MAPLENOLL: What happened?

Freddy Benson writes … USA based company founded by production engineer and ex-fighter pilot Bob Dilger in the early 80’s when he agreed to take over a tiny division of the Coloney contracting company that manufactured an high end turntable/arm in exchange for consulting work he had done for them. Mr. Dilger simplified the design […]

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AUDIOCRAFT TONEARMS: What happened?

Leonard Patel writes … One of those Japanese audio engineering companies that have been making quality arms mostly for the home market. The predecessors to the current 4400 and 3300 were the 4000 (12″) and 3000 (9″), while structurally similar to the current versions they are not as configurable and were of an inferior build […]

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STRATHEARN: Their depressing story

Many will remember the British Leyland Motor Corporation, the nineteen seventies state owned purveyor of such automotive design masterpieces as the Morris Marina and Austin Allegro. A decade of industrial strife and dreadful quality ensured that BLMC’s dalliance with disaster was well publicised, but what many don’t know is that hi-fi had its very own […]

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SHADOW CORP: What happened?

Hi guys. What can you tell me about Xhadow Corp please. I ask ‘cos I think it was involved with Chris Sommigovio who designed and/or built Stereovox interconnects which I still admire and use. Thanks. First, please note the correct spelling of the name of the joint founder. Information is sketchy. As far as we […]

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ZETKA INDUSTRIES: What happened?

Arthur Brando replies … A company based in Gracefield, Wellington in New Zealand that manufactured mid & high end music amplifiers under the McLaren brand although its main business was acting as an OEM and contract manufacturer of electronic equipment for the communication and security industries, the stringent import regulations and high import duties in […]

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OH DEAR: Whatever Happened To The Audiophile?

Linton weeks writes: You may remember the type: Laid-back in an easy chair, soaking in Rachmaninoff, Reinhardt or the Rolling Stones, enveloped by the very best, primo, top-of-the-line stereo equipment an aficionado could afford. In robot-like, 1980s cadence, the audiophile could rattle off favorite components, which might include an all-tube Premier One power amp by […]

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ANALOGUE: Mr. Ray Purchase asks … what happened to analogue synthesisers?

In the early 70s, as a youngster …. I became aware of the music synthesiser. To me the word “synthesiser” conjured up a vivid impression of the sound and look of the instrument, and still does. I imagined that synthesisers were so expensive, futuristic and exotic that they probably had to be borrowed from government […]

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ACARIAN SYSTEMS LIMITED: What happened?

J N WORTH says … t USA based manufacturer of mid and high end loudspeaker systems sold under the Alón brand. Originally founded in the summer of 1991 by the husband and wife team of Carl J. Marchisotto (ex-Dahlquist) and Marilyn J. Marchisotto in association with a couple of financiers, one of which is believed […]

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YAMAMURA SYSTEMS (US) INC: WHAT HAPPENED?

L. Sutherland tells us … Company founded in 1999 by Bé Yamamura and based in Lecanto, Florida, USA. The company continued making and selling the same cables and accessories as its predecessor Yamamura Systems S.R.L. had done in Italy but in addition handled the North American distribution of a number of exotic Japanese hi-fi brands […]

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LUXOR RADIO : What happened?

Valentine Xavier writes … Founded in 1923 in Motala, Sweden by Axel Holstensson as Luxor Radio to manufacture crystal radio sets but quickly grew in to one of the larger Swedish radio manufacturers. Expanded into other areas of brown goods manufacture in the 1950’s and became one of the first European mass manufacturers of television […]

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ACOUSTIC RESEARCH: AR-11 turntable – so … what happened?

Audio Tools write: Although this company is mostly famous for their loudspeakers they did indeed make a line of hi-fi from the early 60’s into the late 80’s. Their turntables were almost legendary in the US but are seldom seen in Europe with their 80’s models being an exception, but those were actually manufactured at […]

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INFINITY TONEARMS: What happened?

Good afternoon. I am curious about Infinity tone arms. Is there any info you can offer please? Certainly. The first arms that the company sold were actually Infinity branded versions of the Forrmula 4 Tonearms but in the late 70’s it introduced a pivoted arm of it’s own manufacture that featured a carbon fibre arm […]

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LINAEUM CORP: What happened?

Lloyd ‘Ace’ Grover writes … Company based in Portland, Oregon, USA that manufactured mid end loudspeaker systems that featured a unique patented line source/wave bending tweeter that is also referred to by the Linaeum name, note that their trademark used a ligature, i.e. it was written Linæum rather than Linaeum like the company name. Run […]

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ALPHASON: What happened?

Apparently … Made the HR100S and HR100s MCS arms in the late 80’s early 90’s, it’s a medium compliance unit featuring a ultra rigid design machined from titanium right from the bearing to headshell as a one piece, features a ceramic gimbal bearings and was designed by Mike Knowles, the Xenon was a slightly cheaper […]

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AUDIO MAGAZINE: What happened?

Audio began life in Mineola, New York in 1947 as Audio Engineering for the purpose of publishing new developments in audio engineering. In 1948, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) was established and in 1953 they began publishing their definitive, scholarly periodical, the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society.[3] Audio Engineering magazine dropped the word “engineering” […]

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ACOUSTAT: What happened?

Dr. JM Willsden-Green writes … A manufacturer of electrostatic loudspeakers formed by designer James C. Strickland in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA in 1973. First product was shipped in 1976 in the form of the Model X, a hybrid electrostatic/dynamic loudspeaker that featured a built in valve based servo amplifier and a year later the company […]

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ACOUSTIC RESEARCH (AR) – What happened?

Michael Vronsky …. From time to time we wondered this too. This time though, we did a bit of searching and this is what we found: USA based producer of loudspeakers, founded in 1954 by Edgar Villchur, Henry Kloss, Malcolm Lowe and J. Anton Hoffman, and started out by producing acoustically suspended loudspeaker called the […]

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GRANT AMPLIFIERS Ltd: What happened?

We are told … Founded in 1983, in Hampshire, UK by Roy N. Grant following the acrimonious breakup of Grant Lumley. The company made updated versions of the amplifiers Grant had designed for Grant Lumley but unlike the earlier Grant Lumley designs that were usually point to point wired they partly utilised PCB’s and were […]

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YAMAMURA CHURCHILL: What happened?

Neil – what’s the story re Yamamura Churchill Limited please? First things first – the following is not to be confused with (a) Yamamura Systems S.R.L. nor (b) Yamamura Systems (US) Inc. So, this is what I have discovered online: British company founded in 1994 by Robert William Charles Spencer Churchill and was based in […]

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GOODMANS LOUDSPEAKERS LIMITED: What happened?

We are told … Founded in 1991 when the Tannoy Goodmans Industries Plc. group decided to make the OEM part of their business a separate entity and to withdraw the use of the Goodmans trademark from the consumer sector (which also resulted in the consumer trademark rights being sold or licensed to Alba). The GLL […]

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GATES TURNTABLES: What happened?

We are told … Founded in 1922 in Illinois, USA, to manufacture radio receivers for consumer use, but within a few years started to supply the broadcast and professional entertainment markets and exited the consumer market altogether before the end of the decade. While best known for their transcription turntables a concept that the company […]

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