Q: Trevor, can you tell me a bit about your background?
A: I'm an electrical engineer but music has been my passion all my life. I have 40 years of experience designing, building and using audio equipment of all types. I've designed and built preamplifiers, power amplifiers, condenser and ribbon microphones, guitars, live sound mixers, hifi tube amps and PA loudspeakers. Back in the early 2000s I had a company that built custom tube guitar amps under the name Mayfly. I made just under 100 of them. You can still find examples for sale online. Here's one.

Q: How did you get the urge to enter the consumer end of the market?
A: I was inspired to start Mayfly Audio after reading the BBC paper on skyline diffusers and visiting a local CNC woodworking shop. Putting the two together, I realized that I could make something unique. Hopefully other folks agree. I raised the money to start MayFly by selling a bunch of gear including my late 1960's Harman Kardon Citation II tube amp. I do miss that amp!

Q: Your Skyline concept and construction is very complex. Is the manufacturing process done in house and how many people are involved?
A: MayFly is a single person operation – me. The facility is pretty small and I do everything myself. This is not a bad thing in my opinion as I have complete control over product quality. With the exception of the CNC-cut slices, everything else is me. As sales have increased, I invested in better tooling but I intend to stay hands-on for quality reasons.

The layered cabinets are a direct consequence of the skyline diffuser concept. Each slice is CNC cut to implement a layer of a unique 24×24 diffuser. Each slice is different. I use a lot of computer modeling not only for each diffuser shape but the outside shape, port and crossover. I follow up with a lot of measuring, testing, listening and modifying. I have a pair of long-suffering prototypes that have seen countless changes. For the most part my ears agree with my measurements and computer models but you always must trust your ears when something sounds wrong. For example, I designed and modeled a different crossover that had a slightly flatter response. However, on listening it was clear that it killed the off-axis response, something I was not willing to give up on. Although aesthetics were a secondary consideration, I do put a lot of time and attention into my French Polish, a technique I learned from instrument building. It does look pretty cool!

Q: Regarding the internal and external parts, you've gone high grade but not necessarily audiophile. Was there a reason behind that choice?
A: Here the engineer in me comes out. I'm not a fan of audiophile-branded parts. Instead I use what I consider to be very high-quality parts that are very hard to beat: Solen caps, hexagon-wire air-core inductors, non-inductive metal film resistors, 14G copper wire and a very good driver. I used computer modeling backed up by listening tests to decide on details like inductor wire gauge etc. These things make a big difference and you can't ignore them. I did test audiophile parts but neither my measurements nor my ears could hear improvements. In fact sometimes things got worse.

The driver is an off-the-shelf SEAS. I experimented with several before settling on this one. I've been a fan of SEAS since building and hearing several Sigmund Linkwitz designs. If it was good enough for Mr. Linkwitz, it's good enough for me. The binding posts are gold-plated industrial items rated for 30 amps each. I figured that was pretty good. However, folks using really heavy-gauge bare wire may find the holes a little small so I'm always searching to make improvements. I wonder how the market would react to Neutrik Speakons? Bottom line, I aim to make the best speaker I possibly can. And with each one I make, I learn something that makes the next one even better!

Q: Can you tell us about your warranty? I understand that you have a satisfaction guarantee.
A: That's correct. If the speakers don't make you happy in 90 days, I'll take them back free of charge. If they break under normal use in 1 year, I'll take them back as well. If you accidentally or intentionally break them, we'll have to talk about repair services and price for the repair. I want these speakers to make great music. If they are not making great music for you, I'll do something about it.