Montarbo

It was back in the early fifties that Sergio Montanari started to build his first sound amplification systems, at first under the name "Super MB", later "Montarbo".
Our trademark, the one still shown on our products, was introduced in 1962.
In those days Montarbo owed much of its success to a very special product: an innovative device that quickly made the company famous in Italy and in the rest of the world.
It was a special powered mixer featuring a revolutionary ergonomic principle. A six-channel mixer, a 100-watt power amp and a "magnetic-memory" echo unit were built into a portable metal case with lids doubling as supports when opened. The magnetic memory echo unit was a groundbreaking Montarbo patent, which needed no maintenance and no cleaning thanks to the complete absence of any mechanical friction, a great benefit compared to tape units popular at that time.This original success was inspired by the same product philosophy which still guides Montarbo today: ease-of-use, versatility, top quality, appropriate materials, technological innovations, and, foremost, reliability.
The company continued to create new products in keeping with this philosophy of excellence, including a wide range of amplified mixers, followed in 1965 by the first self-powered speaker enclosures, and shortly after by the first quadriphonic mixers and by the bass amplifiers with separate head units.
In the early eighties we were one of the first audio companies to design software-assisted effects processors.

Nowadays, we develop our technology using a two-path approach: first we test our products in the most demanding live-concert environment where operating conditions are much more severe than anything most of our users has to deal with, second we design and build our own digital tools for the testing and analysis of electroacoustic systems.
Combining the best of both worlds, we can incorporate leading-edge technology in all our products, from the more sophisticated to the more economic. And each of our products, whatever its price, is clearly "professional grade".

Tradition and research are the basis of our philosophy, and we have remained true to our original goal: to ensure complete satisfaction to musicians, sound technicians, touring bands.
That's why the underlying principles of our products are: simplest possible installation and use, and a genuine open architecture interface. And, of course, reliability, because when the show is on, the stakes are too high to run any risks.

Summing up: we have a project-oriented philosophy always focused on tomorrow, embracing severe construction standards and the on-going aim to provide the best sound in the least complicated way.