Our History

Italian individuals and companies have led the world in certain disciplines for centuries. In automotive and industrial design, in cuisine and wine, in fashion, in culture, in architecture, in art, in science and of course in music, ‘Italian Passion’ continues to inspire the heart and delight the senses.

Where We Come From

Since 1973 Outline have been applying that Italian passion and design flair to the science of designing loudspeaker systems and associated technologies. The roots of our company lie with our founder Guido Noselli, who as a young musician was dissatisfied with the audio quality being delivered to his audiences. His ambition for sonic improvement coincided with the emergence of the disco scene of the mid-70s and the subsequent demand for powerful, full-range loudspeaker systems for the Italian ‘super clubs’ of the day. Outline was born. In 1976 Guido recruited a pivotal figure in the development of the company, Giorgio Biffi (now our CEO), who joined as International Sales Director. Giorgio’s commercial skills and abiding passion for great audio, combined with Guido’s design and engineering brilliance, enabled our company to flourish both at home and overseas.

The 1970s also witnessed the start of the modern professional sound reinforcement business, as large music festivals grew in popularity alongside the development of what we now know as the international concert touring circuit. As the need to deliver quality audio to ever-increasing numbers of people grew, Outline refined and developed many of the design concepts from their club-oriented products into sophisticated, portable loudspeaker systems capable of delivering the power and audio quality necessary for major events.

Along the way, Outline has pioneered a number of products and technologies that enhance our own products as well those of our contemporaries. A good example is the ‘ET System’, a computer-controlled turntable which greatly simplifies the measurement of the polar dispersion characteristics of loudspeakers. Designed originally for in-house use only, this remarkable device has since been purchased by many of the world’s best-known loudspeaker manufacturers as well as various universities, institutes and multinational companies working within the field of acoustics.

Similarly, Outline engineers developed and refined the Unimetal® concept for compression driver diaphragms. This process, unique to Outline, produces diaphragms which are extremely thin and light yet retain the necessary structural rigidity by incorporating the voice coil and suspension into a single component. They dissipate heat very quickly and are also extraordinarily efficient at converting electrical energy into acoustic output, resulting in a noticeably more natural and dynamic reproduction.

Guido Noselli sadly passed away in 2006. His spirit and his enthusiasm for audio continues in the company he founded five decades ago, and is encapsulated in his personal motto:

‘We listen to our customers so that we can create the true audience experience’.

Outline’s dedication to listening, to research, to innovation and to the never-ending quest for perfection in professional audio technology is his legacy.

Where We Are Now

Our headquarters in Brescia, near Milan in northern Italy, houses all the principal activities of the company. Our manufacturing facility includes a large woodworking shop equipped with the latest in CNC machinery, as well as a modern metal fabrication centre and our own anechoic chamber. Our electronics and software development facilities are all in-house, alongside our administration, sales, marketing and support departments.

Outline is wholly owned and managed by a team of three, directors Michele and Stefano Noselli (sons of the company’s founder Guido Noselli), and Giorgio Biffi. While many of our contemporaries have moved some or all of their manufacturing offshore, all Outline products are still 100% manufactured here in Italy by our own staff.

The majority of our subcontractors and suppliers are also located within our local (Lombardy) region, one of the most technologically advanced part of Europe, and this approach gives us total control of the manner in which our designs are converted into physical products. This, combined with the fact that 100% of our quality-control and inspection work is done manually, allows us to deliver products of extraordinary consistency and quality.

Our dedicated R&D team includes professors and graduates in both acoustics and physics. Their deep theoretical expertise is balanced by the Decades of hands-on experience of their colleagues, resulting in designs that combine valid acoustical theory with real-world practicality.

Our clients enjoy a unique degree of accessibility to the people who have executive responsibility for the company and its direction, and this deliberate removal of barriers between our most senior people and our clients is a key to our continued success.

Outline products are sold via an international network of over 50 distributors, and our client base now numbers many production companies and venues of all kinds all over the world. Our international representatives are fully empowered not only to represent us and our products, but to facilitate the critical feedback paths that keep us tightly connected to the changing dynamics of our various markets.

Where We Are Going

As we approach our 50° birthday, our determination to realise Guido Noselli’s dream is stronger than ever. We remain absolutely committed to researching and designing professional tools and technologies that allow creative people to deliver their art to audiences of every size in any location.

Our Grand Touring Outline series of line-source systems continue to be a great example of our restless pursuit of perfection – an integrated suite of complementary products and accessories that provide a complete audio ‘toolbox’ to the busy production company. The all-new STADIA series is setting the standards for stadium sound while the comprehensive VEGAS product family represents our contemporary loudspeaker solutions for a range of different applications.

Similarly, the all-new NEWTON FPGA-based series, a complete re-imagining of DSP audio controllers, is another quantum leap forward from Outline that combines state-of-the-art loudspeaker management tools with audio signal routing and signal synchronisation, resulting in new levels of system control.

Outline – designed and manufactured without compromise and created with Italian passion for people who care as much as we do.