There are thousands of car audio brands worldwide and only a few stand out. These are the brands that have stood the test of time in terms of quality, reliability and innovation. Today let’s focus on some of our top brands that have been a household name in the car audio industry.
KICKER
Steve Irby founded the company back in 1973 in a small garage in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Love of music drove him to invent the mobile-stereo enclosure market that was the first full-frequency range speaker box designed for cars and trucks. From this day, Kicker went on to produce their popular L7, CompQ, Solo-Baric L7S, CompVX, CompR, CompRT, CompVR, CompVT, CompC and Comp Subwoofers. At the same time, they have developed a number of sub-brands in mobile audio and lifestyle products. Some of them are: VSS which are Vehicle-Specific Solutions for Doge, GM and Ford vehicles. Klock Werks are Kicker products for motorcycles. Kicker has also diversified in lifestyle entertainment such as the wireless outdoor speaker, Bullfrog.
JL AUDIO
The company was started by Jim Birch and Lucio Proni hence the name “JL”. It all began in the mid-1970’s when these two started to tinker with component speakers and designed home-made loudspeakers. First, they started selling these to their friends and eventually, they found themselves selling at a local weekend flea-market.
JL’s first car subwoofer was the 8W2 which is an 8-inch woofer designed to work perfectly on a ported enclosure. It went on to produce the classic PowerWedge series using this 8-inch woofer and continued to use the 10” and 12” variants.
Throughout the years, JL has been a household name in the car audio industry and their name is synonymous to Stealthbox, W3, W7, TW3 and a whole lot more.
JVC-KENWOOD
JVCKenwood was formed with the merger of Japan Victor Company and Kenwood Corp in 2008. JVC was found back in 1927 and was best known for introducing the first TV in Japan and developing the VHS recorder. JVC also popularized radios in 1939 and in the midst of World War II, it parted ways with RCA-Victor in 1943, maintaining its name today as Victor Entertainment. JVC has established its name in the car audio industry by producing some of the most sought after stereos such as the KW-V950BW, KD-T905BTS and CS-J620 to name a few.
On the other hand, Kenwood was formed in Japan in 1946 also as a manufacturer of modern hi-fi products. In the late 70’s, they released a series of integrated amplifiers stereo-powered amplifiers. Presently, Kenwood is a leading manufacturer of Car Electronics, Professional Communications devices and home audio products. They are one of the most popular innovators for advanced stereo technology such as the DNX996R, DNR876D and the DNX576S.
JBL-INFINITY
JBL was founded by James B. Lansing in 1946. JBL produced the first commercially available 4” diaphragm driver in the 1950’s. As a result, the guitar manufacturer, Fender, incorporated the D130F into their famous amplifier, signaling JBL’s entry into the music industry. JBL also expanded their catalog to include car audio electronics. Their noteworthy products are Stage, Stadium and Club series speakers. In addition, JBL has diversified in marine and wireless car electronics as well.
Infinity on the other hand was founded back in 1968 and has produced some of the innovative home and mobile products that made us of neodymium magnets, mylar diaphragms and polypropylene cones. Infinity is responsible for the production of the EMIT (electromagnetic induction tweeter) which is a quasi-ribbon that worked on moving air based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Infinity is best known for their KAPPA, Perfect and Reference speakers and subwoofer. They have also outstanding marine products for your boats and yachts.
In 1969, JBL was sold and likewise, in 1983, Infinity officially became part of Harman International Industries.
All of these brands are available at WWW.ONLINECARSTEREO.COM. Visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter to receive awesome weekly promos and save tons of money.