Electrohome

Electrohome is perhapsFact|date=July 2008 best known as one of Canada's largest manufacturers of television sets in its heyday between 1949 and 1984, and continues to be a popular brand in the Canadian market.

History

Electrohome was founded in Kitchener, Ontario in 1907. The company began manufacturing and selling television sets in 1949, competing with companies such as Northern Electric and Canadian General Electric for a share of the Canadian market. Electrohome developed its reputation for its large heavy floor models boxed in hardwood cases.

In 1954, Carl Arthur Pollock, president of the family-owned company in a consortium with Famous Players Corporation set up CKCO-TV, which broadcasts in the Kitchener-Waterloo and southern Ontario region. Electrohome assumed full control of CKCO in 1970 when broadcasting laws substantially reduced the amount of foreign ownership in Canadian media (Famous Players was controlled by Paramount Pictures).

In 1958/59, a copy of the World Famous DTN Williamson amplifier was produced with Partridge Output transformer, 5V4G, 6SN7, 12AU7, and a pair of KT66 output tubes, producing 10 watts of power at less than 0.3% distortion. Audiophiles the world over have since been searching for this elusive machine, The "Mighty" Electrohome PA-100 MK-1. MK-1 is a gold coloured monobloc, the PA-100 is white/creme coloured with black transformers, and it's been rumoured they produced a chrome version.

In 1984, suffering from years of competition with Sony and other Japanese television makers, Electrohome ceased production of TV sets, and licensed the brand name to Mitsubishi Electric. Electrohome continued to assemble large screen projection systems popular with rock stars for a number of years using components from American manufacturers such as IBM and Texas Instruments. In 1988, Electrohome purchased a second television station, CFRN in Edmonton, Alberta.

In 1995, Electrohome and Baton Broadcasting entered a partnership, sharing ownership of CKCO, CFRN, CFCN in Calgary, CFPL in London, CHWI in Wheatley and CKNX in Wingham. The following year, the partnership was reorganized: Baton took over full ownership of all of the stations, and Electrohome became a shareholder in Baton.

In 1999, Electrohome switched licensees dropping Mitsubishi Electric and allowing Canadian distributor Citizen Electronics (Jutan) to market TV's and DVD players under the Electrohome brand name.

Currently, Electrohome has ceased all manufacturing, and now derives most of its income from its licensing, and has minor stock holdings in Mechdyne/Fakespace Systems which provides visualization solutions for data analysis, and Immersion Studios, a digital cinema firm.

Electrohome has announced that it is planning an orderly wind-up of the corporation. http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/CNW.20080805.C9691/GIStory

External links

* [http://www.electrohome.com Company website]
* [http://www.electrohome.ca Products website]