Who / what was 'Vector Research'

RuSsMaN

Pudknocker
Every now and then, I see some receivers / integrated amps on ebay and in pawn shops under the name 'Vector Research'. They don't seem like anything special, just wondering if anyone knew anything about them, who made them, parent company, etc.

Here's and ebay link to an int. amp for example:

Linky Linky

Cheers,
Russ
 
Good question

I sure seem to recall that they were 'somebody's' brand, like Technics is for Panasonic/National, and I just cannot remember what the deal was.
Not bad gear, but nothing to spark the imagination, and like several other belated efforts to 'crash' the American cash-cow marketplace, slipped away like a fart in a strong wind.
 
Vector Research was a small company producing a line of integrated amplifiers and cassette tape decks, and probably some other audio electronics as well. They were based in Chatsworth, California. Unfortunately, they went out of business in the mid-late 1980's.

I owned a Vector Research integrated amp (VX9000?) and a cassette tape deck (VX-500?) that I purchased from Tech HiFi (also gone) in Boston in 1980 (along with my still working perfectly recently upgraded Ohm Acoustic Model I Speakers).

The tape deck died in after 7 years and could not be fixed because no spare parts were available. The amp lasted for quite awhile, until 2001. I had it repaired once in 2001, but it died again a few months later. When I finally buried it (out with the trash), I discovered there was this whole audio mania on the web, top quality used gear, etc. I had never thought about upgrading amps or equipment and thought the only place to buy audio equipment was at Tweeter. I didn't know nothin'! Wound up buying some used Parasound amps off A-Gon to drive my Ohms and haven't looked back. Now I have a pair of Odyssey Extreme Monoblocks on the way. REALLY looking forward to that........

Rick
 
I've bought and sold a few of their pieces; in fact I have a VR-5000 receiver driving my garage system.

I always though they were sort of an American niche company making higher quality, mass marketed stuff. I've heard them compared to NAD, but it may be because of the styling (flat black) rather than design.
 
I have a VR-2200A my Dad bought for me in high school (35 now). I have it hooked up to my computer and it has a pair of Energy Encores hooked up to it. I mainly use it as a plug in for cassette and phono inputting to my computer for digitalization. I did see a Rotel that looked very similar to my receiver. I like it.
 
Vector Research

I had one of their bigger receivers for a while, ithink the 9000 model. It seemed to have plenty of power and features. LOOKS like a Technics due to the grey color. Pretty heavy unit. Picked it up at a thrift store with a set of mission speakers, still have the speakers. Someone didn't know what they were getting rid of.
 
Who knows...could be a Taiwanese OEM. A lot of the NAD stuff came from there too, so it's possible that the same manufacturer was involed there too. I once had a stereo salesman tell me Vector Research was a sister company to NAD. How correct that is, I have no clue.

My aunt has a Vector Research receiver driving her Linn Nexus speakers (sitting on Kustone stands no less). Freakin' gorgeous.

TP
 
VR - Damark Industries
Trading company based in Chatsworth, California, USA, and founded in 1967, later in Camarillo, California. Originally I believe the company was mostly occupied with distributing hi-fi and radio products (via mail order ?) but in the latter half of the 70's it started marketing products under their own Vector Research brand, these were noticeably better than most such branding exercises especially in the first few years, in particular the Kyocera sourced CD players and cassette recorders, video recorders sourced from NEC (by far the best OEMsupplier of such at the time) and the receivers which were sourced from the Japanese and Taiwanese factories that at the same time were supplying Rotel and NAD with their USA models, these receiver models usually not sold in Europe, and these are the exact same units as provided by the aforementioned companies except for the front facia.

Noticeably VR was selling the receivers at lower prices than the competition and thus gained something of a reputation as a supplier of quality budget hi-fi, but the company was by no means tied to the low end, the most expensive receiver model from the company at the time retailed for around 1000 USD, the loudspeakers and record players from the company were disappointing however. The company was almost exclusively distributed in the southern part of the USA although for a time their products were sold as far away as Australia but notably the company did only own the trademark rights to VR in the US, the quality of their products also took a downturn in the latter half of the 80's in tune with the market and the last products I have been able to find stamped with the VR brand were an inexpensive sub/satellite combination from the early 90's. Getting accurate information on the company itself has not been without problems but it does appear to have gone out of business in 1992/3, however the Vector Research trademark was transferred to a company of the same name and a very similar address to the last one that Damark had at that time but no products manufactured under the VR name have been found that have been attributed to the latter company and last traces of it disappear from official documentation in 2004.
 
Australia and Canada seemed to import a lot of them, as well, the States had a nice network going. What I really like (I paid 100.00 Cdn - or 70.00 USD) for mine not long ago, I like the triple tone controls. Bass Treble and mid range. Makes a difference for sure.
 
you're welcome and thanks. Nice to be here. I've learned a lot viewing the pages over the months here, and now, I want one of every cool thing I've seen :)
 
Pretty accurate, except the part about only the southern US, Plenty of VR stuff was sold in the northeast and the Midwest too.
They also had a lower end range in the mid 80's called Carrerra. (SP?) I believe a major factor in their demise, besides the shrinking of the audio industry everywhere, were the demise of their larger dealers (specifically Tech HIFI which I believe was the largest seller of VR) and probably a few (many?) others, as a lot of dealers went belly up in the 80's and 90's.
 
VR was carried here in Southern California by the Federated Group. I wouldn't call it a house brand; more like an exclusive brand. As noted, the receivers were pretty popular. I have no recollection of them making/branding speakers.
 
I was always curious about Vector Research - mostly because the name implied some mysterious electronic wizardry that I might be missing out on something special. Based on the previous posts maybe it should'a been called market research?
 
I've a vector research tuner, vu1500. picked up on a whim at the thrift. Pretty nice look to it, but it is honestly the worst performing tuner I've used... Maybe it needs work? Probably just isn't very good.
 
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