Kenwood Corporation (株式会社ケンウッド, Kabushiki gaisha Ken'uddo) is a Japanese consumer electronics brand owned by JVCKenwood since 2008. Kenwood is known for manufacturing electronic equipment such as AM/FM stereo receivers, cassette tape decks/recorders, amateur radio (ham radio) equipment, radios, televisions, cellular phones, speakers, and other types of consumer electronics.
History Kenwood was established on 21 December 1946 as the Kasuga Radio Co. Ltd. in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. In 1960, the company was renamed Trio Corporation. After that, the company established its first overseas office in 1963, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. During the early 1960s, Trio's products were rebranded and sold by the Lafayette Radio Company, which focused on citizens band (CB) radio. A&A Trading Co. imported Japanese-made electronics for RadioShack. William "Bill" Kasuga, a bilingual Japanese-speaking manager at A&A, partnered with George Aratani and Yoichi Nakase to establish a company as the exclusive importer of Trio products. The name "Kenwood" was invented by Kasuga as a combination of "Ken" (a name common to Japan and North America that was, at the time, considered acceptable to American consumers due to the Kenmore appliance brand) and "Wood" (referring to the material, as well as suggesting a relation to Hollywood, California). Kenwood became more widely recognized than Trio, leading to the company's rebranding. In 1986, Trio acquired Kenwood and subsequently rebranded as the Kenwood Corporation. George Aratani was the first chairman of Kenwood USA Corporation and was later replaced by Kasuga. In October 2008, Kenwood merged with JVC to form a new holding company, JVCKenwood.
Kenwood introduced its Sovereign line of components in 2001. In 2007, it discontinued its line of consumer audio receivers, home theatre systems, and other home electronics.
Products
Speakers Kenwood produces a variety of audio speakers of different grades, ranging from stage sound to high-fidelity.
The company introduced the first car stereo speaker to use a honeycombed linear plane diaphragm.
Amateur radio transceivers
Kenwood has offered lines of HF, VHF/UHF, and portable amateur radio models, including some with built-in digital data modes (Automatic Packet Reporting System, built on AX.25 packet radio) and modems needed to send and receive these protocols.
KA Series hi-fi systems Kenwood launched a series of "Integrated Amplifier" stereo power amplifiers in 1977 and continued their production through the mid-1980s. The design for most of these products featured a true dual-mono path for stereo output (where no electrical components are shared between left- and right-channel amplification). Front plates were typically made in brushed aluminium with aluminium knobs and switches, glass covers, and in some cases analog VU meters. Amplifiers in this series included (in no particular order):
KA-1000 (11/1980) TRIO Supreme 1 KA-2000 KA-2002 (09/1970) KA-2200 (10/1982) KA-3100 KA-6100 (1977) KA-7002 (1971) KA-7100 (10/1976) KA-7300 (10/1975) KA-8100 / KA-8150 (06/1977) KA-8300 (with analog meters vs. 8100) KA-9100 KA-900 (11/1980) KA-907 / KA-9900 (10/1978) KA-9100 / KA-9150 (1977) KA-6100 (09/1978)
NV-Series Compact HiFi Systems The Kenwood NV-301 and NV-701 series were released in 2000.
Communications equipment Kenwood has produced two-way radios for a variety of communications standards, including wireless DECT intercom systems, the radio frequency PMR446 and its digital counterpart DPMR446, DPMR, the Project 25 standards suite, DMR and NXDN. Their communications product range includes hand-portable and mobile terminals (including Intrinsically Safe, ATEX- and IECEx-certified hand-portable radios), repeaters, infrastructure, and application solutions.
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