Neil, hi. Years ago I read at least one report that they made truly great speakers. I've only just recalled this in a rare moment of nostalgia. Can you shed any light please?
We sniffed about a bit re this and consulted the unusual sources as the usual ones aren't really that good on the old stuff. Anyway, this is what we received.
A loudspeaker manufacturing company initially founded by and named after Friedrich Müller and Wolfgang Backes and was based in Saarbrücken, in Saarland, Germany. Early history is not completely clear to us, the two gentlemen are certainly offering products in the latter half of 1971, trading as a partnership under the name of Backes & Müller Elektroakustik, but it is more than possible that they are operating much earlier since the first product we are aware of is the "Monitor III" and given the 3 in the name there may have been earlier creations
Then there are two companies founded in close succession that are both named "Backes & Müller GmbH.", the first is in Saarbrücken and goes out of business in 1975 and the latter is based in Püttlingen, which is a small town close to Saarbrücken and goes out of business in 1977. One of these companies starts showing off the innovative hexagon shaped loudspeaker although it was not shipped until 1980.
The third company is "Backes & Müller Vertriebs GmbH." that appears to have been incorporated in the latter half of the 70's and based in Homburg, it is this company that most people associate with the B&M name and the active loudspeaker that the company manufactured. But in addition to speakers the company also made high end separates from the early 80's and into the mid 90's.
Company was closed down in 1996 and a new company called LV Lautsprecher Vertriebs took over the brand and product lines and moved the production of the speakers back to the brands original home town of Saarbrücken. Spares & service : For classic loudspeaker products from the 70's and 80's you should not have any real problems in finding spares as the drivers conform to standard sizes and are thus repairable even when no direct substitutes are currently available.
For information on older products from the company you can visit this page.
