Curious about reputations of various 70s brands

[Laggard]

Thanks for all the serious answers. I have a Sansui G-3000 and am waiting for a Marantz 2010 to become available. That’s my dream amp.

I’m also trying to remember the name of a brand of cheap audio gear sold at K Mart in the seventies. It was designed to look high end but even my twelve year old eyes could tell it was junk just by the cheap looking dials and displays which likely did little.

 

[tarior]

Peabody and Sherwin.

I think you mean Peabody and Sherman (a dog and his boy). If I remember my Rocky and Bullwinkle shows correctly.
O/P, Sherwood and Fisher made some very desirable and sought after tube gear along with some hit and miss solid state gear and speakers after becoming zombie brands during the '70s.
Kenwood (Trio), Pioneer, and Sansui made excellent solid state gear into the early '80s. AFAIK, all three continued making very excellent SS gear primarily for the JDM, with some trickling out to foreign markets.

 

[toodletunes]

Oh, come ON! (Ouch, another Tom Snyder attack),

A little respect please for Mr. Peabody. Let's not overlook the courtesy title.

 

[rickb119]

I’m also trying to remember the name of a brand of cheap audio gear sold at K Mart in the seventies.

Soundesign?

 

[50nstillhifi]

Wondering what the rep was for these brands in the seventies.

Sherwin
Fischer
Sansui
Kenwood
Pioneer

Thanks

Sherwin.. I am sure is meant Sherwood

All named brands made great equipment.. some are notably better in certain categories.

Is there a "component" in particular you have interest for each or every manufacture you named? I think this would help posters better address performance needs/concerns.

 

[electronjohn]

Then there's JVC...probably the first to break away from the "conventional" silverface look with the black/silver, sideways tuning, SEA slider EQ setup, etc. Excellent performers, too. And, don't forget a couple of brands that flew under the radar...Hitachi & Toshiba.

 

[WaynerN]

I think you mean Peabody and Sherman (a dog and his boy). If I remember my Rocky and Bullwinkle shows correctly.
O/P, Sherwood and Fisher made some very desirable and sought after tube gear along with some hit and miss solid state gear and speakers after becoming zombie brands during the '70s.
Kenwood (Trio), Pioneer, and Sansui made excellent solid state gear into the early '80s. AFAIK, all three continued making very excellent SS gear primarily for the JDM, with some trickling out to foreign markets.

It's called inferred humor.........

 

[Mister Pig]

All the companies mentioned had large product portfolios, and their history had respective golden years when they were at their best. Some of the products were the best they could offer, others hit a price point, some were ground breaking in design and technology, and others lived off the companies reputation when they went into a decline.

Some of what is offered in the used market is great, other pieces not so much. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish in audio. If you want the best sound you can afford, find their limited edition pieces. Depending on how good they were you are still going to pay real money for them, as their capabilities define what people are willing to pay for them in the secondary market. For instance the Fisher 55A, AZ 80, or Model 100 amps are going to cost you real money, especially if they have been restored. Same can be said for tube amps from Scott, or even Sherwood.

So it all depends.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

[Laggard]

Soundesign?

Sounds right.

 

[Laggard]

Sherwin.. I am sure is meant Sherwood

All named brands made great equipment.. some are notably better in certain categories.

Is there a "component" in particular you have interest for each or every manufacture you named? I think this would help posters better address performance needs/concerns.

No. Just curious about the history of some of these companies and the product they offered in the seventies and early eighties.

Let me throw out another name: Sanyo

 

[swechsler]

Sanyo branded equipment wasn't really that big back then. They bought Fisher (previously owned by Emerson Electric) in 1975, so most of their marketing was done under that brand, but also sold a few components under their own name. Later on they came up with the Ultrx higher-end brand, but they soon diluted it and it it slid backwards until it was pretty much equivalent to the cheaper Sanyo stuff.

It's probably safe to say that Sanyo's purchase of Fisher is what contributed most to its downfall. It was a fairly solid brand before then.

 

[WaynerN]

Lloyds, Coronet, Ross.......Concord, Norelco, Craig, Audiovox.....Ranger, Delmonico.......York, Juliette.......Realtone, Jade.....Argos....

 

[Laggard]

Soundesign?

Heres a link. Yorx was the other brand

http://historysdumpster.blogspot.com/2012/07/yorx-and-soundesign-stereos.html?m=1

 

[HTHMAN]

Never heard of Sherwin but I think you mean "Fisher". That was a good brand through the 60's but slowly lost it's luster in the 70's. The last three were solid.

Sherwin merged with Williams and started to make paint.

 

[swechsler]

Lloyds, Coronet, Ross.......Concord, Norelco, Craig, Audiovox.....Ranger, Delmonico.......York, Juliette.......Realtone, Jade.....Argos....

Don't forget Electrophonic.

 

[tarior]

It's called inferred humor.........

I was just surprised, and happy, that I could remember that far back.

 

[50nstillhifi]

No. Just curious about the history of some of these companies and the product they offered in the seventies and early eighties.

Let me throw out another name: Sanyo

I see now... I am recalling from memory, for all its worth. There were certain brands you might only find in the then named "department stores". I remember Fisher.. or Fischer, Sansui and Sanyo to be such. As for Kenwoods, Pioneers, Sherwood and some other midscale models.. usually the premier electronic/audio stores sold them. At least I found this to be true in the N. Eastern U.S.

Might want to avoid meshing reliability with cost as there was a lot of mix and match done in the hay days of audio.. and much hybriding even using similar sounding names. I believe a lot of money was made by counterfeits.. one such I remember buying.. Sp--rsonic.

Oh.. I would have loved to had Google at my disposal!!

 

[TomB19]

I remember: Panasony

 

[bobschneider]

At least some Sherwood receivers were made on the north side of Chicago until the mid 1970s, which I believe was after Marantz, Fisher and Scott all moved production to Asia. In the summer of 1974 I worked for a small industrial electronics company in the Chicago suburbs - we subcontracted some of our production to Sherwood.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Just curious about the history of some of these companies and the product they offered in the seventies and early eighties.

Pioneer forum has the database articles that talk to a huge pile of gear they offered.

Then there is this site: http://www.hifi-archiv.info/ Go for a sandwich and a drink you will be there a while.