Technics
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Technics is a brand name of Japanese Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., a company that produces a variety of electronic products.
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[edit] Word
Technics is a term for the doctrine of the useful arts in general. It is distinct from that of the performing and fine arts.
[edit] Description
Under the brand name Technics, the company produces a variety of hi-fi products, such as turntables, amplifiers, receivers, tape decks, CD players and speakers for sale in various countries. It was originally conceived for a line of high-end audio equipment to go against such companies as Nakamichi, but most of its home products have been rebranded as Panasonic starting in 2002 (except in Japan, where the brand is still popular). DJ equipment and electronic pianos are the only Technics products currently being sold in the USA and Europe.
[edit] History
The name Technics came to widespread fame with the production of turntables. In 1969, they introduced the SP-10, the first direct-drive model for the professional market, and in 1971 the SL-1100 for the consumer market. The SL-1100 was used by the influential DJ Kool Herc for the first sound system he set up after emigrating from Jamaica to New York. This latter model was the predecessor to the SL-1200 which, as the upgraded SL-1200 MK2, became a widely used turntable by DJs. The SL-1200 MK2 was a robust machine and incorporated a pitch control (or vari-speed), and kept the speed constant and the speed variability low, thus making it a popular tool with DJs.
The 1200 continues to evolve with the M3D series, followed by the MK5 series in 2003.
[edit] Models
The Technics KN6000 is an arranger, workstation, and MIDI-enabled electric keyboard manufactured by Technics. Initially released in 1998, the KN6000 has since been superseded by the KN6500 in 2002 and the KN7000 in 2003. It was widely regarded as one of the most sophisticated and technologically-advanced keyboards in the prosumer market.
[edit] Other equipment of note
Mid 1970s:
- RS-858 quadraphonic 8-track recorder
Late 1970s:
- RS-1500/1700 series of open-reel tape decks;
- SA-400/600/800/1000 receivers
- new class A Amplifier series launched featuring SE-A1 / SE-A3 High Output Power Amplifiers
early 1980s:
- SV-P100 digital audio recorder (using VHS tapes!). Also available as the SV-100, a stand-alone PCM adaptor requiring a separate VCR;
- cassette decks with dbx noise reduction (one of the few companies to offer this)
1990s:
- various hi-quality power amps
[edit] Trivia
The Technics name is frequently mispronounced as "tek-niks". However, according to the manufacturer, the correct pronunciation is like the word techniques.
[edit] External links
- General Technics DJ home page
- Official Technics DJ Homepage
- Technics Musical Instruments home page
- Technics DJ Turntables Exploded View Diagrams
- Technics 1200 M3D
- Technics 1210 MK5
- Information about vintage Technics equipment, not all models are covered
- User and service manuals for Technics turntables
- Vintage Cassette Decks Collection of Technics Vintage Cassette decks and other brands.
| Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. |
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Subsidiaries: Panasonic | National | Technics | Quasar | JVC (50% shareholding) |
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Annual Revenue: 8,713 billion Yen ( |
