Tom and Paul began their careers with Mark Levinson, the man who is credited with being the founder of high-end audio. In his pioneer days developing the first high-end audio company, Mark Levinson Audio Systems, Mark partnered with a young audio enthusiast with a keen understanding of the laws of physics. That man was Tom Colangelo. Tom became MLAS' chief design engineer in the 1970s and helped develop some of the legendary MLAS products that shaped the world of audio for the next three decades. Paul Jayson, the second member of the design team, joined MLAS as an engineering assistant.

While Tom and Paul worked together at MLAS, they pioneered a craftsman guild approach to construction and manufacturing. The best components available were located, every part was inspected and the highest quality standards were applied to create the best sound equipment possible. Solid-state technology affording greater reliability, consistency and convenience, was adopted instead of the vacuum tube.

When Levinson left Madrigal to form a new company, Cello, Tom and Paul went with him to form the design core. In the new environment Tom continued to fashion products that set the mark for high-end audio. The Audio Suite, Audio Palette, Performance Amps and Strings became the first components of their system. The creation of the Stradivarius speaker line completed the picture. In the following years Tom and Paul designed the award winning encore line of components and a succession of speakers that shaped the 1980s and early 1990s. Along the way Paul completed his degree work in engineering and became the engineering manager while Tom continued to lead the research and development activities.

The third original principal was Tony DiSalvo. Tony first started to work with Tom and Paul in the late 1980's after leaving his Yale University faculty position to join them.  As Viola's Chief Operating Officer he  guided the company through its formation. Tony later left to pursue other interests.

he Designers

           The Designers

Tom has been designing his own unique style of circuitry for the past 30 years. He is considered one of the leading audio design engineers in the industry today. His products designed in collaboration with Paul, have won numerous awards from audio magazines around the world, including both "State of the Art" and "Component of the Year" awards from Japan's foremost audio magazine, Stereo Sound.

Since he began his career at R.T. Bozak, designing circuitry for accuracy was always his objective. It was a goal that held fast through his work in the development of the ML-1, ML-2, ML-3, ML-4, ML-5, ML-6, ML-6A, ML-7, ML-7A, ML-8, ML-9, ML-10, ML-11 and ML-12 while at MLAS.  At Cello he pursued his quest for accuracy and sonic neutrality. His ideals were continued in the Audio Palette, Audio Suite, Duet 350, Encore 50, Encore Preamplifier, Encore 1 Meg Preamplifier, Palette Preamplifier, RDAC, and the Performance and Performance II Amplifiers.

Paul combines the unique talents of a design engineer and manager. In addition to the award winning products he designed with Tom, Paul was the design leader of a unique blend of speakers and electronics that were popularized under the Cello logo. The Encore 150 Amplifier, the highly acclaimed Elves Speakers and the Stradivarius series of speakers, The Grand Master, Master, Premiere, and Legend - are testimony to his skill.