II preamplifier have won high marks in Stereophile reviews—in the process gaining notice for their unique look.

There's Ofra Gershman, Gershman's "Director of International Marketing at Tecno-Logic." Angela Cardas is chief operations officer at Cardas Audio, whose cables connect thousands of systems across the globe. Cardas's tenure of 38 years, seven months, must be some kind of hi-fi record, beating out even John Atkinson's 33 1⁄3 years as editor of Stereophile. Britta Mogensen founded Denmark's AVA Group A/S, the company behind Vitus Audio. Gabi Rynveld cofounded Crystal Cable and GR Audio Art and now works with VinnieRossi. When cable company Transparent Audio was started up 45 years ago (!), Karen Sumner was one of the three founders.