What a massive year it’s been here at NB Audio. While we didn’t achieve everything we originally set out to do, we more than made up for it by completing a whole stack of unexpected “side quests” that ultimately made it a very successful and rewarding year.
Three of our main goals for the year were:
- Release our range of plate amplifiers and build stock for immediate shipping
- Release our range of chassis amplifiers
- Release our version of the SB Acoustics “GEMA” kit
While we did soft-launch our plate amplifiers and take a solid number of orders, a constant stream of custom work meant we never gave them the official launch they deserved. As a result, we’ve been operating largely on a lead-time basis rather than holding stock.
A few setbacks with outsourcing the manufacture of the amplifier chassis also meant we didn’t have the confidence to produce them reliably and consistently enough to launch properly. The upside is that we’ve since invested in equipment to manufacture these chassis in-house, giving us far greater control over the entire process.
We also made strong progress on our version of the SB Acoustics “GEMA” kit, which has already attracted a heap of interest. We’re very close on this one and are aiming for an official release in early 2026.
The side quests we did complete:
- We released our own range of capacitors, with inductors and resistors coming soon
- The volume of custom work far exceeded expectations
- Our “custom” plate amplifiers proved far more popular than anticipated
- A shift into the commercial space, including professional audio for venues, found us organically and opened the door to some huge opportunities
- The decision to launch a YouTube channel focused on speaker building advice, project showcases, and general DIY audio content
- Building a massive speaker that was donated to our local football club
- A noticeable increase in putting keyboard warriors in their place on Facebook, which provided no shortage of entertainment
- Largely maintaining our sanity despite consistent 60–70+ hour weeks juggling NB Audio and our other businesses
So, what’s exciting about 2026?
NB Audio is going full time!
If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ll know NB Audio isn’t a huge, multi-faceted operation. It’s largely been a one man show, typically getting only 15–20 hours a week of attention. From 1 January 2026, however, the main brother behind NB Audio, Jeshua Miller, will be going full time.
I won’t sugar-coat it, the past three to four months have been tough. Balancing NB Audio with our construction business, coaching and playing football, contributing time to the community, and still trying to make room for family, friends, hobbies, and downtime has been just about impossible and simply not sustainable.
I’m incredibly proud to have grown the DIY audio side of the business to the point where it can support full-time focus within just 18 months of launching. From 2026, it’ll finally get the attention it deserves!
Micah, the other brother behind NB Audio, has gradually stepped back to focus on our other business and will play only a very small role from 2026 onward.
Expanded capabilities
One of our biggest bottlenecks has without question been our CNC. While it’s a capable little machine that’s served us extremely well, it’s simply too small and inefficient for the level of production we’ve reached.
We’re excited to share that we’ve recently acquired a full-sheet CNC, which is currently being commissioned and is expected to be ready for 2026. It’s a huge step up from our previous machine. Not only does it offer a much larger cutting footprint, but the increased rigidity allows us to push it significantly harder, reducing machining time by up to four times.
The larger bed also means more efficient nesting and fewer sheet changes, which, combined with faster machining, will allow us to actually reduce cutting rates from 2026, making our Australian Made products and custom work even more affordable.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more planned, plenty of new products in the pipeline, and more time to focus on doing them properly.
Lead time from 2026
While we expect lead times to come down dramatically from where they are now, we have some optimising to do before we get there! Because of this, we don't plan on taking on any custom work until at least March 2026.
We plan on spending the first few months of 2026 setting up the workshop so we can produce our work as efficiently as possible. Between a general tidy up, rearranging the layout to optimise space, installing new equipment and streamlining some processes, we have plenty of work to do which we would prefer to get out the way before we get stuck back into custom work.
During this time, we are happy to provide indicative quotes for custom projects but work won't commence until after March 2026 and time frames won't be committed to until we are confident when we will be back up and running!
A massive thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way. When we started NB Speaker Cables back in 2018, working full time in audio was a personal dream of mine. Every one of you has played a part in making that a reality.
Cheers!
Jeshua Miller
Founder
NB Audio