Sparkomatic

Sparkomatic was a USA-based manufacturer of car audio products. The company had their production facility in Milford PA. and sold car speakers, cassette players, radios and other audio accessories.

History

Originally incorporated in 1953 as Sparkomatic Corporation, it first operated primarily as a local wholesale distributor of automobile aftermarket parts. By 1961 the company began to sell products with their own Spark-O-Matic brand name. The product line included aftermarket car transmission shifters and related automotive accessories such as tachometers and oil gauges. In 1968 the company branched into car audio accessories with a line of FM car radios, speakers and related accessories. Cars in the US were sold with only AM radio as standard equipment until the late 1980s, and FM radio and cassette players were optional. By the mid-1970s the company had become known for their car audio products and accessories, though they continued to sell other non-audio accessories for a short time longer.

Sparkomatic was at that time primarily a vendor of low to mid-range car audio products, with some that would be considered quirky today, like the device that converted an 8 track into a quadrophonic unit. By the latter half of the 1970s, they expanded into other car-related accessories such as digital dashboard clocks and CB radios. A few years later they attempted a foray into high-end car audio, branded as Amplidyne. By the latter half of the 1980s, their automobile accessories where folded into a new brand called “Kenco”, and by the early 1990s they exited the market segment.

in the early 1990s, the company entered the home audio market and created the brand Sennet (or “Sennet Concepts”). In addition to being used on audio and home theatre speakers, this was also used on car audio speakers that were marketed in a segment a step above Sparkomatic. This was not successful. The company continued in the home audio business, using the original brand.

In 1992 the company decided to purchase Altec Lansing from Telex. Sparkomatic was widely considered low-end, K-Mart junk, so the acquisition of Altec Lansing gave Sparkomatic a jolt of new respect. In 1992 Altec Lansing moved to join Sparkomatic in Milford, Pennsylvania, and began building a new line of car and home loudspeakers. The home loudspeakers had solid-walnut cabinets which were sourced locally in Pennsylvania. Altec Lansing was one of the only companies at the time to build its own cabinets and develop and build its own drive units, all under one roof. In 1998 Altec Lansing introduced the first sound bar/subwoofer system called Voice of the Digital Theatre but didn't follow up with any other models.

In 2000 the Altec Lansing and Sparkomatic merger was completed under the Altec Lansing name, and they dropped the name Sparkomatic.

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