Elac Explained

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]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ELAC – Klang lebt – ELAC history. ftp.elac.com. 2020-05-10. 2020-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20200731095424/http://ftp.elac.com/en/elac/history.php. dead.
  2. Web site: HIGH Fidelity. www.highfidelity.pl.
  3. Web site: Wärtsilä verkauft Kieler Elac Nautik. KN - Kieler Nachrichten.
  4. Web site: ELAC: A Scandinavian Visits a German Speaker Company. Soundstage! Scandinavia.
  5. Web site: Wärtsilä übernimmt L-3 Elac Nautik. KN - Kieler Nachrichten. 2020-05-10. 2020-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20200731100433/https://www.kn-online.de/Nachrichten/Wirtschaft/Kiel-Waertsilae-uebernimmt-L-3-Elac-Nautik. dead.
  6. Web site: Staff. ELAC to Acquire Audio Alchemy. Technology Integrator. 25 July 2017. 31 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200731100649/https://www.technologyintegrator.net/article/elac-acquire-audio-alchemy/. dead.