1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,319 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: how the tech are you? You know? In a tech 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: News episode a few weeks ago, I mentioned that the 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: company on Chio, which created an audio equipment brand that 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: was well known and respected in the A V world, 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: was going out of business. I also mentioned that the 9 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: brand would actually live on because other companies had sort 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:43,599 Speaker 1: of swooped in to purchase those assets before the demise 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: of on Chio, and it appears that the plan is 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: to continue producing equipment using those assets that will presumably 13 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: carry the Onchio brand names forward. Then I asked if 14 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: y'all wanted me to follow up on that and do 15 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: an episode on it, and y'all said, yeah, us at 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: least five of you did, So here we go. That's 17 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: that's a bar that I am happy to hit. Now, 18 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: before I really jump into things, let me give a 19 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,639 Speaker 1: few caveats up front in this episode. First, there actually 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: are not a ton of great resources that chronicled the 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: history and evolution of on Kio, So there are going 22 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: to be some gaps in this episode. And we should 23 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 1: probably consider any dates I talk about beyond like really 24 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: formative ones like the founding of the company, to be 25 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: more or less approximate. Also, many of the resources I 26 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: uncovered were obviously originally written in a language other than English, 27 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: and the translations vary from pretty good to this is 28 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: unintentionally disturbing. For example, one source I came across described 29 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: a moment in an on Kio commercial that totally gave 30 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: me the creeps, and I'm gonna go ahead and read 31 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: what it said, because should I be the only one 32 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: to suffer? This is literally how it read. Quote Yoko 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: Mina Mino and Idol speaks in a moist voice. I 34 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: want you to like it slowly. This is a scene 35 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: from the commercial of Radian, a popular mini component system 36 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 1: of a Kyo In end quote, yeah, have fun getting 37 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: that out of your head, because it's been haunting me 38 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: for days. Anyway. My point is that the combination of 39 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: scant sources and questionable translations, also some sources contradicting facts 40 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: that other quote unquote facts that other sources are are listening. 41 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: All of this means that we could be jumping around 42 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: a little bit and taking everything with a grain of salt. 43 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: Beyond certain things that are pretty certain, I usually would 44 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: default to the company's own history sources over everything else, 45 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: thinking well, that's going to be the most reliable. But 46 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: there's at least one instance where I feel like that 47 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: was also incorrect, and we'll get to that all right, 48 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: back to a Kio. As we'll see, the story of 49 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: on Kio includes more than one moment where the entire 50 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: brand could have disappeared, and that only thanks to some 51 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: other companies was on Kio able to keep going. Sadly, 52 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: it's luck was bound to run out at some point, 53 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: and that seems to be what has happened now. But 54 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: our story begins back in the early nineteen hundreds, and 55 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: in fact involves not just on Kio's founder, who is 56 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: Takeshi Godae, but another really important person in Japanese tech 57 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: and business, Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of the company that 58 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: would ultimately become known as Pana Sonic. Konosuke Matsushida became 59 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: childhood friends with Takeshi Godai after taking a job at 60 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: the Goodai Bicycle company. Mattsushida would later moved to Osaka 61 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: take a job at the Osaka Electric Light Company. Work 62 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: his way up quickly in that business, and in nineteen seventeen, 63 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: Matt Sushida would leave to found his own electronics company, 64 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: initially focusing on stuff like bicycle lamps and light sockets. 65 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: This is the company that would ultimately become Panasonic, and 66 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: it would take a few years for that company to 67 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: find stability, but after that it grew pretty quickly, and 68 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: Matt Sushida would eventually bring over his childhood buddy Takeshi 69 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: Good Eye to oversee a manufacturing facility dedicated to making 70 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: speakers loud speakers. After World War Two, Matt Sushida's company 71 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: was actually in danger of being split up by the 72 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: occupying forces, primarily the United States in Japan. That was 73 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: something that was happening to a lot of Japanese companies 74 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: because Japanese companies had sort of a dynastic structure. There 75 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: was very much a kind of inherited structure for companies 76 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: where they would belonged to a family or maybe a 77 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: small group of families and um. The concern by the 78 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: occupying forces was that this was concentrating power in a 79 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: way that was harmful at least to United States interests. 80 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: So around that same time, Matt Sushida's company spun off 81 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: its audio production operations, which gave Takeshi the opportunity to 82 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: make his own decision to found a company of his 83 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: very own. So he did, and he called it Osaka didn' 84 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: ki a kyo kk on Kio means sound acoustics, and 85 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: Takesh's dream was to create a company that could produce 86 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 1: higher quality dynamic speakers than what was typically available on 87 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: the market in Japan, and he founded that company in 88 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: April of nineteen forty six. The next month, on Kio 89 00:05:55,080 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: introduced its very first product, but this was not a loudspeaker. Instead, 90 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: it was a cartridge pickup for record players. This is 91 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: the part of the record player that has the stylus 92 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,840 Speaker 1: or needle inside of it. That needle will vibrate as 93 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: it moves through the grooves of a record, so the 94 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: needle kind of navigates this canal in the form of 95 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: this groove, and the variations in that canal cause vibrations 96 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: through the needle. Uh and a very small, very sensitive 97 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: electro magnet in the cartridge would convert the vibrations into 98 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: a weak electric signal, and then when amplified, that electric 99 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: signal would be able to drive speakers that could play 100 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,239 Speaker 1: back the recorded sound represented by those grooves in the record. 101 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: Super cool technology. It's been around for more than a 102 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: hundred years now, according to one source, which was a 103 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: thorough source, but also impossible for me to verify because 104 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: I could not find any corroborating evidence. So again, take 105 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: this with a grain of salt. This original product sold 106 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: for a three yen in ninet. If that is indeed true, 107 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 1: it would have been incredibly expensive. But again, the source 108 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: I found was one that doesn't even exist online anymore. 109 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: Actually had to use archive dot org to even get 110 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: a copy of it. Like I found a link to 111 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: the source in a forum about on chio. I followed 112 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: the link and got a four oh four error. So 113 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: I went to archive and actually found a snapshot of 114 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: the uh the link from two thousand and twelve in 115 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: order to actually read this. And again, like I said, 116 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: I couldn't find any corroborating evidence. So we're just kind 117 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: of going to assume that the product was expensive. It 118 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: would have made sense. You know, electronics typically when they 119 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: first debut in a market, tend to be very very expensive. 120 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: They're expensive to make, and so the manufacturer passes that 121 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: onto the customer, and thanks to you know, bleeding edge 122 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: early adopters who have a lot of disposable cash. Then 123 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: eventually the price comes down because manufacturing improves and you 124 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: start producing at scale well despite the cost. At least 125 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: according to this one source, the products sold well enough 126 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: for to Cache to mark those profits toward developing a 127 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: loudspeaker research and development division, as well as set money 128 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: aside to pay for the construction of a factory. That 129 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: part is absolutely true because by January, two years after 130 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: the company had been founded, the company had built its factory. Now, 131 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: one of the first things that that factory began to 132 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: produce were speaker cones, which means we should probably take 133 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: a quick moment to explain what speaker cones are and 134 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: what they are for. So briefly, a loud speaker or 135 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: just speaker for short, takes an incoming electric signal, feeds 136 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: that to an electro magnetic set up, and that in 137 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: turn drives a diaphragm or cone to move inward and outward, 138 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: which creates fluctuations and air pressure that we perceive as sound. 139 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: So inside a speaker you typically have a permanent magnet 140 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: that's attached to the chassis of the speaker itself and 141 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: suspended in the speaker is a coil of conductive wire, 142 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: and as electricity moves through the coil, it creates a 143 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: magnetic field, the magnetic field, and the coil interacts with 144 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: the magnetic field of the permanent magnet. And depending on 145 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: the direction of the current, because we are working with 146 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: alternating current here, the magnetic fields either repel one another, 147 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: which forces the coil outward from the speaker, or they 148 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: attract one another, which pulls the coil inward toward the 149 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: speaker or the back of the speaker. I guess well, 150 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,559 Speaker 1: that coil in turn is attached to a cone or diaphragm. 151 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 1: Typically there's a connector sometimes it's a direct connection, but 152 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: usually there's a a component that serves to connect the 153 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 1: coil to the cone, and the cu own is secured 154 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: to the speaker at the wide end. So if you 155 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: think of a megaphone, the part where the sound comes 156 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: out is the bit where it would attach to the chassis, 157 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: and it's the narrow endo the cone that attaches to 158 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: the coil. So the movements of the coil push and 159 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: pull on this diaphragm. The stiffness of the material of 160 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 1: that diaphragm, as well as the size of the diaphragm, 161 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,560 Speaker 1: will affect the quality of sound that comes out of it. 162 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,679 Speaker 1: Larger diaphragms can be much louder than smaller ones and 163 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: generate lower frequencies of sound as well. Your basic subwhiffer 164 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: has a larger diaphragm than say, a tweeter speaker would, 165 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: and there's a real art and science to creating the 166 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 1: right cone shape and the right stiffness for speakers. Typically, 167 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,839 Speaker 1: speakers have a range of frequencies and volumes that they're 168 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: very good at reproducing. But beyond that range, if you 169 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: try to go either higher frequency or lower frequency, or 170 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: turn up the volume more than the speaker can handle, 171 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: things start to get ugly. And a lot of those 172 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: factors depend upon the cones material and shape. On Kio, 173 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: like other companies in the loudspeaker business back in the 174 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: early days, was producing paper cones. Paper in this case 175 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: includes cones that have materials like wool or even synthetic 176 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: fibers interwoven into them, so it's not you know, it's 177 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,079 Speaker 1: not like printer paper or notebook paper or anything like that. 178 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: It is a type of paper just as currency tends 179 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: to be a special type of paper that has various 180 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: fibers interwoven into it, so are speaker cones. And soon 181 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: the company had its first real hit. One early speaker 182 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 1: released by on Kio was the e D one hundred. 183 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: It had a driver measuring times or about ten inches across, 184 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: and it was also expensive, more expensive than its nearest 185 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: competitor according to a Kio itself. And yet despite that expense, 186 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: it sold well as reviewers praised it for the sound 187 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: replication capabilities that it had. And from what I can tell, 188 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: this was just the speaker itself, like just the actual 189 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: speaker part, not the cabinet that would house the speaker. 190 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: Now I could be wrong about that. Maybe they produced 191 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: an entire cabinet for this, but to me, it sounds 192 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: like it was more of an O e M product. 193 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: So O e M stands for original equipment manufacturer. It's 194 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: a common term in business. These are the companies that 195 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: make components that other companies used to put into their 196 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: own products. So a lot of those types of companies 197 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: have names that you probably aren't that familiar with because 198 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: we are not the customers for O e M s, right, 199 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,559 Speaker 1: we don't go out and buy O E M products 200 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: for the most part. I mean, there are places that 201 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: will sell them, to sell the O e M components 202 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: where you can do things like do a repair or 203 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 1: something to a product, but typically we're more familiar with 204 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: the consumer companies that the consumer brand companies UM not 205 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: the O E M s, but other companies are the 206 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: customers for those O e M s. Uh. If you 207 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: think of it, Fox Con which is the company that 208 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: Apple relies on for a lot of the assembly, can 209 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: kind of fall into this business to business category. So anyway, 210 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: all of that would have been an irrelevant tangent if 211 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: in fact the E D one was a full cabinet 212 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: speaker product. But all the photos I saw of it 213 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: have been just for the speaker part itself, as if 214 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: you had taken a cabinet apart and pulled the speaker 215 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: part out and just had that. That's what all the 216 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: pictures show. So my guess is that's exactly what it 217 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: was when a Kia was selling them, and some other 218 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,479 Speaker 1: company would do things like create the cabinets or chassiss 219 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: that would hold this loud speaker. Now, in nineteen fifty 220 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,839 Speaker 1: on Kio filed for a patent on nonpressed cone drive 221 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 1: unit technology. All right, this brings us up to pressed 222 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: versus nonpressed That refers to the process of making speaker cones. 223 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: Press cones typically have a more uniform density and stiffness, 224 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: but they also tend to have a smaller surface area 225 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: than non pressed cones. So nonpressed cones, while not being 226 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: quite as consistent and sometimes having some quality issues, are 227 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: able to move more air, and they could be louder 228 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: than a similarly sized pressed cone. At least that's what 229 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: I've come to understand on the matter. I started going 230 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: down the rabbit hole of this and quickly discovered that 231 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: speaker cone technology can be treated with a complexity and 232 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: reverence I would normally associate with quantum physics. Well, we've 233 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: got a lot more to say about on chio before 234 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: we get any further. Let's take a quick break, all right, 235 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: My understanding about pressed versus non press cones really, non 236 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: press cones, mostly we can just say, tend to be 237 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: more power efficient and can produce louder sounds than similar 238 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: sized pressed cones, But they also vary in quality, and 239 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: therefore you cannot be absolutely certain that you're going to 240 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: get the absolute best from a non pressed cone nt 241 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: This was also when on Kio introduced the on Kyo 242 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: o P six seventy, which was a high fidelity audio 243 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: system complete with four speed turntable. And if you're like 244 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: a lot of folks, you might be saying, wait, a 245 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: turntable with four speeds. I think most people who have 246 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: played with turntables they know that there are two standard 247 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: speeds that you pretty much find on every single turntable 248 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: slash record player that's out there. There's forty five rpm 249 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: r VM O course, stands for revolutions per minute, meaning 250 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: the turntable will turn forty five times every minute. This 251 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: is usually reserved for seven inch records. Typically they are singles, 252 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: which means you know, you have like a single song 253 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: per side of the disk of the wreck, and then 254 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: you have thirty three RPM, or really thirty three and 255 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: a third, and this is what we typically use for 256 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: long play albums or LPs, the larger records. Right, most 257 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: people are familiar with that. Now beyond that, there are 258 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: some folks who are probably aware that older turntables in 259 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: particular often had a seventy eight rpm setting, so it 260 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: would turn seventy eight times in a minute. Uh, that 261 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: has dated back to some of the earliest records. You 262 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: don't typically find seventy eight rpm records these days. I'm 263 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: not saying no one's making them, because I'm sure someone 264 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: out there is, but but these were the early early records. However, 265 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: did you know And some of you probably do, but 266 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: I doubt everyone does that. A few systems also included 267 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: a fourth speed, which was all the way down to 268 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: sixteen rpm. Technically it was actually sixteen and two thirds rpm, 269 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: half the speed of thirty three and one third. If 270 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: you're wondering why these odd speeds are hitting these these 271 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: seemingly arbitrary numbers, it actually has to do with the 272 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: gear ratios that were used in turntables, um, because it's 273 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: the it's the ratio of these gears that determine what 274 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: speeds you can have something turned to based upon the 275 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:24,400 Speaker 1: speed that the motor works at. And it's really fascinating. 276 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: But the reason for of these these numbers, UH really 277 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: has to do with the capability of an electric motors 278 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: that turn at a very specific speed and thus, by 279 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: using gears, you can gear up or gear down that speed. Right. 280 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: So that's that's why they are all these weird ratios 281 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: of thirty three and a third or sixteen and two 282 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: thirds or seventy eight. Now, when I was a kid, 283 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: I was convinced that the purpose of these different speeds 284 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,520 Speaker 1: on turntables was really so that you could turn up 285 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: any LP or thirty three rpm album into a Chipmunks album, 286 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,400 Speaker 1: because if you play a thirty three rpm record at 287 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,959 Speaker 1: forty five rpm speeds everything you know, speeds up and 288 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: all the sounds get pitched up, so it is hilarious 289 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: if you're you know, nine, or in my case, forty six. Conversely, 290 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 1: if you play a forty five rpm record at thirty 291 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: three rpm while then everything slows down and pitches down, 292 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: and I can tell you that the effect is often disturbing. Um. 293 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: I remember in college where my roommate made an entire 294 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: cassette tape where he he recorded songs played on albums 295 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: but at the wrong speed, because we had a turntable 296 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: in our dorm room and a cassette deck with it too, 297 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,159 Speaker 1: and so one day he just spent he spent the 298 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: whole day converting thirty three rpm songs to forty five 299 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: and vice versa, and listening to that forty five rpm 300 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,919 Speaker 1: recording of the BGS, Stay in Alive played at thirty 301 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: three rpm was really the stuff of nightmares. I'm amazed 302 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: that a horror movie hasn't done that, because it did 303 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: sound like it was coming from you know, like a 304 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: psychological thriller or something. Yeah, give it a try if 305 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: you want, um it's it's it's a juvenile way to 306 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: amuse yourself. Highly recommend it. Anyway. The whole thirty three 307 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: and a third versus RPM story is rooted in different 308 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: music labels attempting to set the standard and then eventually 309 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: meshing together so that one format, the forty five would 310 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,119 Speaker 1: essentially be associated with singles, and the other, the thirty 311 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: three RPM, would be associated with long play albums. But 312 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: that speed really does impact other stuff. So naturally, the 313 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: faster the RPM, then the faster the turntables stylus makes 314 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: its way through the groove of a record, right, I mean, 315 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: it's turning faster, so the journey takes less time. That 316 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: also means that if you have two albums that are 317 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: the exact same ameter, but one is a thirty three 318 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 1: RPM and the other is a seventy eight RPM, well 319 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: the seventy rpm record is gonna play through much much faster, 320 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: assuming you've you're using the proper playback speed for each record. 321 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: Of course, the record spends faster, the stylist gets to 322 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: the end faster, which makes sense. Well. Another thing that 323 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: the faster speed tends to do is affect fidelity. Slowing 324 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: the speed down can impact the quality of the playback sound. 325 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 1: If you go slower than normal, then it's going to 326 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: start to sound worse. Slower speeds produce lower quality audio, 327 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: is one way to think about it. So that meant 328 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: that albums designed to be played at sixteen rpm had 329 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: limitations on sound quality. For that reason, most but not all, 330 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,639 Speaker 1: of sixteen rpm records were spoken word pieces where the 331 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 1: audio quality wasn't as big of a deal. And I 332 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: know that was a tangent, but this is tech stuff, 333 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: and that's what I do. If I didn't described technology, 334 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 1: then I wouldn't really be doing the show, right. So anyway, 335 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: if you weren't familiar with four speed stereos, now you 336 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: know they could play albums at sixteen thirty three r 337 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: p M. I'm sure some of you out there have 338 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: had experience with these. I don't think I've ever seen 339 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: a four speed I have seen three speeds, but I 340 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: don't think I ever at least I definitely never owned 341 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: a four speed turntable. Now, on Kio was already off 342 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: to a fast start. By just four years after opening 343 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: its first factory, it was time to move into bigger digs. 344 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,479 Speaker 1: The company expanded both its factory space and it's office space. 345 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: The next year, on Kio re released the e D 346 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: one hundred loudspeaker, but this time they changed out the 347 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,679 Speaker 1: cone material. The loudspeaker had the non pressed cone design 348 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: in the new version. You know, the original e D 349 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: one hundred was a pressed cone one. But now on 350 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: Kio had filed for its patent for non pressed cone 351 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: technology and was able to incorporate that into the e 352 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: D one and the improvement and sound quality garnered more 353 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,399 Speaker 1: positive reviews from critics, so on Kio's reputation in the 354 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: audio world in Japan was on the rise. Now this 355 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,959 Speaker 1: next bit I have to take issue with. According to 356 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,879 Speaker 1: on Kio's own website, the company introduced a transistor radio 357 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty three called the OS, complete with a 358 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: speaker cone measuring twenty centimeters across, which was a much 359 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: larger speaker cone than what you would typically find in 360 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 1: transistor radio's at the time. However, the issue I take 361 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: isn't with the speaker size. That's fine, that's with the 362 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: year nineteen fifty three. See the general agreement is that 363 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:54,959 Speaker 1: the first commercially manufactured transistor radio was the Regency tr 364 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: one that didn't hit store shelves until the end of 365 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, and I cannot find any corroborating evidence 366 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: that suggests the OS fifty five debuted in nineteen fifty three. 367 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: In fact, all other sources say that it came out 368 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five. To keep in mind on Kio's 369 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 1: own sources, the one that says nineteen fifty three but 370 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: everyone else says no, it was nineteen five. Honestly, five 371 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: makes more sense. It would fall in line with the 372 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: fact that the Regency tr one is widely considered to 373 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: be the first transistor radio that was commercially produced. And 374 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: also it would make the OS fifty five name makes 375 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,159 Speaker 1: sense right if the fifty five was in fact a 376 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: reference to the year in which it came out, nineteen 377 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,640 Speaker 1: fifty five, and then you wouldn't contradict the earlier fact 378 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: about the Regency tr one. So my guess is that 379 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: the on Chio official website has an error on it 380 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: in this case, um, either that or everyone has been 381 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: wrong about what the first transistor radio actually was. Anyway, 382 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:03,640 Speaker 1: transistors are super neat because they allowed for a miniaturization, 383 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: and I've talked a ton about that in past episodes. 384 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: So the too long didn't listen version is that older 385 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:15,719 Speaker 1: radios relied on vacuum tubes to act as diodes and 386 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,640 Speaker 1: to serve as amplifiers. A diode is an electric component 387 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: or electronic component I should say that allows a current 388 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,439 Speaker 1: to flow in one direction but not to flow in 389 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: the reverse direction, and vacuum tubes were used for that, 390 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: and they were used for amplifying a signal, that is, 391 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: taking a week signal and then boosting that up to 392 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 1: a stronger signal. Vacuum tubes are large, and they're also delicate, 393 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: and they also generate a lot of heat. They're kind 394 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:46,120 Speaker 1: of like light bulbs. Solid state transistors are much smaller 395 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: than vacuum tubes, and they allowed manufacturers to make stuff 396 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,680 Speaker 1: like radio sets that were much smaller and lighter than 397 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: older versions. If you've ever seen like a really old 398 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,160 Speaker 1: radio set, you know it's a piece of furniture, it's 399 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: a big, big thing. Typically it would have its own 400 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: set of legs, kind of like a table, and it 401 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 1: would be a standalone piece. Transistors allowed people to make 402 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,760 Speaker 1: much smaller radios, eventually pocket size radios, and uh so 403 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: it was a a truly important development in electronics. It 404 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: is what allowed us to create manaturized components and have 405 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: things that didn't take up an entire section of the 406 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: floor like televisions and radios and later on computers. Now 407 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,479 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go through every product released with a company, 408 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: at least not in any detail, but the following years 409 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,920 Speaker 1: saw on Chio expand into speaker chassis manufacturing, and they 410 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 1: also created a record player called the Kyo HP ten. 411 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: From what I understand, this is a record player that 412 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: has its own dedicated speaker, so you just you know, 413 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: to put a record on it, you plug it in 414 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,679 Speaker 1: you that you can play the music straight from that. 415 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,360 Speaker 1: It wasn't a component, in other words, it was its 416 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:03,159 Speaker 1: own standal own product. The company also got involved in 417 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,880 Speaker 1: TV set manufacturing around this time. Also, in nineteen fifty five, 418 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,439 Speaker 1: the company settled on a logo just shy of a 419 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: decade of the company's founding I couldn't find any other 420 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 1: information suggesting that they had created a logo before nineteen 421 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: fifty five, which is funny. So from ninety five apparently 422 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: they didn't have an official logo type. Only a couple 423 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: of years later the company would actually refine that logo 424 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 1: type to quote suit the rapidly changing style of the 425 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: times end quote. And yeah, this does make sense. Like 426 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: the fifties and sixties, things were changing very quickly, especially 427 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: in the world of audio equipment, and you didn't want 428 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,639 Speaker 1: to get associated with being left behind, right you didn't. 429 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: Your company did not want to have this stigma of 430 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 1: being stuck in the past because technology was evolving so 431 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: quickly that in order to remain relevant you needed to 432 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: change things up. And so it makes sense that even 433 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: just a couple of years after they first settled on 434 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 1: a logo type, they would change it. In ninety seven, 435 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:14,719 Speaker 1: the Toshiba Corporation entered into an accepted capital participation with 436 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,400 Speaker 1: on Kio. So you might say, well, what the heck 437 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: does an accepted capital participation mean? While further documentation reveals 438 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: that Toshiba brought up a lot of shares of on Kyo, 439 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: a ton of them, like sixty nine percent of the 440 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: ownership of on Kio went to the Toshiba Group, with 441 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: the bulk of the remainder left over going to on 442 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: Kio's founder, Takesh a Go die Um, and some of 443 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,399 Speaker 1: it going to some other executives and some members of 444 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,920 Speaker 1: good Eyes family. See. While on Kio was introducing new 445 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 1: products and generally receiving a positive reception for them, the 446 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: cost of doing business was so high that the revenue 447 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,360 Speaker 1: coming in wasn't keeping up. So in other words, like, yeah, 448 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: they had a great reputation in the market, but the 449 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: market wasn't big enough to support the expansion that on 450 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,360 Speaker 1: Kio was doing, and so it was costing them more 451 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: to to do business than they were making in revenue. 452 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,600 Speaker 1: So despite having huge success in the market, a Kia 453 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: was on the verge of bankruptcy and there was a 454 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,439 Speaker 1: very real possibility that Takeshi would have to liquidate the 455 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 1: company and go out of business. So the Toshiba Group 456 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: represented a lifeline for on Kio, and Toshiba saw the 457 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,879 Speaker 1: value of incorporating on Kio's reputation for high quality audio 458 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: components into Toshiba products. Plus, a Kio was already serving 459 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,719 Speaker 1: as an O E m for Tashiba for television sets, 460 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: on Kio was manufacturing TV sets that would later be 461 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: sold under the Toshiba brand, so there was a chance 462 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: that if you went out and bought a Toshiba branded television, 463 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: the actual manufacturer of that TV was on Kio. Also, 464 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: a Kia was making its own TV sets the Onkio brand, 465 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: so there were both brands on the market in Japan 466 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: at the same time. Now, Toshiba is yet another company 467 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,000 Speaker 1: that I need to do a full episode on in 468 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,160 Speaker 1: the future, but I'm going to resist the urge to 469 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: do it right now because you're already gonna have to 470 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: put up a lot from me today. Anyway, on Kio's 471 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: relationship with Toshiba would end up becoming a bit of 472 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: an albatross thirty years later that, my friends, is foreshadowing. 473 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: And with that, we're going to take another quick break. 474 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: We're back now, getting back to on Kio's history. The 475 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,959 Speaker 1: company kept introducing new products, mostly in the audio space. 476 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: Much of the work was in loud speakers, including bookshelf 477 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: type speakers, which were a fairly new thing at that point. 478 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 1: Now they are sort of a go to speaker style. 479 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: You can spend thousands and thousands of dollars getting high 480 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: end books shelf style speakers. I know because I've looked 481 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: at them. Didn't buy any, but I looked at them 482 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: and then ultimately said, you know what, I don't think 483 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: I even have a space that would accommodate the way 484 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: these speakers would need to be set up so that 485 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: I could get the benefit from that. And so I'd 486 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: be spending a lot of money on high end stuff 487 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: that I wouldn't be able to use properly, and I 488 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: talked to myself out of it. I'm proud of myself 489 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 1: for that. However, on Kio also began to produce full 490 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: audio systems. They've done a couple of those in the past, 491 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: but they really got into it uh in the late 492 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: fifties and early sixties. That included things like the on 493 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: Kyo ST four hundred d L stereophonic system in nineteen 494 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: sixty three and a standalone turntable component in nineteen sixty 495 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 1: six called the ST fifty five. The company even branched 496 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: into making radio transceivers, essentially Walkee to Hokey style radios, 497 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: and in sixty three, Onkyo manufactured a phonio cardiograph, which 498 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: is an actual medical instrument. So they were really diversifying here. 499 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: They weren't just making high end audio equipment. They were 500 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 1: making stuff that was related to audio still but had 501 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: uses apart from rocking out with the latest record. Now, 502 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: this was in the beginning of the real high fidelity craze, 503 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: where they started seeing audio files who would seek out 504 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: specific components in an effort to put together their ultimate 505 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: audio system. So instead of buying an all in one 506 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 1: stereo system, they were interested in buying the individual pieces 507 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,200 Speaker 1: and connecting them together to create what they felt was 508 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 1: the perfect sound system. Now I should add that on 509 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: Chio had been making components since the late nineteen fifties, 510 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: but it was really in the sixties where we saw 511 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: the craze really take off. The goal was always to 512 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: create the best listening experience, but that's a subjective thing. 513 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: So I'm just here to tell you there is no 514 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: real right answer for which system or which uh collection 515 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: of pieces is the best. It depends on so many 516 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: different factors, like the kind of music you listen to. 517 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: Because some components are really good at representing or replicating 518 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 1: certain frequencies and volumes that are best for one genre music, 519 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: while others are better for a different genre. Plus, listening 520 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: is a a psychoacoustic phenomenon, and in that our brains 521 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: are interpreting the sound, so that means there is a 522 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: filter in our gray matter that affects how we experience sound. 523 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: And no two people are exactly the same, So the 524 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: perfect system for person A is not necessarily going to 525 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: be the perfect system for person B. You can always 526 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: hook up components to very sensitive equipment and say, hey, 527 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: the number on this piece of equipment is better than 528 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,400 Speaker 1: the number on that piece of equipment, and that might 529 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: be correct, but doesn't necessarily mean that the experience of 530 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 1: listening to the different components is going to make a 531 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: huge difference. So I say that because audio files get 532 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: obsessive about the mathematical association of all the different components 533 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,880 Speaker 1: from everything from the electrical side to the actual acoustic side, 534 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: and I get a little squirrel e when I go 535 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: into those discussions, because I feel like people obsess over 536 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:39,960 Speaker 1: things that are largely ephemeral that that we don't necessarily 537 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 1: they don't necessarily translate into how we experience the actual output. 538 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:51,520 Speaker 1: So that's a long way of me saying it's okay 539 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 1: if you go out there to build an audio system, 540 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,040 Speaker 1: and you're not going with what someone else says is 541 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:02,040 Speaker 1: the absolute best of the best, because it really depends 542 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,880 Speaker 1: on how you perceive it that it's the system that 543 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,040 Speaker 1: makes you happy that's the one that ends up being 544 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: the best, not the system that arbitrarily hits certain you know, 545 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:16,920 Speaker 1: electronic metrics necessarily that can have an effect, but you 546 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: get what I'm saying, alright, So on chios standalone turntable 547 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: means that you would actually need to connect this turntable 548 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,320 Speaker 1: to other components like an amplifier for example, to boost 549 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,920 Speaker 1: the signal, and then speakers to play back the sound, 550 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 1: and on Kio standalone record player, this s T fifty 551 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: five would be part of the initial audio file craze 552 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 1: in Japan. UM At this point, on Kio is still 553 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:51,400 Speaker 1: very much a Japanese focused company. They had not really 554 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:55,319 Speaker 1: started massive exports to other parts of the world yet, 555 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,719 Speaker 1: so the st fifty five was valued for its performance 556 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: as well as it's simplified, no frills aesthetic. The company 557 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:10,239 Speaker 1: continued producing stereo systems as well, adding in new features 558 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: and refining designs with every passing year. No big shock there, 559 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 1: and it got into making headphones in nineteen seventy Most 560 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: of Onkyo's fame came from its full stereo systems and 561 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:29,160 Speaker 1: the individual audio components such as loudspeakers and receivers, turntables, amplifiers, 562 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: and such. In nineteen seventy one, the company changed its 563 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: name from Osaka on Kyo k K to simply on 564 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 1: Kio Corporation. Then we get up to nineteen seventy two. 565 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: A few things happened that year that were really important. 566 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,879 Speaker 1: For one thing, Akio established the Onkio Germany Facility, which 567 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 1: primarily focused on research and development and acoustics, and also 568 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 1: served as a base of operations for marketing and distributing 569 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: on Kio products to Europe. So the Japanese facilities would 570 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,799 Speaker 1: export products to Germany, which would then be able to 571 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:10,080 Speaker 1: distribute those two retailers in the Europe region. The company 572 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 1: also introduced loudspeakers that used titanium instead of paper for 573 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,719 Speaker 1: the speaker diaphragm, and on Kio got out of the 574 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: television set business in around nineteen seventy two. This will 575 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: also be important when we come back to Toshiba more foreshadowing. 576 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,400 Speaker 1: At that stage, an Kio was ready to focus completely 577 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: on producing just audio equipment, its dependence on Toshiba had declined, 578 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: although Toshiba still owned nearly seventy of on Kio, so 579 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: between nineteen fifty seven and seventy two, a Kia was 580 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:45,160 Speaker 1: kind of acting like a subsidiary to Toshiba, but really 581 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: starting in nineteen seventy two, an Kio was operating as 582 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,719 Speaker 1: an independent company. Yes to Toshiba had ownership interest in 583 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: on Kio, but was not directing the company. So this 584 00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,920 Speaker 1: would be a key argument that on Kio would make 585 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:05,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen seven. Yet more foreshadowing, nineteen seventy two was 586 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:10,319 Speaker 1: also when on Kio introduced the INTEGRAE power amplifier, so 587 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,880 Speaker 1: Integra is another brand name under on Kio. People probably 588 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:17,640 Speaker 1: heard of Integral products that came from on Kio. Uh 589 00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: I also recommend that you Google image the Integra ninety 590 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 1: one power amplifier because it looks unlike anything else that 591 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,240 Speaker 1: was on the market at that time. On Kio described 592 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:32,920 Speaker 1: it as having a steam locomotive like design, and I 593 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:36,439 Speaker 1: can see that. On Kio continued to expand and opened 594 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:40,760 Speaker 1: up manufacturing facilities in Korea, so it started to build 595 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:45,200 Speaker 1: out its manufacturing capabilities and in nineteen seventy three, the 596 00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:49,200 Speaker 1: company debuted the Intech four oh five stereo system, which 597 00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:55,319 Speaker 1: supported quadraphonic sound. I've talked a bit about quadraphonics before. Uh. 598 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,160 Speaker 1: Quadraphonics are essentially a surround sound system that used for 599 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,120 Speaker 1: or used is four channels, and typically the way you 600 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: would set up a quadraphonic listening area is you would 601 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,920 Speaker 1: have speakers at your front left, your front right, your 602 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:12,000 Speaker 1: back left, and your back right, and you would be 603 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,640 Speaker 1: in the middle and each of those speakers would play 604 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:18,760 Speaker 1: back a distinct channel of audio. There were several different 605 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:25,080 Speaker 1: quadraphonic formats, which probably impeded widespread adoption of quadrophonic sound 606 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:30,040 Speaker 1: because people were using different ways of producing quadrophonic sounds 607 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,360 Speaker 1: and they weren't all cross compatible. So I'll have to 608 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,319 Speaker 1: do a full episode on quadrophonics in the future, and 609 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,840 Speaker 1: maybe I'll even try to record it in a style 610 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: that mimics quadrophonic sound, if I'm being cheeky. We'll see. 611 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:48,160 Speaker 1: In nine, on Chio established the Onkyo USA Corporation. That 612 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,480 Speaker 1: subsidiary would serve as a foothold for on Chio sales 613 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:55,880 Speaker 1: in North and South America. So, again like the German version, 614 00:38:56,200 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 1: the USA version would import products from Japan and then 615 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:05,960 Speaker 1: distribute those to US stores and US retailers at least 616 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,439 Speaker 1: for several decades now. In nineteen seventy seven, on Kio 617 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:12,640 Speaker 1: once again refreshed its logo. The company also introduced the 618 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:16,360 Speaker 1: Scepter Speaker system, which I thought was super cool. Uh, 619 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,640 Speaker 1: this was really for the serious audio file. So the 620 00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:25,200 Speaker 1: company offered customers the chance to customize their speakers, and 621 00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:29,239 Speaker 1: I'm talking like crazy levels of customization. According to a Kio, 622 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:34,960 Speaker 1: there were one hundred seventy three different combinations possible. If 623 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:38,120 Speaker 1: you had your own idea of what combination you wanted 624 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:43,520 Speaker 1: of speaker drivers, enclosure setups, and more, then you could 625 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:47,319 Speaker 1: do that through the Scepter Speaker system. On Kio even 626 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: provided a helpful handbook to guide those who weren't already 627 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:56,240 Speaker 1: obsessively detailed in their approach speeding onward. In nineteen eight one, 628 00:39:56,640 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 1: on Kio introduced the first consumer high speed dual dubbing 629 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:04,160 Speaker 1: cassette deck, meaning it had to cassette decks and you 630 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 1: could put a you know, a tape that had stuff 631 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,279 Speaker 1: on it in one, a blank tape in the other, 632 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:14,880 Speaker 1: and very quickly dub and and copy tape one to 633 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,920 Speaker 1: tape two. I'm guessing that that probably set the music 634 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,360 Speaker 1: industry into a bit of a tizzy, because the introduction 635 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,440 Speaker 1: of any technology that makes it remotely easier to copy 636 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:30,960 Speaker 1: media tends to put music studios on tilt. In a 637 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 1: Kio offered a CD player called the C seven hundred 638 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:38,360 Speaker 1: in some markets, so five still pretty early for CD players. 639 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:41,000 Speaker 1: It was also called the d X seven hundred and 640 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: other markets. It featured optical fiber connections between the digital 641 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:49,880 Speaker 1: components and the digital to analog converter. UH. The sales 642 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,960 Speaker 1: pitch for that was that it would cut down on 643 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:56,759 Speaker 1: signal degradation between going from digital to analog. You have 644 00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:00,800 Speaker 1: to go to analog in order to power analog speakers. 645 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,839 Speaker 1: So the idea here was that, oh, we're gonna make 646 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:07,239 Speaker 1: this pathway as clean as possible so that you get 647 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:13,719 Speaker 1: the full benefit of the digital recording UH process. Now 648 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,719 Speaker 1: we're up to nine, so we could finally find out 649 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,040 Speaker 1: what all that foreshadowing was about. In the summer of 650 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,200 Speaker 1: the U S government was proposing a ban on the 651 00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:29,120 Speaker 1: sale of all Tashiba products in the United States. Why, well, 652 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: have you seen a little movie called The Hunt for 653 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: at October or you know, read the book that the 654 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,480 Speaker 1: movie was based off of. See in the film, a 655 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:42,919 Speaker 1: Russian submarine commander wishes to defect to the United States. 656 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:46,680 Speaker 1: This was back in the Soviet Union days, mind you, 657 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:51,239 Speaker 1: and the commander is aboard a prototype Russian submarine with 658 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:55,040 Speaker 1: a propulsion system that can operate in near silence, which 659 00:41:55,080 --> 00:42:00,200 Speaker 1: makes the submarine very difficult to detect. Well. The US government, meant, 660 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 1: was miffed at Toshiba's subsidiary, the Toshiba Machine Company, for 661 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:09,720 Speaker 1: essentially supplying technology to the Soviet Union that would allow 662 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:14,040 Speaker 1: for the near silent operation of submarines. So kind of 663 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:18,360 Speaker 1: the same as the Hunt for October, right, They were saying, Hey, 664 00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:20,840 Speaker 1: you're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to 665 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,319 Speaker 1: supply high tech tools to the Soviet Union. We have 666 00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:28,280 Speaker 1: very strong feelings about that. So the US government proposed 667 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:32,200 Speaker 1: a multi year ban on the sale of all Tashiba 668 00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:35,239 Speaker 1: products in the United States as a result, which is 669 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:40,360 Speaker 1: pretty wild, right mighty was the missage thereof the actual 670 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:44,760 Speaker 1: sales happened in the early nineteen eighties. Uh So, Toshiba 671 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:47,800 Speaker 1: Machine Company was responsible for that around the early to 672 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,360 Speaker 1: mid eighties, and then it was uncovered in the late eighties, 673 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,759 Speaker 1: and that was in violation of this policy the United 674 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,560 Speaker 1: States had, and that represented a pretty tough choice for 675 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:00,840 Speaker 1: the US government. So, on the one hand, the Soviet 676 00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,960 Speaker 1: Union was the hated rival of the United States. The 677 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,840 Speaker 1: two countries have been in a Cold war for decades. 678 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,560 Speaker 1: On the other hand, this was Ronald Reagan's America, and 679 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:15,200 Speaker 1: the general philosophy of Ronald Reagan was that government should 680 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:17,759 Speaker 1: stay the heck out of the way of business. So 681 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:20,319 Speaker 1: you're in a real quandary, right, like, what do you do? 682 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,080 Speaker 1: You you hate the Soviet Union, but you've also been saying, hey, 683 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:27,560 Speaker 1: government should not get in the way of business. And 684 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,879 Speaker 1: there's a lot more to this story, and maybe one 685 00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:34,279 Speaker 1: day if I do a Toshiba episode, I'll certainly go 686 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,080 Speaker 1: into more detail about all of that. But the part 687 00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:41,000 Speaker 1: that concerns us is that because Toshiba still maintained a 688 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:44,160 Speaker 1: majority stake in on Kio, like it still had that 689 00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:47,960 Speaker 1: massive amount of ownership of on Kio stock, that put 690 00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:51,600 Speaker 1: on Kio's business in jeopardy as well, because to the 691 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:54,920 Speaker 1: US government, on Kio looked like a Toshiba subsidiary, so 692 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,319 Speaker 1: it would also get covered by this ban. On Kio 693 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:00,960 Speaker 1: hired lawyers who filed a mess with the US government, 694 00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:04,240 Speaker 1: and those lawyers argued that a Kia was, and always 695 00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:09,120 Speaker 1: that mattered, an independent company. Yeah, Tashiba maintained a stake 696 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:12,440 Speaker 1: in on Kio. The Akio no longer made televisions for Toshiba. 697 00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:15,040 Speaker 1: It had stopped doing that in the seventies, and on 698 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:19,200 Speaker 1: Kio's products were actually competing against Toshiba products that were 699 00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:21,680 Speaker 1: on the market. So a Kia was arguing for the 700 00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:24,880 Speaker 1: survival of its business and pleading with the US government 701 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:28,040 Speaker 1: not to lump it in with Toshiba's own operations. An 702 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,360 Speaker 1: Kia was able to mitigate the impact of the political 703 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:33,120 Speaker 1: scandal on its own business, so it was able to 704 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:38,440 Speaker 1: remain afloat. In nineteen nine, an Kio got a new president, 705 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:41,880 Speaker 1: takeshe Go Die had led the company from nineteen forty 706 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: six to nineteen nine. Now I'm not certain if he 707 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:49,520 Speaker 1: stepped down, if you retired, if he passed away. I 708 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:53,480 Speaker 1: couldn't find any definitive information on that. But the new 709 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:57,840 Speaker 1: president was Sunio Otso, who would hold that position until 710 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:02,360 Speaker 1: nineteen so only from nineteen ninety ton. At that point, 711 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:06,879 Speaker 1: Naoto Atsuki would take over and he would actually stay 712 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,000 Speaker 1: on until two thousand nine, so to two tho nine, 713 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:13,960 Speaker 1: and then Munnan Nori Otsuki took on the reins, and 714 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,239 Speaker 1: I wanted to get all of that out of the 715 00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:18,680 Speaker 1: way to illustrate how one man to Keshi go Die 716 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:22,560 Speaker 1: led on Kio for almost forty five years, and then 717 00:45:22,719 --> 00:45:26,360 Speaker 1: the next three leaders in charge were leading it for 718 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:31,040 Speaker 1: the next thirty years, and some for very few, like 719 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:34,120 Speaker 1: four years for the first one. Now we have a 720 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,239 Speaker 1: few more things we got to cover with on Kio 721 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 1: before we wrap things up. In two thousand and twelve, 722 00:45:39,280 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: on Kio got another capital partner. This time it was 723 00:45:42,200 --> 00:45:45,840 Speaker 1: Gibson Guitar Corporation. Now back in eighteen, I did some 724 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:49,719 Speaker 1: episodes about Gibson Guitars. In the nineteen eighties, Gibson was 725 00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:52,359 Speaker 1: in danger of going out of business itself, but then 726 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:56,920 Speaker 1: some entrepreneurs bought the company, reportedly for like five million dollars, 727 00:45:57,680 --> 00:45:59,800 Speaker 1: and Gibson began to climb out of the hole in 728 00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,200 Speaker 1: a found itself in and in the process began to 729 00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:06,360 Speaker 1: acquire other companies. So the thought was that diversification was 730 00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:09,560 Speaker 1: a great idea. It would help Gibson remain relevant even 731 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:12,960 Speaker 1: as tastes were changing in the music industry and people 732 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: were kind of migrating away from guitar driven music at 733 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,839 Speaker 1: that point. An Kio was one of the investments that 734 00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:24,239 Speaker 1: Gibson made around this time. Well, that would end up 735 00:46:24,280 --> 00:46:28,439 Speaker 1: being a bad move, and I'll explain why in just 736 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:38,640 Speaker 1: a moment, but first let's take one last break al 737 00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:41,479 Speaker 1: right before the break, I said that Gibson would make 738 00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:44,560 Speaker 1: an investment into a Kio and that would end up 739 00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:49,120 Speaker 1: being a bad move. What did I mean by that? Well, Gibson, 740 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:54,000 Speaker 1: for many reasons, was again finding itself in financial trouble 741 00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:56,520 Speaker 1: a few years further in the line, So in two 742 00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:59,920 Speaker 1: thousand eighteen, the historic guitar company, which had been in 743 00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:04,719 Speaker 1: operation for more than a century, had to declare bankruptcy. 744 00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:08,920 Speaker 1: Gibson would refocus on making musical instruments once it emerged 745 00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:12,560 Speaker 1: from bankruptcy, and it had to liquidate other assets that 746 00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:16,640 Speaker 1: had not been profitable and had been outside of that 747 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:19,880 Speaker 1: that laser focus, and that meant that, uh, you know, 748 00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:22,799 Speaker 1: Gibson would actually emerge from Chapter eleven bankruptcy in two 749 00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:27,440 Speaker 1: thousand eighteen, but in the process, the relationship between Gibson 750 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:32,839 Speaker 1: and on Kio was severed, so it only lasted from 751 00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,080 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve to two thousand eighteen, But that also 752 00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:39,880 Speaker 1: meant once Gibson went away that on Kio was finding 753 00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:44,400 Speaker 1: itself in uncertain financial territory. It was really dependent upon 754 00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:48,760 Speaker 1: UH these relationships it had with Tashiba and with Gibson. 755 00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:51,879 Speaker 1: So the company made the tough decision to sell off 756 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:55,440 Speaker 1: its European operations, the ones that were centered in Germany. 757 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:58,680 Speaker 1: They sold it to an Austrian company called a Kipa 758 00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:03,040 Speaker 1: a q I p A. Akipa is best known for 759 00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:08,480 Speaker 1: selling accessories for various electronics. Now, between the time that 760 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:12,080 Speaker 1: Gibson purchased a steake in on Kio and the time 761 00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:16,320 Speaker 1: where Gibson went bankrupt, so two thousand twelve to two eighteen, 762 00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:21,879 Speaker 1: on Kio also made an investment. On Kio purchased Pioneer 763 00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:26,200 Speaker 1: Home Entertainment. Pioneer is another famous name in the a 764 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:30,440 Speaker 1: VY equipment industry. Pioneer would actually take a nearly fifteen 765 00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:34,600 Speaker 1: percent steak in on Kio in return. It is customary, 766 00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:36,880 Speaker 1: or at least it used to be. I'm not certain 767 00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:39,320 Speaker 1: if it still is, but it was customary with Japanese 768 00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:43,480 Speaker 1: acquisitions for each company in a merger to purchase shares 769 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:46,960 Speaker 1: in the other company. That's kind of how Japanese mergers work. 770 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:50,359 Speaker 1: It's a little different than what we typically see in 771 00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:54,120 Speaker 1: other markets. So on Kio and Pioneer plan to keep 772 00:48:54,200 --> 00:48:57,560 Speaker 1: both brands alive. It weren't going to have Pioneer just 773 00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:00,279 Speaker 1: get folded into on Kio and everything be cave on 774 00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,000 Speaker 1: Kio products. You would have both on Kio and Pioneer 775 00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:07,600 Speaker 1: on the market. Now, I'm not sure if this would 776 00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:09,920 Speaker 1: be the right place to say that this was the 777 00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:12,319 Speaker 1: beginning of the end for on Chio because on Kio 778 00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:16,640 Speaker 1: was struggling with something that was affecting the entire audio 779 00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:21,080 Speaker 1: equipment industry. It wasn't just unique to on Kio's situation. 780 00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:24,600 Speaker 1: That thing was more and more people were starting to 781 00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:29,919 Speaker 1: migrate away from stereo systems and stereo system components as 782 00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:33,280 Speaker 1: they were listening to music because the way they listened 783 00:49:33,320 --> 00:49:38,760 Speaker 1: to music was changing. Digital music and streaming were completely 784 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:43,960 Speaker 1: transforming the way music works. Uh. Over time, things like 785 00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:46,840 Speaker 1: smart speakers were taking the place of high end audio 786 00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:51,200 Speaker 1: systems for pretty much everyone except audio files. Audio files 787 00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:56,319 Speaker 1: obviously they're obsessed with getting that perfect sound, so a 788 00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,200 Speaker 1: smart speaker is not gonna cut it. Like even the 789 00:49:58,239 --> 00:50:01,359 Speaker 1: best smart speaker on the market can't even can't even 790 00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:07,000 Speaker 1: remotely compare to a well put together music system. But 791 00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:11,720 Speaker 1: for the mainstream, for the majority of people, that wasn't 792 00:50:11,719 --> 00:50:16,400 Speaker 1: the case. It was convenience and accessibility and connectivity. Those 793 00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:19,160 Speaker 1: were the things that were really important, and a lot 794 00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:22,960 Speaker 1: of companies in the A V industry were struggling to 795 00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:26,880 Speaker 1: deal with that. You saw companies rushed to try and 796 00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:33,359 Speaker 1: incorporate various new components in their systems, like Bluetooth connectivity capability, 797 00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:38,160 Speaker 1: but they were they were trying to catch up. They 798 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:43,360 Speaker 1: weren't staying ahead of the changes in ways we access music, 799 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,759 Speaker 1: and the problem was that, you know, they couldn't really 800 00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:49,080 Speaker 1: catch up at that point. There was there were already 801 00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:52,640 Speaker 1: alternatives on the market that people were gravitating towards. So 802 00:50:52,719 --> 00:50:56,280 Speaker 1: companies like a Kio, we're really struggling to stay relevant. 803 00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:58,680 Speaker 1: It wasn't just on Kio that this was affecting. A 804 00:50:58,719 --> 00:51:02,640 Speaker 1: lot of a V company were seeing massive drops in revenue. 805 00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:06,239 Speaker 1: In twenty the rug was pulled out from under on 806 00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:09,280 Speaker 1: Kio once again. So in the spring of twenty nineteen, 807 00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:13,320 Speaker 1: there was a company called sound United. Uh. Sound United 808 00:51:13,719 --> 00:51:17,000 Speaker 1: is kind of like a holding company for several notable 809 00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:21,000 Speaker 1: audio brands, including Polk Audio. I would argue Polk Audio 810 00:51:21,080 --> 00:51:23,080 Speaker 1: is probably the most famous of the brands that Sound 811 00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:27,920 Speaker 1: United owns, and so sound United was wanting to expand 812 00:51:28,040 --> 00:51:34,400 Speaker 1: its portfolio of high end, well known a V brands, 813 00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:37,960 Speaker 1: and it announced its intention to acquire on Kio, and 814 00:51:38,160 --> 00:51:42,080 Speaker 1: that would include brands like Pioneer and Integram, so all 815 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:45,879 Speaker 1: of these were kind of under the Onchio umbrella. Many 816 00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:48,000 Speaker 1: news outlets actually just went ahead and reported that the 817 00:51:48,040 --> 00:51:50,799 Speaker 1: deal was essentially done and that was just a matter 818 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:53,840 Speaker 1: of time for the deal to close officially. But this 819 00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:56,800 Speaker 1: story is one that reminds us that just because something 820 00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:59,920 Speaker 1: is announced, like an acquisition or a merger is announced, 821 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:03,759 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean it's going to go through. Because come October, 822 00:52:04,200 --> 00:52:07,600 Speaker 1: all of that changed. Sound United abruptly pulled out of 823 00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:10,920 Speaker 1: the deal, and in a statement, the Sound United Company 824 00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:13,840 Speaker 1: essentially said that the two parties were unable to satisfy 825 00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:16,759 Speaker 1: all of the requirements that were necessary for a deal 826 00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:21,359 Speaker 1: to go through and ultimately decided to terminate the proposed acquisition. 827 00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:25,960 Speaker 1: The Pandemics certainly made things even more complicated. It shut 828 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:30,439 Speaker 1: down show rooms and stores so revenue took yet another hit, 829 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:34,200 Speaker 1: and in twenty Chio made the decision to shut down 830 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:38,279 Speaker 1: on Chio USA. If you remember, that's the division responsible 831 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:41,960 Speaker 1: for distributing on Kio products in North and South America. 832 00:52:42,320 --> 00:52:45,760 Speaker 1: So instead, on Kio would outsource that job to Vox 833 00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:49,840 Speaker 1: International Corporation, which is the parent company of Clips k 834 00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:52,960 Speaker 1: l I p s H. It's a company famous for 835 00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:58,880 Speaker 1: speakers in Vox International and Sharp Corporation created a joint 836 00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:04,120 Speaker 1: venture named Premium Audio Company or p a C. Now, 837 00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:08,120 Speaker 1: through that joint venture, Sharp and Vox acquired sev of 838 00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:12,480 Speaker 1: on Kio's home audio video business, and that meant the brands, 839 00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:16,920 Speaker 1: including a Kio and Integra would end up changing ownership 840 00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:20,040 Speaker 1: to p a C. P a C also negotiated with 841 00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:22,480 Speaker 1: the Pioneer Corporation for the right to produce a V 842 00:53:22,600 --> 00:53:25,680 Speaker 1: equipment under the Pioneer brand as well, so at that 843 00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:32,560 Speaker 1: point on Kio equipment was actually being under the ownership 844 00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:37,640 Speaker 1: of p a C, not on Kio itself. Then this 845 00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:42,960 Speaker 1: year two on Kio Home Entertainment Corporation, which was really 846 00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:46,400 Speaker 1: the last surviving component of the company that takesh A. 847 00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:51,600 Speaker 1: Godai founded back in declared bankruptcy. Now this does not 848 00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:55,560 Speaker 1: impact the Onkio brand, because again P a C now 849 00:53:55,600 --> 00:53:58,920 Speaker 1: has ownership of that. In fact, p a C released 850 00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:01,640 Speaker 1: a statement saying that at the time on Kio went bankrupt, 851 00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:05,520 Speaker 1: it was essentially performing only as a licensing company, that 852 00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:10,040 Speaker 1: it was licensing the I P two p a C. 853 00:54:10,400 --> 00:54:13,000 Speaker 1: And and other than that, it really wasn't doing anything. 854 00:54:13,320 --> 00:54:15,279 Speaker 1: Well now it's not doing anything, or it won't be 855 00:54:15,320 --> 00:54:17,759 Speaker 1: doing anything at all because it's declared bankruptcy and I 856 00:54:17,800 --> 00:54:20,800 Speaker 1: do not expect it to emerge from bankruptcy. I expected 857 00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:24,160 Speaker 1: to essentially have liquidated all assets to pay off as 858 00:54:24,239 --> 00:54:28,280 Speaker 1: much debt as possible. And that's it. So the Onkio 859 00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:32,040 Speaker 1: brand lives on, but the company that spawned the brand 860 00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:35,520 Speaker 1: is no more. So here's to you on Chio and 861 00:54:35,560 --> 00:54:39,200 Speaker 1: your contributions to making audio equipment that raises the performance 862 00:54:39,200 --> 00:54:43,279 Speaker 1: bar we hardly knew ye, And that's it for this 863 00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:46,040 Speaker 1: extra long episode of tech Stuff. Actually debated at one 864 00:54:46,080 --> 00:54:49,399 Speaker 1: point of dividing this into two episodes, and I wait 865 00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:52,000 Speaker 1: to hear from my producer Tari about whether or not 866 00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:53,919 Speaker 1: she's going to make me do that. So if you've 867 00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:56,759 Speaker 1: listened to all of this in one go, Tari did 868 00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:59,640 Speaker 1: not make me do that if you have suggestions for 869 00:54:59,719 --> 00:55:02,640 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff. There are two ways that 870 00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:06,080 Speaker 1: you can get in touch with me. One is you 871 00:55:06,120 --> 00:55:09,360 Speaker 1: go you download the i Heart Radio app. You navigate 872 00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:12,919 Speaker 1: to the tech Stuff podcast page of the iHeart Radio app. 873 00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:16,520 Speaker 1: There's a little microphone icon on there that if you 874 00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:19,080 Speaker 1: if you tap on that, you can leave a thirty 875 00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:22,280 Speaker 1: second voice message and you can give me a suggestion 876 00:55:22,280 --> 00:55:24,600 Speaker 1: for a show, or comments or anything. If you want 877 00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:27,279 Speaker 1: me to include the audio into an episode, just say so. 878 00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:31,319 Speaker 1: I prefer opt in. So if you say that you're 879 00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:33,160 Speaker 1: cool with us using it, then I will use it. 880 00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:35,160 Speaker 1: And if you don't, then I'm gonna assume you would 881 00:55:35,239 --> 00:55:37,520 Speaker 1: rather I not. The other way to get in touch, 882 00:55:37,520 --> 00:55:39,840 Speaker 1: of course, is over on Twitter. The handle for the 883 00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:43,879 Speaker 1: show is tech Stuff H s W and I'll talk 884 00:55:43,920 --> 00:55:52,160 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an i 885 00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:55,800 Speaker 1: heeart radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 886 00:55:56,120 --> 00:55:59,280 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 887 00:55:59,360 --> 00:56:00,880 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite jokes.