| ELAC Electroacustic | |
| Type: | GmbH |
| Foundation: | 1926 |
| Location City: | Kiel |
| Location Country: | Germany |
| Industry: | Electronics |
| Products: | Studio monitors, Loudspeakers, Loudspeaker Drivers Subwoofers |
ELAC is a German loudspeaker manufacturer. It was founded in 1926 as "Electroacustic GmbH".
During World War II, it built electroacoustic devices for the Kriegsmarine and other nautical applications, and the company reached a peak of 5,000 staff.[1]
After the war, the company transitioned to mainly producing consumer goods, initially building sewing machines and later transitioning into consumer electronics, though it maintained its nautical division.[2] [3] It also distributed goods from foreign firms such as Sony, Fisher Electronics, and Nakamichi within Germany.[4]
In 1978, the firm filed for bankruptcy and the nautical division was sold to the American firm Honeywell and renamed to 'Honeywell-ELAC'. The nautical side of the business would be sold again to L3 Technologies in 1998, Wärtsilä in 2015, and Cohort PLC in 2019.[5]
In 2016, ELAC acquired the American audio company Audio Alchemy.[6]