(EveAnna Manley back in the days)
The Manley brand has been around since the late 1980's, initially started by EveAnna Manley (pictured above) and VTL founder David Manley (RIP). Manley's first commercially available products were upper echelon high-fidelity vacuum tube amplifiers and pre-amplifiers, constructed at David Manley’s original Vacuum Tube Logic (VTL) of America factory. In 1989 the first Manley professional products were developed, starting with the original Reference 60dB Microphone Preamplifier, soon followed by the Manley Enhanced Pultec and Mid Frequency Equalizers. These products, along with the Manley Reference Cardioid and Reference Gold microphones, all made their debut at the 1990 Los Angeles AES Show.
In 1993, Manley Laboratories, Inc. became a separate entity, apart from VTL.
The original Manley Labs factory was at 13880 Magnolia Ave for 32 years, from 1993 - 2025. Located in beautiful and bovine Chino, California. It was outfitted to house the Manley Hi-Fi and Pro Audio manufacturing as well as the Langevin production lines, a machine shop, and printed circuit board facilities. In 1994, the factory's capabilities were augmented by the addition of a computer-controlled mechanical engraving machine and, very importantly, a transformer winding department. These custom transformers rapidly became a hallmark of the Manley sound, and remain so to this day!
(EveAnna giving Dirk a Manley Factory-Tour in 2018)
After only three years with Manley Laboratories, co-founder David Manley abruptly left the company and the US in 1996. With EveAnna Manley now at the helm, the modern form of Manley Labs began to take shape, which we call the V2 phase.
During the late 1990s, several legendary products were introduced.
These are our industry's modern classics:
1994: Manley Stereo Variable Mu® Limiter-Compressor
1997: Manley VOXBOX® Reference Channel Strip
1997: Manley Stingray® Stereo Integrated Amplifier
1998: Manley Massive Passive® Stereo EQ
In the 2010s a new era began with the development and release of a series of new units like the CORE® Reference Channel Strip (2014), and continuing with the FORCE® 4x Mic Preamp, NU MU® and ELOP®+ compressors / limiters, and a newly designed power supply (Manley Power), which may sound trivial, but is actually crucial for supplying the clean power and headroom needed for high end tube-based audio equipment.
(EveAnna & Dirk at NAMM 2025, where the plan took shape for Dirk to take over Manley)
Manley 3.0
In 2025 Manley Labs was acquired by current owner Dirk Ulrich and his Rockforce Tech Holding (RTH, founded in 2025). Dirk’s RTH also acquired APOGEE ELECTRONICS in late 2025, combining two of the best-sounding CA based audio companies under one virtual roof. Manley Laboratories INC was transformed into the new Manley Laboratories LLC during the acquisition.
Prior to running Manley and Apogee via RTH, Dirk was the original founder and CEO of Brainworx (Germany) and Plugin Alliance (USA)), two of the most-beloved audio software companies in our industry until Dirk sold both companies in late 2021.
Manley Laboratories as part of the new RTH group continues to produce recording, mixing and mastering equipment of the very highest caliber, proudly maintaining the great analog traditions upon which the company was built upon - and always looking forward to the future of the industry. TUBES RULE. Always have, always will.
In December 2025 Manley has moved into its current headquarter, a modern and clean 11,000 sqft. assembly-, warehouse- and office-space in Chino, CA, just minutes away from the original Magnolia Ave building.
For 2026 Manley is working on several new tube- and transformer-based products. There are several all analog, digital and hybrid projects in the making, some of which will be a cooperation with Apogee (Santa Monica, CA), all under the RTH umbrella.
Stay tuned!
(Dirk 2025 in his private studio, surrounded by his new favorite toys)
