Daniel Hertz S.A.

Daniel Hertz S.A. is a high-performance audio company based in Switzerland. The company makes high-efficiency loudspeakers, power amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, and audio processing software. Daniel Hertz provides consulting services to major companies like LG Electronics of Korea and semiconductor firm Intersil (Milpitas, CA, USA).

Daniel Hertz was founded in 2007 by audio industry legend Mark Levinson, a multi-instrumentalist, recording and mastering engineer, equipment designer and serial entrepreneur. Levinson previously founded Mark Levinson Audio Systems, Cello Ltd. and Red Rose Music. The company name combines the given name of Levinson's father with his mother's family name. His father Daniel Levinson was a professor of psychology at Yale University, his mother Maria is a grandniece of German physicist Heinrich Hertz, for whom the scientific unit for cycles-per-second is named. It can be said that Hertz demonstrations were the beginning of audio.

Loudspeakers from Daniel Hertz are noted for high sensitivity (the flagship bi-amplified M1 model is rated at 100 dB/1W/1M), natural sound and elegant design, with the ability to reproduce the recording as fully and faithfully as possible. Daniel Hertz amplifiers are similarly designed for natural sound and dynamics, with special attention paid to the milliwatt region, the power range where most of the music occurs in typical playback situations with high-sensitivity loudspeakers.

Daniel Hertz "Master Class" audio processing software (for use with Apple computers) provides more analog sound and feeling from digital sources, and allows the user to match the recordings to the system by a six-band equalizer (the digital version on the legendary Cello Audio Palette). Daniel Hertz position is that the recording is the most important part of the system and for the best result it should be fine tuned to play on the given playback system.

Daniel Hertz launched production in 2010 with expensive flagship products including the M1 loudspeaker, M5 monoblock power amplifier, and M6 pre-amplifier with inboard digital-to-analog converter. The M2 speaker and M3 18” subwoofer are lifestyle products also for home theater applications. Recent additions to the line include updated M5L amp, M6L pre-amp, M7 speaker, M8 studio monitor speaker and more compact and affordable products like the M9 amplifier and M10 loudspeaker (May 2015)

Mark Levinson says, “Daniel Hertz is the alternative to high end audio, for people who love music and appreciate quality. Daniel Hertz is and will always be an engineering-driven company that puts his customer first."