GARY CHRISTIE: From Infinity to Artison

When Cary Christie, Arnie Nudell, and John Ulrick founded Infinity Systems more than 25 years ago, high-end audio as we know it today didn't exist. Hi-fi was audio, though the reverse wasn't necessarily true.Through the growth years, Infinity became a major force in the High End. Cary Christie is the only one of the original players still associated with Infinity in 1995, now part of Harman International. His relationship, however, is now as an independent designer and consultant with Christie Designs, Inc. (footnote 1). I corralled him by phone on a clear fall day in Santa Fe, and a snowy one at his home near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. I asked him how Infinity had started.

Cary Christie: Infinity was really the result of a hobby—Arnie's hobby, John's hobby, and my hobby. All three of us were making hi-fis in one form or another. We met at a hi-fi store, and it turned out that I was doing some things that were complementary to what John and Arnie were doing. In 1967, the three of us started building our first product, the Servo Statik I, under the name of NuTech Enterprises.

The product was being sold at a hi-fi store when some funding people came along and said that they would like to finance the start of a hi-fi company. When we went to incorporate the company, [the name] NuTech was already taken, so we had to take our second choice [laughs].

Thomas J. Norton: I remember the first time I heard of the Servo Statik: $2000 for a pair of loudspeakers! Unheard of!

Christie: A ton of money! I think in those days I bought .....

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