Inside Stories: Viola, the Little-Known Dream BrandInside Stories Viola, the Little-Known Dream Brand
Born of Cello, led by Paul Jayson: for JP, Viola is one of the very few brands held in the highest esteem throughout the audiophile world.
Only a handful of manufacturers succeed in developing components that are consistently rated positively. Most others that are generally recognized also attract critical voices. But for three – and really only three – companies, the highest esteem applies across the audiophile world: in my view and experience these include Spectral from the USA, with its amplifiers and CD players, and Viola. The latter is less well known in the audiophile scene. Viola, by the way, grew out of “Cello,” known for its extraordinarily elaborate components, such as the “Audio Palette” equalizer or the modular “Audio Suite” preamplifier. I have owned the latter for many years. Wherever I was jointly responsible for outstanding sound, the Audio Suite was used. So “Cello,” at least as far as amplifiers are concerned, also belongs among these three top brands (its loudspeakers are debatable). Lately my Audio Suite has had some age-related problems, which can surely be solved thanks to Paul Jayson (formerly of Cello, now CEO of Viola): in emergencies, the audiophile community supports one another. That's a good thing. It's also pleasing that we will soon take a closer look at Cello's successor products, probably with the Viola combination shown here.