AudioQuest was not so much founded as it was evolved.
When Bill Low created AudioQuest in 1980 it was really just a small variation of the audio activities he had started in 1972. During high school and early college, Bill had struggled to have the best audio system he could. He had built dozens of Heathkit and Dynakit amplifiers, preamps and tuners for classmates. Each US$10 or $15 he earned building kits went to buy records or to upgrade to a better piece of used equipment.
The evolution of AudioQuest cables has taken place over the entire life of the company, however several of the most important basic design criteria were established very near the beginning. These basic priorities were established as a result of empirical experience and not by abstract theorizing.
AudioQuest has been the largest cable supplier to the high-end specialist market for many years. AudioQuest is sold in several hundred outlets in the US and in over sixty countries. Bill is especially pleased that this success has been possible despite his insistence that the foundation of the company, and the foundation of AudioQuest marketing, must be the performance of the product. In the audio world, many professionals have learned that it is not always convenient to listen to the products they sell … they might learn something they don’t want to know! Bill has always understood the challenge of basing the existence of AudioQuest on the performance of the product. However, to Bill, this is the only reasonable way to do business and the only acceptable way to combine his passion for music (and all things high performance), with his need to make a living.