About Us

About DC GOLD Audio

DC GOLD Audio is a small, independent company that builds speakers by hand — not in a factory overseas, but one pair at a time with care and precision. We don’t follow trends. We follow what works. Our focus is simple and enduring: full-range speakers that sound exceptional and survive in environments where most audio equipment fails.

But the real story starts long before we opened our doors.

David Chaffey, our lead engineer, has been experimenting with sound since childhood — collecting drivers, building cabinets, and chasing better performance. In the 1980s, while working at GTE, he met Craig, a fellow audio enthusiast. Together they built custom speaker projects in their spare time, constantly exploring new materials and ideas. One of the companies they collaborated with was Gold Ribbon, a maker of 40-inch planar magnetic speakers. When that company closed, David and Craig continued their own work — and from that collaboration came the name DC GOLD Audio: D for David, C for Craig, and GOLD for the speakers that first inspired them.

As their careers and families grew, the hands-on speaker work slowed but never stopped. One of their final projects together was a cabinet for the legendary Babb Lorelei driver — an experience that deepened David’s respect for full-range design: the simplicity, the honesty, and the pursuit of perfect balance.

In 2005, as David approached retirement after a 30-year career in telecommunications, he and his wife Laurie learned that Babb Speakers was for sale. Rather than step away, they stepped forward. They acquired Babb’s assets and design rights and built DC GOLD Audio — a company rooted in craftsmanship, engineering, and a lifelong love of music.

Laurie manages the business. David builds the speakers. Together, they’ve presented at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, The High-End in Munich, IBEX, and leading marine and audio exhibitions. Their customers range from audiophiles and custom integrators to boat builders and owners who need something that simply won’t fail.

The DC GOLD design remains distinctive: a spiderless, full-range architecture with a single driver — no tweeter, no crossover, and no compromise. Each speaker features neodymium magnets, ferrofluid voice-coil centering, and sealed waterproof construction, using materials proven against saltwater, sun, and vibration. This design didn’t come from a marketing brief; it came from decades of testing, refining, and never settling.

Laurie and David stand by what they call The Gold Standard — not just in sound, but in honesty, durability, and doing things the right way, even when it takes longer. That’s who we are.