| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | TYO: 6765 |
| Industry | Consumer electronics, electronics |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters | Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Haruo Kawahara CEO |
| Products | Consumers electronics |
| Revenue | $1.68 billion USD (2006)[1] |
| Operating income | n/a |
| Net income | n/a |
| Employees | 4,424 (2006) |
| Parent | JVC Kenwood Holdings |
| Website | Kenwood Corporation |
Kenwood Corporation (株式会社ケンウッド Kabushiki-Gaisha Ken'uddo) (TYO: 6765) is a Japanese manufacturer of amateur radio as well as Hi-Fidelity and portable audio equipment.
The company first started in 1946 as the Kasuga Radio Co. Ltd. In Komagane City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. In 1960 the firm was renamed "Trio Corporation". 1963 saw the foundation of the first overseas office of Trio, in Los Angeles, California, USA.[2]
In the early 1960s, The LaFayette Radio Company rebranded and sold Trio's products, unfortunately focusing on the doomed 23-channel CB radio.
Their component HiFi reaches back to the all valve era, with their stereo receiver-amplifiers often having 2 tuning dials and 2 separate tuners, some of which would tune in multiple carrier AM stereo broadcasts.
Innovation at the company was very significant during this period. Trio built oscilloscopes, such as the popular 10 MHz CS-1562A.
A group of Japanese American audio enthusiasts consisting of Bill Kasuga, Yoichi Nakase and George Aratani, who also founded Mikasa & Company started an import company in 1961 that would satisfy their desire for high-quality audio recording equipment. They came across Trio, and started importing their electronics. During that period, Japanese manufactured goods had a reputation for low quality, but Kasuga had faith in Trio's products and decided to create an American-sounding name for them. He described the origin of Kenwood as being the combination of "Ken", a name common to Japan and America that had been tested and proven acceptable to American consumers in the name of Kenmore Appliances, and "Wood", referring to the durable substance as well as suggesting a relation to Hollywood.[3]
The brand recognition of Kenwood would surpass that of Trio's, and in 1981, Trio decided on using the Kenwood name worldwide and renamed itself Kenwood Corporation in 1986.[2]
Kenwood introduced Japan's first FM tuner and solid state amplifier. The company introduced an amplifier with integrated audio and video signal switching in 1981. This product is seen as a precursor to today's home cinema systems.
In 1984, Kenwood designed and manufactured the first anti-theft car stereo receiver.
Kenwood introduced its Sovereign line of components in 2001. This high-end line competes with prestige brands of other manufacturers such as Pioneer Elite, Sony ES, Onkyo Integra, and Matsushita Technics. In the car audio market, the "eXcelon" line similarly competes Pioneer Premier and Sony Mobile ES brands.
Kenwood announced its intention to merge with JVC after Matsushita spun off the company. The new company formed JVC Kenwood Holdings on October 1, 2008.
Kenwood has offered distinct lines of HF, VHF/UHF, and portable amateur radio models, including some with built-in digital data modes (APRS, built on AX.25 packet radio) and modems needed to send and receive these protocols.
Among the product lines, the "TS" series of HF transceivers can be said to be among Kenwood's flagship products. These radios cover the HF ("high frequency") bands, from 1.8 to 30 MHz, and can easily let the user communicate around the world, via voice, CW (Morse), PSK31 or RTTY (digital modes of communication), with output power of around 50-100 Watts. These included:
Other series include the 100, 500, and the new 2000 series. The TS-2000 is Kenwood's current top of the line model. It includes all-mode operation on HF, 6 meters, 2 meters, 70 centimeters (420 - 450 MHz), and in the "X" model the 23 centimeters band (1.24 - 1.30 GHz). Kenwood also offers a "B" model which is a transceiver without display or controls and is completely controlled by a remote computer or a separate control unit. This allows using it as a mobile transceiver where the main unit is placed in the trunk or an area that provides enough room to house it, possibly closer to the antenna, and have a control unit in the front of the car. A setup like this allows the control unit to be placed closer to the driver and the transceiver closer to the antenna which shortens the cable, reducing possible interference.
Kenwood has not entered the "big box" high end HF radio market that has become the high ground in the amateur radio market. While the TS-2000 offers solid performance in a very compact package, it is missing key features found in the high end offerings from Icom and Yaesu.
Kenwood TS-2000 also have built-in Digital data modes (APRS, built on AX.25 Packet), as do the mobile TM-D710A (which replaced the earlier TM-D700A) and handheld TH-D7 series. A UK White Paper shows a number of applications of the popular APRS (ie, Automatic Position Reporting System, a.k.a. Automatic Packet Reporting System).
In the late 1970s Trio Kenwood put to use their experience in DC to high-frequency amplification used in oscilloscopes and embarked on what was to become their signature high-end audio gear, the L-series (or Lab-series). Starting with the L-05, 7 & 9 pre/power amplifiers, the L-07T tuner and the L-07D direct drive turntable.
In 1979 they started the New-Separate amplifier series with the L-01A integrated amplifier and matching L-01T tuner. In 1983/4 the L-03A and T where launched, but were aimed primarily on the Japanese market. The first L-series CD-player was the L-03DP which had a front loading mechanism much like a casettedeck. In 1989 the L-1000 series were launched. The L-1000 series consisted of a control amplifier, power amplifier, tuner and CD-player. The last line of the L-series came in 1994 with the L-A1 integrated amplifier and the L-D1 CD-player. After 1994 no new L-series were launched.
Most of the L-series were designed by Kenwood, but manufactured by Kensonic (known today as Accuphase). In 1978 Kenwood introduced it's KR-4070 Stereo Receiver that sold for around $315.99 & it puts out 40 wpc sounds more like 80 wpc. It features 1 phono,1 Aux, 2 Tape Inputs Loudness on/off,AM,Auto Muting,FM,Mono,& Separate Bass & Treble Controls.
DRIVE stands for Dynamic Resolution Intensive Vector Enhancement. This IC invented in the early 1990s is intended to enhance soft signals in CD players by interpreting the signal and then relaying it through various filters in order to recreate as close as possible the signal as it was recorded. Many improvements were released with new versions of the DRIVE ICs.
TRAIT stands for Thermally Reactive Advanced Instantaneous Transistor. This means that the thermocouple necessary to compensate for temperature effects in power transistors is housed inside the transistor instead of the traditional place on the heatsink. This minimizes the time difference between actual temperature of the transistor and measured temperature on the heatsink. This improves the sound quality of the amplified signal.
TRAIT transistors have 5 pins instead of the normal 3 (Base, Collector, Emitter or Gate, Source, Drain for MOSFET's) TRAIT transistors, manufactured by Sanken Electronics, were used in the mid 1990s for the first time in Kenwood amplifiers. TRAIT is called K-Stat in the USA.
In 1998, Kenwood released the TrueX line of personal computer CD-ROM drives, first at the speed of 40x, then 52x and 72x. The TrueX CD-ROM drives use a low rotational speed (approximately 6x to 10x) with seven laser pickups functioning in parallel to read data at faster overall speeds. After the initial marketing hype died down these drives had numerous problems, including that they suffered from very poor reliability. They were also notably unable to handle discs with proprietary copy protection, although such disc do not meet the Compact Disc (Red Book) standard and so there is technically no standard "correct" way to handle them. [4]
The NV-301 and NV-701 were 2 hi-fi systems were released in 2000 as part of the NV series of hi-fi systems. Both had half mirror, acrylic blue and silver panels. The NV-301 was a standard 2 speaker system, and the NV-701 a 5.1 surround sound system. Both had a 3-disc CD player and a cassette deck with Dolby B Noise Reduction. The units incorporated many functions that you would expect to find on bulkier units in such a small form factor. The functions (e.g. reverse mode, Dolby NR, CD programme, graphic equalizer etc) are accessed by pressing the menu button. Use of microcomputers allowed such a small design to be created. These features made the NV-301/701 highly advanced for the time and even today they could still be considered as modern hi-fi systems. The design of them is also ahead of its time as well and today it could easily fool people into believing that it's a brand new unit when it's actually 12 years old. Units from other manufacturers never matched the Kenwood NV-301/701 in terms of technological advances and design. Only recently that some higher end hi-fis have caught up with the NV-301/701, incorporating a microcomputer and possible accessing functions via a menu button. The only feature to identify the NV-301/701 as old is the large headphones jack, new hi-fi systems nowadays feature a small jack. [5] [6]
In 2006 Kenwood released its own high end digital HDD MP3 player. While lacking in features such as a video player the HD30GD9 makes up for it in the quality of its music playback.
In 2007 Kenwood introduced the HD60GD9, unlike most of the MP3 players on the market that focus on forms and extra capabilities, Kenwood's new Media Keg focuses entirely on sound quality. It is one of the only MP3 players with superior digital amplifier equipped with a vibration-free plastic shell and gel mount for the hard drive, as well as a non-magnetic metal frame used inside the device, to help the system prevent interferences. Kenwood's new "Supreme EX" decoder for better compressed music file reproduction.
Kenwood Corporation Multimedia Car Audio Products are standard equipment on Lamborghini Murciélago models.
McLaren commissioned Kenwood, its supplier of radio equipments for the team, to create a lightweight car audio system for the F1; Kenwood, between 1992 and 1998, used the F1 to promote its products in print advertisements, calendars and brochure covers. Each car audio system was tailored to an individual's listening taste, however radio was omitted because Gordon Murray, the vehicle's designer, never listened to the radio.
A Kenwood GPS/entertainment system comes standard in the SsangYong Rexton R-line.
