IN 1967, on the occasion of our 20th anniversary, we asked some of the pioneers of the audio industry to prognosticate, to look 20 years ahead and tell us what to expect. Now, as we look back we find many of these prophesies to be surprisingly accurate-the only error being the time factor. For instance, Herb Horowitz (Empire) said, "A black and white video disc should be appearing within three to five years, followed by full color video a few years later." And Saul Marantz, "The general public will have become much more discriminating about sound quality. It will expect and demand the highest standards of performance. Traditionally dedicated to advancing the state of the art in improving his products, the component manufacturer will have gained the larger share of the market." Joseph Tushinsky's remarks must have seemed very far fetched ... "anything we say will be recorded automatically through some sort of tape system that will be available for immediate recall. If this comes to pass, the tape recorder of the future could even affect men's morals." However, this "science fiction" is closely paralleled in Alvin Toffler's recent book, "Future Shock," which tells us that soon everyone will have a kind of computer-recorder built in! Fortunately, we will be spared this scientific achievement for a few more years....
We have asked the industry pioneers to stick their necks out once again and tell us what to expect in the next 10 years. Events are happening so rapidly these days, it was felt that a 20-year period is much too long. Some of the 1967 contributors are sadly no longer with us; Leonard Carduner passed away in 1970 and Haskell Blair just a few months ago. One or two-like Ed Villchur-are no longer in the industry so we have added a few names to the original list.
-A. J. Hoffman
President, Acoustic Research, Inc.
Ed Villchur's comments in 1967 are largely still applicable. The movement towards integration continues. Quality continues to improve and size of continues to shrink along with his prediction of improved treble dispersion from loudspeakers is coming true; much improvement has been made in the last five years. In the case of Acoustic Research, the AR-3a, AR-5 and AR-6, all introduced since 1967, follow Ed's prediction.
The recreation of the ambience of the concert hall through four channels will make slow but steady headway. Once the system and hardware have been settled, there will still be the resistance of the mistress of the house to having four speaker systems in the living room.
In my opinion this is the greatest long-range hindrance to universal multi-channel reproduction in the home. It will be partially overcome by further reduction in the size of speaker systems without affecting quality and the use of attractive decorator colors.
Tape cassette technology should advance to the point at which cassettes equal or surpass disc records in quality, and the disc record as we know it will be in serious decline. But the disc as an information storage device is potentially very efficient, and it may be transformed within 10 years to a new kind of animal.
Semiconductor technology with modular chips certainly will result in smaller, cheaper, and more reliable hi-fi electronics products.
There is room for drastic improvement in TV sound systems, and it is logical that this would be a fertile ground for hi-fi expansion. There ought to be multi-channel high-fidelity TV sound to complement the flat TV screens that will be here.
The proliferation of new kinds of components as well as new brand names will for a time cause great confusion among consumers and will tend to blur the distinctions we have previously known between components that are truly faithful to the original sound and lesser equipment which assumes the appearance of high fidelity components but not the quality. Larger companies striving to market so-called high fidelity components on a tonnage basis have in the past proven incapable of consistently providing faithful reproduction equal to the state of the art. Whatever the reason, history has shown that this is more likely to come from small and medium sized component companies.
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Joseph N. Benjamin
President, Benjamin Electronic Sound Corp.
"There have seen so many changes in years, that the projections which were supposed to last into the 1980's must be revised.
I am just as sure that the projections we make now for the next 20 years will require revision before that time.
Two areas of development have come to the forefront. One is the ever increasing use of integrated circuitry with the consequent advantages of size, additional functions, and cost reduction.
The second is, in conjunction with large scale integration (LSI), the additional control operations which can be accomplished.
Looking ahead at this time I see great strides being made in certain categories of high fidelity equipment, i.e.: receivers, turntables, and tape recorders. Taking each category by itself, the future looks this way to me: Actual performance, of receivers, that is, the ability to transform a broadcast signal to undistorted audio, has reached the state where very little can be done to improve the almost perfect reproduction now achieved. However, in regard to ease of operation, and additional control and remote functions, receivers will be considerably changed in the future. We should expect new remote control features including motor driven tuning and programming for simplified station selection, all incorporated in units occupying less physical space than those on the market today. A feature I expect to see shortly will be the instant replay feature of television, applied to radio. This may be in the form of a built-in memory unit (tape or otherwise) to enable you to reconstruct a program played a half-hour ago or so, by pushing a button.
The greatest advance in tape recorders and turntables will undoubtedly be in the extension of remote control and automatic modes of operation.
Today, everyone expects a push-button to initiate actions such as power, tuning, program, and speaker selection in the receiver as well as in a tape recorder. We should also expect it in the new, practically weightless tonearm turntable of the future.
Audio power requirements are still increasing in the home just as commercial power requirements are increasing. As the home owner adds additional speakers and more elaborate equipment, he demands more from his system. Today's transistor equipment has come a long way from the early days of germanium output transistors and is as reliable as the electric clock on the wall. Overload control and main control circuitry has been developed to the point where there are very few problems, even with abuse of equipment.
The demand, however, for additional channels of sound probably will not be completely satisfied with today's four-channel operation, and this will increase the demand for power from the receiver.
Tomorrow's juvenile will be surrounded by sound in his own cocoon, (just as the narrator in Arthur Burgess' "Clockwork Orange") and this may demand as much as 12-channel reproduction. This will certainly be available from tape, but possibly from other program sources as well in the future.
There is much more, of course, to be said on this whole subject. These are but a few highlights in the explosion in electronics that is occurring today.
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R. T. Bozak
The R. T. Bozak Mfg. Co.
The past 25 years have seen the infant high fidelity industry grow from a relatively small group essentially of individuals to a mammoth industry, making their products available to an ever-increasing number of people and thereby almost swamping out the audiophile and his influence.
The biggest progress in this period has been the electronic art and technology. In this race the lowly loudspeaker just dragged along in a very unspectacular manner. Some would have us believe loudspeaker technology has advanced substantially because of numerous variations of the old theme, really there has been nothing radically new. Perhaps it might best be said: Their loudspeakers sound better because of better electronics.
The above remarks are not intended to convey a feeling of hopelessness for the loudspeaker. It can be said with confidence that a revolution comparable to that we witnessed in electronics is in the offing. The exact nature and time cannot be foretold.
It will be as different from the present-day loudspeaker as the vacuum tube is different from a transistor. It is stored somewhere in the next decade.
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Simon Sheib
President Avnet, Inc.
(Parent company of British Industries Corp.)
The next ten years will bring a continuation of what has occurred during the last ten years, during which everything relating to audio got better, and relatively cheaper. While the finest equipment is still expensive, the overall quality of all high fidelity equipment has improved.
The ability to produce fine equipment, at prices which more and more people can afford, will be the thrust of the next ten years. A decade ago the general public was just becoming interested in high fidelity. A much larger segment of this public is now interested.
Within ten years, a geometrically larger proportion of the population will discover the pleasures of good sound, as well as the fact that they can afford it.
While I do not know whether there will be any startling innovations, I really do not believe that there is the need for any. Refinement of what we now have in more popular versions, and in more attractive and practical designs, will be the thrust of high fidelity in the 70's.
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Herb Horowitz
President, Empire Scientific Corp.
Here's my prediction for the future. There will be four channel and even more channels as high fidelity heads towards the 1980's. Sound will come from all corners of the room, from the ceiling and from the floor. The listener will feel as though he is in a womb of high fidelity.
Video tape is here; video records are just around the corner. Then, we'll blend audio and video; audio visual effects will be part of sound.
For the near future, quality turntables are back with new low tracking force cartridges spurring their use. Speakers that look like useful furniture are in vogue.
High quality sound for the great outs,-…. will come in the next few years.
' .speakers for the patio, back yard, ' will usher in the develop ` sounding outdoor radios.
And, for the icing on the cake, how about records that don't accumulate dirt coupled with hi-fi equipment that never wears out!
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Avery Fisher
President Fisher Radio
As one who began his manufacturing career in 1937 by offering a broad tuning TRF receiver, I may perhaps be pardoned for some of the technological speculation that follows.
In my own lifetime virtually every area of man's experience and capability has literally exploded-and that is true whether we are speaking of the maximum speed at which human beings were traveling 50 years ago versus today, in space; whether one considers the maximum explosive power available in the "gentle" days of TNT versus today's nuclear fission bombs; whether one compares Marconi's beeps across the Atlantic with today's communications satellites in space. Wherever we turn, the change has been almost too much to comprehend. The same rate of development has of course been true in the electronics industry and the general public will unquestionably enjoy the benefits of a growing technology, whose end is not yet in sight.
In my opinion, here is what we can look for in the next ten years, whether in the form of broader acceptance or original introduction: More automatic operation of receivers, tuners and amplifiers; frequency indication by digital readouts; increased ease of operation through remote control; computerized design to eliminate parts tolerances; concentration of low level and high frequency circuits in a few LSI chips; power amplifiers on hybrid modules; integration of the complete stereo receiver unit in a home electronic control center serving also for paging, security and TV video recording and playback; the widespread use of cables, with multiplex techniques; the use of D-amplifiers in which the operating frequency is between 400 KHz to 1 MHz, allowing a great reduction in power dissipation, the size of heat sinks, and the unit itself. Speakers will remain substantially as they are today, with refinements; direct radiation will continue to dominate, with additional sound reflection from the walls, for increased texture; and the size of the overall units will continue large enough to allow comfortable space for many features that will be retained, or will appear in the future; the unchanging size of the human hand will be the key factor. And, as always, the race will be to the swift.
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Steven F. Temmer
President, Gotham Audio Corp.
Neuman mics, EMT studio and lab equipment, K&H speakers
In re-reading my contribution to the May, 1967 issue on the occasion of AUDIO'S 20th anniversary (my, how time flies), I think that the closer tie between audio and video I foresaw then still holds true today, especially in view of the fact that five years in this business is not a very long time. The prediction is about to come true with introduction of the color video disc with multi-channel sound scheduled for March 1973 release in West Germany. I see no benefits to anyone, least of all the consumer, from the "Quadrocondriacs" which are haunting the world of audio in the USA and Japan. Stereo, properly done (and that'll take a few years till we get to that point), and played over systems costing as much as manufacturers would like the public to spend on four-channel, will without any question sound better than what looms on the horizon at present. We seem to have abandoned the fundamentals of communications: the transmission of information, in favor of transmission of location.
Watch for significant metamorphosis of the phonograph record, perhaps to a flimsy plastic film disk, such as the videodisc, and with it lower cost, multichannel, lower noise, and higher fidelity all resulting from application, of the well known principals of FM to the recorded groove. But, records will be around forever, I am sure of that.
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Sidney Harman
President, Jervis Corp.(Harman-Kardon & JBL)
I can recall readily and nostalgically those early days of the high fidelity industry when a large radio corporation payed us grudging acknowledgment with an advertisement in which a lunatic-looking fellow was presented before an array of hardware, tubes, transformers, and wire with the caption "High Fidelity for the Few." Immediately to his right, appeared an altogether proper looking fellow, listening intently to a furniture console, under the caption "High Fidelity for the Many." We were seen then as a foolish fringe, going nowhere. In those very first years of the industry, and of Harman-Kardon, I was fond of addressing small gatherings with the information that after only 18 months in 'mess we were the world's largest manufs. of Harman-Kardon high-fi amplifiers and tuners. I think it correct to suggest that many of us now regarded as pioneers--did not take ourselves very seriously in those early days and rather secretly shared the disrespect of the big companies, wondering from day to day when they would move in and take it all away from us.
Surely, the last 10 years have established the reality and the validity of the high fidelity component industry and surely no one needs my recitation of the desperate efforts of the big companies to find a place within it for themselves.
Still it seems most fundamentally clear that this is an industry ideally suited to the spirit and purpose of the small or relatively small company. It is no accident that components now represent the significant expression of home music reproduction equipment.
They are in every way consonant with the changes in cultural value and life style which are dramatically evident around the world. The days in which the big house, the chauffeur-driven car, the over-stated furniture, were the symbols of status have yielded to the mobile society, the apartment dweller, the sports car, and quite significantly the sweet efficient expression of high fidelity componentry-which speak to performance, quality, and integrity, rather than to impression, personal power, and affectation.
There is a corollary between this still new kind of product and the small dedicated company composed of people who truly love what they are doing.
I am confident that the high fidelity component industry will grow steadily and wisely in this perspective and that it will be dominated over the next decade by people and companies who are genuinely creative and genuinely devoted to the constructive and loving service their products provide.
As for JBL and Harman-Kardon, I see intimate connections with the music makers and the young music listeners. I see continuing and increased interest in the exploration of new techniques, new materials, new textures, and new electrical and mechanical expression. It is precisely that enchantment with discovery and creativeness which has marked the successes of the past two decades and will identify the leaders of the next.
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I. Grossman
President, KLH Research & Development
Perhaps the most immediate and significant development we'll see during the next ten years is a dramatic improvement in the performance of loudspeakers under $75. In a few years probably the only meaningful difference we'll have between very expensive and low-priced speakers will be in the power handling capability. The establishment of four channel will be immeasurably helped by these low-priced, small, high performance speakers which will, most likely, be packed four to a carton and matched at the factory. Four channel will give impetus to the development and marketing by the major manufacturers of still smaller, very uniform loudspeakers, well under $50, and these will markedly affect the private label or "black box" market.
We'll surely see a steady improvement of quality in the audio portion of TV programs as the caliber of the electronics and speakers in the receivers improve. Simulcasting of musical programs may even become a commonplace occurrence. The simulcasts over WGBH in Boston have been extremely well received, are popular, and will influence in large measure the adoption of simulcasting in other areas, particularly since the number of homes in which high quality playback equipment is available is growing continually at an accelerating rate.
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Ken Kai
U.S. Pioneer Electronics Corp.
Unlike the song lyric that marvels at the up-to-dateness of Kansas City and the fact that it has "gone about as far as it can go," high fidelity, as I see it, is just starting to make use of the developments that have made possible a trip to the moon.
To put it succinctly, electronics and computers will play a dominant role in the high fidelity picture of the 1990's. They will help both audio and video products to achieve new heights in performance and versatility. In fact, the shape of things to come may very well not even resemble today's home entertainment products. For instance, it's not farfetched to envision a high fidelity receiver that can be wall mounted and lies flat as a picture frame. FM broadcasts would be computerized as would FM receivers. In place of the present electromechanical 3- or 4-gang capacitor tuning, electronics would take over this function completely.
Today's electronic calculators employ memory registers. A similar type of memory could be incorporated into a high fidelity receiver so that it automatically turns on the receiver at one or several designated times, pre-programmed by the user, to record programs for playback at a later time. It's quite possible that the technique of recording 20 years from now may not even be on disc or tape, but something similar to a sheet of acetate that could possibly store the information for hundreds of musical compositions on something that measures as small as a sheet of typing paper.
The record player or turntable as we know it today is a result of continuous advancements and refinements. Cartridges can track as low as one half gram. Yet the basic design is electromechanical, a few steps removed from Edison's original concept of the stylus in a groove. Why not completely electronic? What with improved cones, coils, and magnets, today's loud-speakers offer the finest in sound reproduction. Yet the design of the dynamic speaker goes back to the late twenties. It's still electro-mechanical: Here's another area that electronics can take over. After all, the sound we hear is simply the rearrangement of air molecules. Why can't it be done electronically? We, at Pioneer, have made a total and continuing commitment to quality sound reproduction. We know high fidelity will constantly improve because of the increasing demands of the listening public, musical artists and dedicated high fidelity manufacturers. This total involvement is destined to produce the highest possible achievements in sound.
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Dr. Harry F. Olson
RCA Laboratories
During the next decade there will be advances towards achieving both … and an ideal transfer character perfect transfer characteristic constant relationships between the input and output parameters. In the ideal transfer characteristic, the relationship between the input and output parameters is modified as dictated by the subjective aspects involving realism and emotionalism. In order to attain the ideal transfer characteristic, by the application and implementation of the appropriate modifications to attain the desired subjective characteristics of sound reproduction, the start must be from a perfect transfer characteristic.
The important factors involved in achieving a perfect transfer characteristic are frequency response and transient response, nonlinear distortion and signal-to-noise ratio. Today uniform response and faithful transient response over the audio frequency range can be achieved in all the elements of the various sound reproducing systems. However, imperceptible nonlinear distortion and adequate signal-to-noise ratio have not been achieved in some of the elements. These two important problems will certainly be solved in the next decade.
In the case of the major electroacoustic transducers, namely, the microphone and the loudspeaker, there will be major developments. Highly directional microphones with uniform directivity will be developed to provide discrimination against noise and other unwanted sounds. Loudspeakers of small cubical volume capable of reproducing the entire audio frequency range with adequate sound output will be developed.
In 95% of the records produced today, modifications of the original recorded sound are employed to heighten the artistic and emotional impact towards the goal of the ideal transfer characteristic. Delayers, frequency response and timbre modifiers, vibrato and tremolo generators, reverberators, and nonlinear distortion and fuzz producers are employed to modify the original recorded music. These and other electronic means will undergo improvements to enhance the subjective response.
Electronic music synthesizers will be developed to a high order of excellence of performance to assist in achieving the ideal transfer characteristic. Auditory perspective and acoustic ambience are areas in which tremendous improvements in performance will be made.
To summarize: During the next decade there will be major objective improvements leading to a perfect transfer characteristic and almost limitless possibilities in the subjective aspects leading to an ideal transfer characteristic.
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H. H. Scott
President, H. H. Scott, Inc.
High fidelity is both young and an old art. One may talk to Edison, Berliner, and many of the old pioneers, yet this field is changing constantly with new developments in sound recording and reproduction occurring frequently.
Within the short period of the last 10 years, we have witnessed the birth of commercial stereophonic broadcasting using only one FM station. This has brought high quality stereophonic sound to millions of listeners in the world-not only in their homes but also in their cars and in other places.
We have also witnessed the growth of the use of solid state devices in high fidelity equipment with the consequent demise of the vacuum tube in circuit design. Today most equipment employs solid state circuits with silicon devices being used almost exclusively. Germanium transistors which were used in "early designs" in the early 60's are now used only rarely. Even silicon transistors are rivaled by the introduction of other solid state devices, such as field effect transistors and complete solid state circuits containing very complex assemblies.
In the months and years ahead, change will continue, with rapid advancements in technology permitting even greater achievements. Evidence of change is present now in high fidelity sound reproduction. We will witness more multi-channel sound-particularly four-channel sound. Much progress in this area is evident already in tapes, discs, and equipment. In the near future, we will have available commercial broadcasting in four-channel sound from single FM stations.
Other developments are difficult to predict. However, all of us are sure that the improvement and innovation in sound recording, reproduction, and the required equipment of all kinds will continue. The end result of this continued effort on the part of our industry will, as usual, benefit the user.
At H. H. Scott, Inc. we are proud to have been one of the pioneering companies in this great industry and to have made many significant and major contributions. We shall continue to devote our efforts toward added contributions in the years ahead, for at H. ' H. Scott innovation is truly a tradition.
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S. N. Shure
President, Shure Bros., Inc.
The editor of AUDIO has asked me to make a prophecy, and as an inducement he has stated that I will not be asked to make another one until 1997.
A prophecy is a divine inspiration, according to several dictionaries. I cannot lay claim to such a "gift of the gods." However, to set a goal for the future and then work to attain it-that is within the province of humans.
In the late 19th century the microphone came into existence-very crude in form and operation but sound in concept. In the intervening years, microphones became much more sophisticated in design and application. But even today, when compared to the human ear, the microphone is still a primitive instrument. It has no power of concentration. It cannot by either human 'command or its own volition reject wanted sounds, except in a very … sense. Tied by an umbilical cord to a massive fixed system, it has little mobility-unlike the human ear which is part of a readily mobile system.
Attempts to sever that cord have resulted in a loss of reliability or fidelity, or both.
By the year 1997, I believe we will have made significant progress towards the goal of a microphone that can emulate the human ear. That microphone will "listen" and be more selective. It will be able to concentrate (tune out undesired sounds). While retaining the essential feature of reliability and fidelity, it will have greatly extended mobility without an umbilical cord.
I believe that the microphone will then play an even more important ,role in man's efforts to communicate ... to understand ... to teach ... and to live in peace.
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S. Mabuchi
Vice President/Engineering, Sony Corp. of America
Since 1967, when Audio Magazine published its 20th anniversary issue, there has been considerable progress in the audio art. While audio componentry has reached a high degree of perfection, there is still much to come.
New devices and innovations will play a large role in bringing the audio art even closer to the ultimate in reproduction of sound. Already we are in an era of innovation with various types of video devices. Theater type entertainment in the home is very close to us now, and therefore we cannot neglect the video art when we discuss the future of the audio art. These two arts will go along hand in hand from now on.
Mass communication in the form of audio was originated by the invention of the telephone, followed by the phonograph, radio, and later the magnetic tape recorder. Since then these devices have made tremendous progress, and as a result, we now have the stereo phonograph, stereo tape recorder, four channel phonograph, four-channel tape recorder, FM multiplex stereo, etc., which are indispensable products to present-day home entertainment and education. The field of video art was originated by photography, and was in turn followed by silent motion pictures, and then motion pictures with sound, color photography and color motion pictures, black and white television, color television and color motion pictures with multi-channel audio, etc.
Already we have video recording and playback devices within our reach which enable us to play and enjoy a program at a command. Recently in Japan, television audio in two-channel stereo was shown, and it is, of course, possible to have four-channel audio for TV. What is the least advanced area in the audio field? This is the technology speaker systems. We have made satisfactory progress in the electronics area of audio. We already have developed good and reliable solid-state circuitry in these past ten years. The phonograph cartridge, turntable, and arm also have made good progress. Among the electromechanical audio devices, the microphone has made a remarkable advance.
The electret condenser microphone, developed by Sony, should be counted as a major improvement in microphone technology. The role of the speaker as a component in the audio system is vital. The speaker, or speaker system, is the decisive device to deliver performance of the electronic and electromechanical devices to our hearing sense.
I cannot suggest here what type of speaker will be the ultimate device because I, unfortunately, am not a specialist in this field. However, much energy will be devoted to improving the speaker during the next five or ten years.
The most promising innovation in the very, very near future is the digital FM tuner, or preferably FM/AM tuner, which has not only a visual attraction but ease and accuracy of tuning. This is the combined application of synthesizer, solid state filter, digital display device, digital IC, phase-lock-loop IC, non-volatile transistor memory, etc.
Among these devices, Planetron digital display and non-volatile memory are the latest contributions by Sony. This non-volatile transistor memory can be applied to make the tuner memorize your favorite station. This station will always come in when you switch on the tuner unless you erase the memory.
The development of digital and linear ICs in the audio field will be the key for future audio electronics improvement, by making products more sophisticated without increasing price.
Another beneficial development for the listener will be speaker systems, even with conventional types, which have built-in power amplifiers and specified acoustic power output indicated for the system. The specification of distortion and power output of the power amplifier itself does not mean too much from the user's point of view.
The output of today's preamplifiers is good enough to drive this type of speaker system. This way we can eliminate the bulky and heavy power transformers from present receivers. Then we only need compact, integrated tuner preamplifiers which can be located within easy reach.
I'd like to touch on the future of four-channel systems briefly. The most important point of four channel is compatibility from the marketing point of view. It is also very important that the encoded signal has the capability to demonstrate the most realistic simulated three-dimensional feeling, i.e.
based on the most ingenious method of decoding, which may yet be in the future. In this respect, I believe the SQ system is the best available encoding method available today.
I have talked about possible progress in the field of audio. However, I feel very strongly that the ultimate status of the audio art in home entertainment and educational applications relies on a good combination with the visual art. The video equipment should have the best available audio capability.
Four-channel audio can create the realism of the concert hall. However, if it is accompanied with the visual image of the player of the music or the concert hall, it will add more realism. The reverse is also true; a good visual image with good audio will create more realism than the visual image alone.
I strongly think that the future of home entertainment and education aid systems is a good combination of audio and video art.
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Joseph S. Tushinsky
President, Superscope, Inc.
The home entertainment industry has enjoyed phenomenal growth over the past ten years, and we are happy to have been a part of that growth. At Superscope we have kept abreast of all innovations in our industry in order to provide the finest audio equipment possible to the greatest number of con sumers.
The steady increase in acceptance and sales of our Marantz line of audio components and Sony tape equipment has been evidence of the broadening of the market for these electronic products. With the entrance of Super scope into worldwide distribution for Marantz products we have uncovered an expanded market in every country. By enlarging our Marantz line to include moderate priced components we have reached a larger group of audiophiles who want the best in equipment at a price they can afford.
This year, with our acquisition of 50% of Standard Radio Corporation of Japan, we are able to control the manufacture and shipment of Marantz models manufactured by that facility to our engineering specifications, thereby increasing the amount of product to be made available to the public.
New marketing concepts are being introduced every day by our Marketing and Sales Divisions. With a network of over 5,000 dealers throughout the United States, as well as our distribution in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, we are steadily working to continue improving product and merchandising methods.
In keeping with our tradition of responsible, long-range planning for the industry, we are constantly involved in developing new products, and advancing technologically to keep pace with anticipated consumer demands.
We are proud to be a part of this industry. We have been involved in the tape recorder area since 1954, and entered the audio component field in 1964 with the acquisition of the Marantz Company. In keeping with our desire to provide the consumer with a full range of home entertainment products, we will be introducing a complete new line before the end of this year, bearing our trade name--Superscope.
The line will augment our Sony tape recorder line and Marantz audio component products. It will cover the full range of home entertainment products in the low to moderate priced field. We anticipate continued growth of sales in the United States and worldwide for audio and visual products and it is our intention to continue growing and adding new and exciting products to our lines. In addition to our association with Standard Radio Corporation and our continued representation of the Sony line of tape recorders and tapes, we will be entering joint ventures in countries where the quality Marantz and Superscope lines have not yet been introduced. Our European subsidiary, Marantz International S.A. in Brussells, Belgium, has set up a network of distributors throughout Europe and the United Kingdom, and has already proven a ready market for Marantz components in those areas.
As long as the economy remains stable, the market will continue to grow, and Superscope will continue to provide the best and most advanced audio equipment for the consumer.
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Walter Goodman, Chairman of the IHF, has announced the appointment of C. G. McProud (above) as Technical Director of the Institute. His first project will be the complete revision of the "Introduction to High Fidelity" booklet. He will also prepare and coordinate weekly radio and newspaper features to educate the consumer about high fidelity.
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(Audio magazine, May 1972)
Also see:
Why Are Audio People “A Special Breed Of Cat?” (May 1972)
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