KLH, AR cabinet supplier ?

[Andy]

A few years ago the topic of who made cabinets for KLH and AR was brought up. Can't seem to find it in a search. Does anyone have any info ? I think there was a company in New Hampshire providing cabinets in the 1960's

Andy

[JKent]

A few years ago the topic of who made cabinets for KLH and AR was brought up. Can't seem to find it in a search. Does anyone have any info ? I think there was a company in New Hampshire providing cabinets in the 1960's

Andy

Hi Andy

Closest I could find was this post from Carl:

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Boar...ic=2926&hl=

Good luck

Kent

[DaveD]

A few years ago the topic of who made cabinets for KLH and AR was brought up. Can't seem to find it in a search. Does anyone have any info ? I think there was a company in New Hampshire providing cabinets in the 1960's

Andy

In the '60s and '70s, I remember being told that wood veneered cabinets for AR and/or KLH were made by Kimball here in Jasper, Indiana. They were Kimball Piano and Organ and have now been Kimball International for decades. Their last piano was manufactured over 10 years ago and their last musical product was Bosendorfer Piano, which they owned for many years and sold a few years back to what I believe is a government/private consortium that is dedicated to keeping the Austrian giant alive, if not exactly profitable. Kimball has always done contract work in wood and in electronics to this day. Another possibility in this woodwording town is Jasper Wood Products, which did go out of business about six years ago.

I have sent an email to Kimball's general mailbox and will wait for a reply. If I get a definite answer, I will post it on this thread.

[Steve F]

The vast majority of Classic AR cabinets were made by a company called Pine and Baker, located at the time in Medford Mass, about 1/2 hour north of Cambridge. They are still in business, second-generation ownership, doing retail displays for stores, etc. They did supply many wooden cabinets to Boston Acoustics in the late '90's/early '00's, especially for their VR floorstanding units.

AR did use some other cabinet vendors as well. There was one in southern NH, whose name escapes me at the moment, but I think Tom Tyson told me that former Senator Warren Rudman was associated with them.

Adrian cabinets of NY was a highly-regarded cabinet maker that specialized in wooden veneer cabs.

Groovefold of Ohio was the premiere vinyl-wrapped cabinet make for US speaker companies in the '80's and '90's. They probably supplied cabs to AR during that time period, but I'm not sure if they're still in business, since the US speaker manufacturing industry is virtually non-existent these days.

I have no knowledge of KLH's cabinet supplier(s).

Steve F.

[DaveD]

In the '60s and '70s, I remember being told that wood veneered cabinets for AR and/or KLH were made by Kimball here in Jasper, Indiana. They were Kimball Piano and Organ and have now been Kimball International for decades. Their last piano was manufactured over 10 years ago and their last musical product was Bosendorfer Piano, which they owned for many years and sold a few years back to what I believe is a government/private consortium that is dedicated to keeping the Austrian giant alive, if not exactly profitable. Kimball has always done contract work in wood and in electronics to this day. Another possibility in this woodwording town is Jasper Wood Products, which did go out of business about six years ago.

I have sent an email to Kimball's general mailbox and will wait for a reply. If I get a definite answer, I will post it on this thread.

I copy here the reply I received from Kimball International. It leaves open the possibility that they made cabinets for AR, KLH or Advent, which are the three brands that I inquired about in my email to the company. My next step, should I decide to take it, is to contact the wife of the former CEO and present day Chairman of the Board, who I have emailed with on local political issues. It is her husband's family and another local family that are the principals in what was the Jasper Corporation in the 1950's, the purchaser of W.W. Kimball Piano company.

From: "Public Relations" <publicrelations@kimball.com>

Date: March 17, 2009 3:14:38 PM EDT

To: "David Dudine" <>

Subject: RE: question for company historian

Dear Mr. Dudine,

Thank you for your inquiry and interest in Kimball.

 

Since Kimball International ceased piano and contract cabinet production, the vast majority of those employees knowledgeable in those years and the history of certain products such as these audio speaker systems have retired. The access to historical records and information is unfortunately limited.

 

I can indeed confirm that during the earlier days of our company, Kimball did manufacturer speaker cabinets, as well as hi-fi/phonograph cabinets, and of course, the TV cabinets for which we were nationally known. Time period was 1951-late 1960’s (perhaps even longer). Unfortunately, I am not able to confirm customer brand names or other details relating to this era or these products.

 

If you desire to locate additional sources of information on the early days of Kimball, one recommendation is that you check your area libraries for the book: "Music For The Millions" by Van Allen Bradley, Library of Congress # 57-9231. This book provides a one hundred year history of the W.W. Kimball Piano Company, from 1857 to 1957. The original Kimball company also produced a number of phonograph, radio and other cabinet products prior to its purchase by The Jasper Corporation in 1959.

 

I am sorry that I am not able to provide more information to you.

Hopefully this is helpful. Best of luck to you!

Sincerely,

Public Relations Dept.,

Kimball International, Inc. 

[DaveD]

I have found the person from Kimball that I needed to speak with and will shortly post my information under the heading "Cabinet supplier for KLH, Advent, Bose, EPI and Acoustic Research". I will add it to the sections for each of the speaker manufacturers in the title.