page_title: Harman Kardon
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Harman Kardon / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Harman Kardon 330 series of stereo receivers date back to the late 1960's and continued to the end of the 1970's. They were basic entry level receivers, few in thrills but excellent performers, typical of Harman Kardon products. In 2004 Harman Kardon brings back the 330 legacy with the AVR-330 audio video receiver.
context_page_description: Harman Kardon is a division of Stamford-based Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of South Korean firm Samsung Electronics, and manufactures home and car audio equipment.
  It was its original division, founded in 1953 by Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon.
context_section_description: In the early 1950s, Sidney Harman was the general manager of the David Bogen Company, a manufacturer of public address systems at the time. Bernard Kardon was the chief engineer at Bogen. Due to management changes at Bogen in the early 1950s, both men resigned. With $5,000 investment each, Sidney Harman and Bernard Kardon founded the Harman Kardon Company in 1953.
  In the 1950s Harman Kardon designed some of the first high fidelity audio products that lent to starting the high fidelity business. Integrated receivers (with a tuner, preamplifier and power amplifier) was an idea to introduce and provide high fidelity performance in a single unit. Integrated high fidelity receivers, however, were not new — Scott Radio Laboratories had manufactured such items in the late 1930s. The company's first product was an FM tuner.
  One year after its founding, in 1954, Harman Kardon introduced their compact size high fidelity receiver, the Festival D1000. 
  The D1000 was one of the world's first AM/FM compact Hi-Fi receivers, and a forerunner to today's integrated receivers. This monaural unit was aimed to introduce non-technical consumers to high fidelity and combined many now-familiar features such as a tuner, component control unit and amplifier in a single chassis. The shape, form function and size of the D1000 was a forerunner of the modern integrated receiver. Early Harman Kardon Hi-Fi equipment can be identified by a distinctive design of a copper plated chassis with a copper and black color scheme for panels and enclosures.
  By 1956, Bernard Kardon decided to retire and sold his interest in the company to Sidney Harman. As the sole head of Harman Kardon, Harman continued to make the company a technical leader in Hi-Fi products. Sidney Harman would change the company's name to Harman International, but the receivers, tuners and amplifiers were still branded Harman Kardon. The products continue to be branded as Harman Kardon to the present day.
  In 1958, Harman Kardon introduced one of the first stereo receivers, the Festival TA230, once again aimed at non-technical users with the intention of making high-fidelity stereo widely available. Stereo sound was achieved by using one channel from the AM band, and one channel from the FM band. This early form of stereophonic reception was called simulcast stereo. Early FM broadcast signals did not have the stereo carrier (pilot) signal that carried the stereo left and right channels. After the stereo signal standard was established, a stereo multiplex circuit connected to or built into the receiver was used to decode the stereo signal. (The first true FM Multiplex Stereo Receiver was sold by H.H. Scott in 1961 with introduction of the Model 350 tuner.)
  In 1959, Harman Kardon marketed the Citation II, an early ultra wideband stereophonic tube amplifier. Designed by Stewart Hegeman, it featured 60 watts/channel output with a frequency response of 18-60,000 Hz at 20 watt output.  The company promoted their philosophy of designing high fidelity sound using amplifiers that provided widest possible audio bandwidth. Although the human ear highest audible range is around 20,000 Hz, the full range of sound goes beyond that with harmonics and overtones that may be beyond the hearing range of the human ear. These harmonics interact with other frequencies to produce audible secondary sounds or interference. Harman Kardon promoted the design in audio magazines and product brochures.
  In 1969 Harman bought the major speaker manufacturer JBL. In 1970 Harman marketed the first stereophonic cassette recording deck with Dolby B noise reduction, the model CAD5. The Dolby noise reduction system significantly reduced noise due to the narrow track width and slow tape speed of the cassette, allowing the cassette deck to become a high fidelity product.
   Harman Kardon's design goal is to have the highest possible design quality for the price, rather than unnecessary features. The Harman Kardon model 330 series (330, 330A, B and C) from 1968-1979 is an example of the company's design philosophy, a basic no frills ster
caption: Harman Kardon 330B Stereo Receiver (early 1970s). Part of a classic line of Harman Kardon entry level receivers with high quality electronic design and performance, but few frills.
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