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Advent Corporation was a consumer audio and video hardware company founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Henry Kloss in 1967. It closed in 1981. [1]
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2020) |
Advent Corporation was a consumer audio and video hardware company founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Henry Kloss in 1967. It closed in 1981. [1]
The name came from the legal description the advent corporation used in the incorporation documents as a placeholder name before the actual name was selected.
Around 1968, Kloss quit KLH to develop a low-cost projection television, but had trouble financing the leading-edge research and development that was still required. To earn some money, he decided to build a high-performance low-cost dual driver speaker system with 10-inch (25 cm) woofer called simply The Advent Loudspeaker (later given the retronym the Larger Advent, after introduction of The Smaller Advent Loudspeaker). [2] It rivaled the sound of the then top-line AR Model 3a (which used three drivers and a 12-inch (30 cm) woofer), but only cost about half as much.
Advent produced a number of different versions of the 2-way Advent, including the Advent Loudspeaker, the Smaller Advent Loudspeaker, the "New" Advent Loudspeaker, Advent/2, Advent/3, 4000 series, and 5000 series, to name a few. They were usually offered in both wood veneer and vinyl-covered "utility" cabinet versions, which other than appearance were acoustically identical.
The popularity of the Advent Loudspeaker overshadowed any other Advent products, even the eventually released first video projector for home, Advent VideoBeam 1000. [2]
Kloss then resumed work on increasing the fidelity of cassette tapes, a format that had originally been developed to be used only for voice dictation. The original Advent 200 model, launched in 1970, had exhibited mechanical problems and was quickly replaced by Advent 201 in 1971, incorporating Dolby B noise reduction (for both recording and playback), along with chromium dioxide tape in the first popular high fidelity cassette deck. [2] Advent 201 was a "game changer":Stereo Review had found that it can successfully compete against more expensive reel-to-reel decks. Commercially it was not as successful as the loudspeakers were, but was manufactured for few years. [3]
In 1972, the VideoBeam was finally released, the first large-screen projection television for home use. In 1977, Kloss founded Kloss Video Corporation (KVC) as a spin-off company. He invented the Novatron tube there, which increased the efficiency of projection TVs.
Advent continued to concentrate on low-cost high-performance consumer audio products. Eventually, long after Kloss' departure, Advent ran into hard times. Citing high labor costs, it closed its Cambridge factory in 1979, laying off most of its 650 workers, and moved production to New Hampshire. [4] It did not thrive, and never emerged from a bankruptcy declared in March 1981. KVC passed on reacquiring the (by then) New Hampshire-based brand, which was later merged into Jensen Electronics, which in turn was acquired by Audiovox in 2004. KVC ran into increasing competition from Japanese manufacturers entering the now-proven market for large-format consumer TVs, eventually selling its assets and shutting down.
High fidelity is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat frequency response within the human hearing range.
The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips and released in August 1963, Compact Cassettes come in two forms, either containing content as a prerecorded cassette (Musicassette), or as a fully recordable "blank" cassette. Both forms have two sides and are reversible by the user. Although other tape cassette formats have also existed—for example the Microcassette—the generic term cassette tape is normally used to refer to the Compact Cassette because of its ubiquity.
An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present-day form, it records a fluctuating signal by moving the tape across a tape head that polarizes the magnetic domains in the tape in proportion to the audio signal. Tape-recording devices include the reel-to-reel tape deck and the cassette deck, which uses a cassette for storage.
Audio crossovers are a type of electronic filter circuitry that splits an audio signal into two or more frequency ranges, so that the signals can be sent to loudspeaker drivers that are designed to operate within different frequency ranges. The crossover filters can be either active or passive. They are often described as two-way or three-way, which indicate, respectively, that the crossover splits a given signal into two frequency ranges or three frequency ranges. Crossovers are used in loudspeaker cabinets, power amplifiers in consumer electronics and pro audio and musical instrument amplifier products. For the latter two markets, crossovers are used in bass amplifiers, keyboard amplifiers, bass and keyboard speaker enclosures and sound reinforcement system equipment.
A cassette deck is a type of tape machine for playing and recording audio cassettes that does not have a built-in power amplifier or speakers, and serves primarily as a transport. It can be a part of an automotive entertainment system, a part of a portable mini system or a part of a home component system. In the latter case it is also called a component cassette deck or just a component deck.
S-VHS (スーパー・ヴィエイチエス), the common initialism for Super VHS, is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level video recording. Victor Company of Japan introduced S-VHS in Japan in April 1987, with their JVC-branded HR-S7000 VCR, and in certain overseas markets soon afterward. By the end of 1987, the first S-VHS VCR models from other competitors included Hitachi VT-2700A, Mitsubishi HS-423UR, Panasonic PV-S4764, RCA VPT-695HF, and Toshiba SV-950. It has been standardized as IEC 60774-3 and IEC 60774-4.
A woofer or bass speaker is a technical term for a loudspeaker driver designed to produce low frequency sounds, typically from 20 Hz up to a few hundred Hz. A subwoofer can take the lower part of this range, normally up to 80 Hz. The name is from the onomatopoeic English word for a dog's deep bark, "woof". The most common design for a woofer is the electrodynamic driver, which typically uses a stiff paper cone, driven by a voice coil surrounded by a magnetic field.
Nakamichi Corp., Ltd. is a Japanese consumer electronics brand that originated in Japan and gained a name from the 1970s onwards for innovative and high quality audio cassette decks. Nakamichi is a subsidiary of Chinese holding company Nimble Holdings.
Altec Lansing, Inc. is an American audio electronics company founded in 1927. Their primary products are loudspeakers and associated audio electronics for professional, home, automotive and multimedia applications.
Henry Kloss was a prominent American audio engineer and entrepreneur who helped advance high fidelity loudspeaker and radio receiver technology beginning in the 1950s. Kloss was an undergraduate student in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but never received a degree. He was responsible for a number of innovations, including, in part, the acoustic suspension loudspeaker and the high fidelity cassette deck. In 2000, Kloss was one of the first inductees into the Consumer Electronics Association's Hall of Fame. He earned an Emmy Award for his development of a projection television system, the Advent VideoBeam 1000.
Cambridge SoundWorks was a Massachusetts-based consumer audio manufacturer and retailer.
Acoustic Research was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that manufactured high-end audio equipment. The brand is now owned by VOXX. Acoustic Research was known for the AR-3 series of speaker systems, which used the 12 in (300 mm) acoustic suspension woofer of the AR-1 with newly designed dome mid-range speaker and high-frequency drivers. AR's line of acoustic suspension speakers were the first loudspeakers with relatively flat response, extended bass, wide dispersion, small size, and reasonable cost. The AR Turntable remains a highly sought vinyl record player.
The history of sound recording - which has progressed in waves, driven by the invention and commercial introduction of new technologies — can be roughly divided into four main periods:
Fisher Electronics was an American company specialising in the field of hi-fi electronics. The company and the name was bought by Japanese electronics conglomerate Sanyo in 1975.
Technics is a Japanese audio brand established by Panasonic in 1965. Since 1965, Panasonic has produced a variety of hi-fi and audio products under the brand name, such as turntables, amplifiers, radio receivers, tape recorders, CD players, speakers, and digital pianos. Technics products were available for sale in various countries. The brand was originally conceived as a line of high-end audio equipment to compete against brands such as Nakamichi.
A bookshelf loudspeaker is a compact loudspeaker, generally sold for consumer-grade home audio applications as part of a shelf stereo pair or home theater package, that is compact in size and intended to be placed on a raised surface, e.g. a bookshelf.
Edgar Marion Villchur was an American inventor, educator, and writer widely known for his 1954 invention of the acoustic suspension loudspeaker which revolutionized the field of high-fidelity equipment. A speaker Villchur developed, the AR-3, is exhibited at The Smithsonian Institution's Information Age Exhibit in Washington, DC.
Home audio systems refer to audio consumer electronics designed for home entertainment, such as integrated systems like shelf stereos and music centers, as well as individual components like loudspeakers and surround sound receivers. The evolution of home audio began with Edison's phonograph, transitioning from monaural to stereophonic sound in the 1950s and 60s. The term "hi-fi" emerged, highlighting sound accuracy and minimal distortion. Audio equipment evolved from large wooden cabinets to compact units. The 1970s introduced enhancements like quadraphonic sound and technologies like Dolby Pro Logic. The 1970s and 1980s also saw the rise of component-based stereo systems. Cassette decks became a staple in the 1970s. Integrated systems, termed "music centers" gained popularity in the 1980s. Table systems and compact radio receivers emerged as entertainment devices, with some offering features like cassette players and CD functionalities. Audiophile systems prioritize high-quality music formats and specialized equipment like premium turntables, digital-to-analog converters, and other high-end devices, with some enthusiasts preferring the unique sound characteristics of vinyl records and vacuum tubes. Modern systems often emphasize home cinema applications to enhance the audio experience beyond standard TV speakers.
A coaxial loudspeaker is a loudspeaker system in which the individual driver units radiate sound from the same point or axis. Two general types exist: one is a compact design using two or three speaker drivers, usually in car audio, and the other is a two-way high-power design for professional audio, also known as single-source or dual-concentric loudspeakers. The design is favored for its compactness and behavior as an audio point source.
The Nakamichi Dragon is an audio cassette deck that was introduced by Nakamichi in 1982 and marketed until 1994. The Dragon was the first Nakamichi model with bidirectional replay capability and the world's first production tape recorder with an automatic azimuth correction system; this feature, which was invented by Philips engineers and improved by Niro Nakamichi, continuously adjusts the azimuth of the replay head to minimize apparent head skew and correctly reproduce the treble signal present on the tape. The system allows the correct reproduction of mechanically skewed cassettes and recordings made on misaligned decks. Apart from the Dragon, similar systems have only been used in the Nakamichi TD-1200 car cassette player and the Marantz SD-930 cassette deck.