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.
The Williamson amplifier is a four-stage, push-pull, Class A triode-output valve audio power amplifier designed by D. T. N. Williamson during World War II. The original circuit, published in 1947 and addressed to the worldwide do it yourself community, set the standard of high fidelity sound reproduction and served a benchmark or reference amplifier design throughout the 1950s. The original circuit was copied by hundreds of thousands amateurs worldwide. It was an absolute favourite on the DIY scene of the 1950s, and in the beginning of the decade also dominated British and North American markets for factory-assembled amplifiers.
A volume unit (VU) meter or standard volume indicator (SVI) is a device displaying a representation of the signal level in audio equipment. The original design was proposed in the 1940 IRE paper, A New Standard Volume Indicator and Reference Level, written by experts from CBS, NBC, and Bell Telephone Laboratories. The Acoustical Society of America then standardized it in 1942 for use in telephone installation and radio broadcast stations. Consumer audio equipment often features VU meters, both for utility purposes and for aesthetics.
Kenwood Corporation was a Japanese company that designed, developed and marketed a range of car audio, hi-fi home and personal audio, professional two-way radio communications equipment, and amateur radio ("ham") equipment. Since October 2011, Kenwood survives as the brand of JVCKenwood Corporation.
PS Audio is an American company specializing in high-fidelity audio components equipment for audiophiles and the sound recording industry. It currently produces audio amplifiers, preamplifiers, power related products, digital-to-analog converters, streaming audio, music management software and cables.
The Mark Levinson ML-3 was a 200 watt per channel dual monaural Class AB2 power amplifier that used toroidal transformers. Produced between 1979 and 1987, the ML-3 consisted of two electrically separate amplifiers in one chassis, hence the name "Dual Monaural". It also featured discrete circuit construction; no integrated circuits were incorporated to keep the signal pure. The design was by Thomas P. Colangelo.
Founded by David Hafler and Ed Laurent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1955, Dynaco was an American hi-fi audio system manufacturer popular in the 1960s and 1970s for its wide range of affordable, yet high quality audio components.. Its best known product was the ST-70 tube stereo amplifier. They also manufactured other tube and solid state amplifiers, preamplifiers, radio tuners and bookshelf loudspeakers. Dynaco was liquidated in 1980, and the trademark is now owned by Radial Engineering Ltd.
Fender amplifiers are a series of electric instrument amplifiers renowned by musicians worldwide. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured guitar amplifiers since their foundation, Leo Fender began building guitar amplifiers before he started manufacturing electric guitars. The first of these were the K&F models, produced between 1945 and 1946. Fender amplifiers would become favourites of many famous guitarists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, helping them pioneer their sounds.
Robert W. (Bob) Carver is an American designer of audio equipment based in the Pacific Northwest.
Gryphon Audio Designs is a manufacturer of high-end audio equipment located in Denmark. Gryphon is known for their extremely expensive cost-no-object audio equipment, with few updates and product changes compared to their competition.
The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characteristically clean tone.
The Fender Bassman is a bass amplifier series introduced by Fender during 1952. Initially intended to amplify bass guitars, the 5B6 Bassman was used by musicians for other instrument amplification, including the electric guitar, harmonica, and pedal steel guitars. Besides being a popular and important amplifier in its own right, the Bassman also became the foundation on which Marshall and other companies built their high-gain tube amplifiers.
The Fender Deluxe Reverb is a guitar amplifier made by the Fender Electric Instrument Company and its successors. It was first introduced in 1963 by incorporating an onboard spring reverb tank to the newly redesigned Fender Deluxe amplifier.
The Fender Super Reverb is a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was originally introduced in 1963 and was discontinued in 1982. The Super Reverb was a Fender Super amplifier with built-in reverb and "vibrato". The original Super Reverb amplifiers were all-tube designs and featured spring reverb. There were two different designs, distinguishable by the color of the "face" or front control panel. Super Reverbs from 1963 through 1967 had "blackface" panels. From 1968 until its discontinuation in 1982, the Super Reverb had "silverface" cosmetics and circuitry. Early models in 1968, while cosmetically "silverface", did contain "blackface" circuitry. Fender introduced a reissue '65 Super Reverb in 2001 featuring a printed circuit board design rather than the hand-wired circuitry of the original '65 Super Reverb.
Optonica was a subdivision of Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp that made high end hi-fi products systems.
The TRM-800 was a Hi-End solid state integrated stereo amplifier made in Japan, using NEC power transistors, by Nikko. It was the top of the line model in the Nikko amplifier range of TRM's series; beautifully housed in a wooden walnut-finished cabinet and a handsome brushed aluminum front panel, was introduced in 1975 the same year as the Marantz 2235. It was a 2 channel amp; however, it had three sets of speaker connections; those powered selected by buttons. At 8 ohms, the amp could put out 65 Watts per channel RMS, delivering superb high fidelity sound with exceptional tone quality. Unlike many amps of this time, however, the TRM-800 was stable at lower impedances than 8 ohms; down to 4 ohms. The TRM-800's frequency response ranges 10Hz to 40.000 Hz ±1 dB with T.H.D. less than 0.1% at rated output. Its preamplifier and main amplifier were separable for multi-channel amplifier systems. The amp has internal circuit breakers which prevent it from clipping or overheating. Its power consumption is 250 watts. For equalization it has only a bass and a treble knob; however the frequency of these are selectable; between 250 and 500 Hertz for the bass, and between 2.5 and 5 kHz for the treble. It also has a high, low, and a subsonic filter. There are two excellent phono stages; phono 2 is provided with impedance matching selection, for using different types of cartridges (MC/MM).
Threshold Audio is a high-end audio equipment manufacturer originally established in California in 1974 by audio engineer Nelson Pass and graphic designer Rene Besne. The company, today based in Houston Texas, manufactures mono-block and stereo power amplifiers, multi-channel power amplifiers and stereo control amplifiers.
The NAD 3020 is a stereo integrated amplifier by NAD Electronics, considered to be one of the most important components in the history of high fidelity audio. Launched in 1978, this highly affordable product delivered a good quality sound, which acquired a reputation as an audiophile amplifier of exceptional value. By 1998, the NAD 3020 had become the most well known and best-selling audio amplifier in history.
The 12BV7, 12BY7, 12BY7A, and equivalents were a class of medium-low gain, pentode vacuum tube amplifiers using the Noval socket configuration. Although originally marketed as pentode tubes for use in early television receivers, they found additional uses in audio and radiotelephone equipment. The series shares the EIA 9BF pinout with a number of other miniature pentode tubes of the era.
The Pioneer SX-1980 was an AM/FM radio receiver that Pioneer Corporation introduced in 1978, to be matched with the HPM series of speakers. It is rated at a staggering 270 watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms, both channels driven. However, in the September 1978 issue of the magazine Audio, Leonard Feldman performed a specification test on the SX-1980 and concluded that the rating of 270 watts RMS per channel was too conservative. He stated in his report:
Though the new [IHF mandated] "Dynamic Headroom" measurement is specified in dB, it should be mentioned that based upon the short-term signal used to measure the 2.3 dB headroom of this amplifier, it was producing nearly 460 watts of short-term power under these test conditions!
