37 Years played with pride

Outline is an Italian company. Member of the Audio Engineering Society, was founded in 1973 by a team which merged skills from different but complementary backgrounds - musicians, audiophiles and electronic designers - brought together by the great passion for music and top quality sound reproduction which they had in common. The Outline story began when Guido Noselli, putting his musical experience to use, founded the firm to enter the emergent hi-fi market.

The 'Araldi' band, founded in 1966. Guido Noselli is the first on the right

Series of Outline hi-end electronics (1975-1978)

The successful venture, which later left the confines of private homes and crossed over into those "shrines" of music called discos, has expanded constantly during the 37-plus years since then, becoming a well-known name at national and international level, with over thirty distributors in five continents.

Outline Doppias, Integras and Micras at the DNA Club (Birmingham, UK)

A lot has changed since then: trends, music and the tastes of fans who want to enjoy themselves listening and dancing to good music have all had a considerable influence on the pro audio market. Outline's success is due to its ability to come up with products always able to meet changing demands and above all ensure great operating reliability, a must for "public" applications.

Through the years, Outline has built up a portfolio of thousands of fully satisfied corporate clients: discotheques, concert halls, rental firms, pubs, indoor sports venues, cruise liners, cinemas, theatres, concerts, conference halls ecc., as well as private users who, because of their passion for music and quality sound, use Outline professional equipment at home too. In spite of changing trends, some of the firm's products are still in use to this day, even after twenty years!

Tripla's cluster and Topsub subwoofers. Pooh's tour, 1997, Italy

Tripla's cluster (single centre channel, mono). Pooh's tour, 1998, Italy

Meazza Stadium, Milan, Italy. 24 Tripla enclosures was used during the Champions League matches

'Grande' theatre, Brescia, Italy. Four Doppias for the Opera

Various shots of the Verona's Filarmonico cinema, Italy. The Outline Movie series system can be clearly seen and the huge (17 metres wide) cement subwoofer below. The performance figures are record-breaking. This is an exclusive idea for this type of application, and guarantees gutsy audio reproduction, inconceivable with traditional systems.

Outline Philosophy

Nowadays, Outline manufactures a comprehensive range of professional audio products built without cutting any corners and with the precise intent of supplying high quality and absolute operating reliability.

Outline's philosophy is based on the fundamental premise that any audio system is a chain whose overall performance depends on the strength of the weakest link. A uniform, adequately dimensioned audio chain gives better results at the same cost and maintains its characteristics for much longer, thanks to the balanced performance of the various components and their optimized interaction.

For this indisputable elementary reason, Outline manufactures the entire amplification chain required for professional sound reinforcement systems in-house. An Outline sound system which is correctly designed, installed and calibrated, runs for many years with top performance and no need for any particular maintenance.

Outline's catalogue therefore includes full-range speaker systems, with numerous models going from 50 to 2100 Watt (AES), amplifiers ranging in power from 700 to 6,000 Watts RMS per channel (PWM models), digital processors and the well-known mixers, the first in the world (the MX500 in far-off 1973) built with the functions required by DJs. Still imitated to this day by famous international firms, these still boast their supremacy as an undisputed reference point in this sector.

1990 - Outline introduces a turntable (ET System) for measuring loudspeaker enclosures’ polar dispersion. It's another reference point, worldwide.

Since then, Outline turntables have been used to measure the dispersion characteristics of the world’s best loudspeaker systems, designed by the most authoritative sound designers (see references). Nowadays (2007) this product is currently in production and it's one of the best sellers too.

Outline ET System, launched in 1990. Nowadays, Outline turntables are used by the most authoritative sound designers (see references).In the picture above, Pat Brown of Synergetic Audio Concept, Inc. USA. Their audio seminars are considered the industry’s finest, worldwide.

Outline Pro 405, launched in 1994 at the Rimini's SIB. Its narrow high lines, number of channels and functions have been a source of inspiration for at least thirty (or more...) similar products worldwide.

Outline equipment is used in thousands of permanent installations and mobile set-ups in over thirty nations and forms the cornerstone of high quality sound systems in live concerts, theatres, clubs, cinemas, conference halls, resorts, hotels, shopping malls, indoor sports arenas, stadiums ecc.

Today

Constant investment in research and development has enabled Outline to come up with products which are among the top in the world's professional sound reinforcement technology sector.

Nowadays, Outline is able to compete with the world's top names in audio, which very often have at least half a century of trading to their credit: the only firm always able to turn out products which are innovative and often forerunners of market requirements.

These include the "Unimetal" compression driver, "Tripla" loudspeaker enclosures and "Twin Pulse" digital amplifiers, all patented, worldwide. Unimetal (launched in 1992) is a compression driver for high frequencies with a diaphragm made from a thin (0.06mm) sheet of aluminium which, thanks to the use of technology which is still unbeaten to this day, incorporates suspension, coil and diaphragm in one piece, ensuring distinctly better performance and longer life than conventional drivers.

Outline's famous UNIMETAL®, launched in 1992 and patented worldwide. Its special diaphragm/suspension group in aluminium and magnesium alloy, enables it to reproduce music extremely rapidly and with remarkable precision. Click here for more...

Outline Tripla (1994). Patented design. Components: 4x12"; 2x8"; 1x3". Dimensions: 110 x 55 x 60 cm. 143dBSPL peak at full power at 1m. Frequency response: 46Hz ÷ 19.3kHz

Outline's best-known enclosure, the Tripla, launched in 1994 (and currently in production) is described as "High Density" as it was the first speaker system to use no less than seven loudspeakers in a space in which three were normally fitted, resulting in performance comparable with systems three or four times its size. Lastly, "T Series amplifiers - real "concentrated power": the "T Eleven" version's 6,000 Watts per channel in a single rack unit (just 44mm. high!) and weighing only 12 kilograms is at the very top in this field. Outline's catalogue includes top level full-range speaker systems, some of them self-powered and internally DSP processed, such as KANGURO system, awarded for “Design Excellence” at the Plasa 2001 expo in London and the stage monitor H.A.R.D. 212 (patent pending), currently in use on top artists' tours, worldwide. An innovative line-array system, BUTTERFLY, for which 4 International Patents have been applied for, has been recently introduced on the market.

Outline Kanguro (2000). Patent pending. Awarded for 'Design Excellence' at the Plasa 2001 expo in London. Components: 1x15"; 1x12"; 1x1". Dimensions: 55 x 55 x 60 cm. 132dBSPL peak at full power at 1m. Frequency response: 36Hz ÷ 18.5kHz. Phase response: ± 45° from 500Hz to 16kHz. Click here for more...

Outline H.A.R.D. 212 (2001). Ultra low-profile stage monitor (33cm). Patent pending. Components: 2x12"; 1x3". Dimensions: 33 x 68 x 48.5 cm. 140dBSPL peak at full power at 1m. Frequency response: 64Hz ÷ 15.5kHz. Phase response: ± 45° from 500Hz to 16kHz. Available in self-powered and passive versions.

Outline Butterfly line array system (2003). It's yet another extremely important technical goal achieved by Outline thirty years from the company’s foundation. Four international patents have been applied for. Designed and constructed without cutting any corners to save on costs, Butterfly has optimized all the acoustic and operating parameters of a vertical line array, with the precise aim of achieving state of the art performance. Click here for more details... More? Please visit the growing section Technologies-Patents --->

Sales Network

Outline is distributed in over thirty countries throughout the world by a Sales Network made up of Exclusive Distributors who in turn work with franchising sales networks and representatives. Outline's sales philosophy is based on a close synergy between the products and the services offered to clients. Each Outline national distributor has sufficient products in stock to meet the majority of requirements, a complete range of spare parts and a repair shop. Every Outline Distributor has a design office whose job it is to give their clients consultation on how to make the most of Outline products. Outline believes high-tech products shouldn't be put on the market any other way and always has clients' and end users' satisfaction as its primary goal.

The future from Outline's point of view

Coming years will see a large worldwide challenge with increasingly widespread use of digital technology in all the electronic equipment necessary for producing or reproducing music. For years, Outline has invested in human resources to face this challenge and, in spite of being up against competitors who are giants as far as turnover and distribution are concerned, intends continuing as it has done for the last 37 years. Even giants have their weak points and can be beaten, particularly in a sector such as pro audio, in which end results predominantly depend on the judgement each person's brain gives via his or her sense of hearing. Art with a capital A - the art of reproducing or playing music, cannot yet be replaced by technology and Outline isn't at all afraid of a direct A-B comparison test with any competitor on the Italian or international market.