Technics
Matsushita, now Panasonic, introduced Technics in 1965 as a name for premium loudspeakers sold in Japan; the EAB-1204 speaker, later nicknamed "Technics 1", is counted as the first product. The brand became world-famous through turntables: the SP-10 of 1969 was the first direct-drive turntable for professional use, and the SL-1200 of 1972 became the standard club and radio turntable for decades.
Technics also built amplifiers, including the SU-C01 preamplifier of 1979. Panasonic dropped the brand for most products in October 2010 and relaunched it in late 2014 with amplifiers, speakers and, from 2016, turntables again.
The original magazine kept a Technics page among its Japanese manufacturer profiles.
Technics was introduced as a brand name for premium loudspeakers marketed domestically by Matsushita in 1965. The name came to wider prominence with the international sales of direct-drive turntables. In 1969, Technics launched the SP-10, the first direct-drive model for the professional market, followed in 1971 by the SL-1100 for the consumer market. The SL-1100 was used by the influential DJ Kool Herc for the first sound system he set up after emigrating from Jamaica to New York. In 1972, Technics introduced the first autoreverse system in a cassette deck in its Technics RS-277US and in 1973 it introduced the first three-head recording technique in a cassette deck (Technics RS-279US).
9000 Professional Series: A series of stack-able, or rack mountable, units included the SE-9060 Amp, SU-9070 Pre-Amp, SH-9010 Equalizer, SH-9020 Meter Unit and ST-9030 Tuner. These “Pro Series” components replaced the earlier SE-9600 Amp, SU-9700 Pre-Amp and ST-9300/9600/9700 Tuner that were deemed too large. The 9000 Pro Series was introduced because of demand for smaller, quality components. The European version of the Pro Series had a different faceplate than the US version: 18″ vs. 19″. Because of the narrower faceplate, the European version required special rack brackets to be rack mountable. The brackets came with the European version of the SH-905ST Professional Series rack. The only difference between this rack and the US version was inclusion of those brackets.