Diatone
Encyclopedia
Diatone was a division of the Japan
ese electronics
manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric
which made loudspeaker
drivers and home and studio loudspeaker systems. It was founded in 1945 to manufacture monitor speakers for NHK
Japanese Broadcasting Corporation and was closed down in 1999.
The Diatone speaker was developed in the fall of 1945 at Mitsubishi Electric's Ofuna Factory. Its began life from the recycling of old stocks of magnets into magnetic speakers. At the time, speaker technology was not very advanced in Japan, and sales were limited to speaker products made by subcontracted manufacturers. However, since goods were in short supply after World War II
, and because of strong demand and a promising future market, the company decided to go ahead with full-scale speaker development.
At the time, the company benefited from cutting-edge technical help from NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories -- a relationship that would continue for many years. In 1947 Mitsubishi produced an adjustable resonance cone, and combined it with the OP magnet to produce the 16 cm P-62 F-type dynamic speaker (the antecedent of the P-610).
In the 1940s, practically all speaker vibration boards were constructed from plain paper pasted together into a cone shape. Mitsubishi Electric's speaker used a special single-cone paper made from a sheet of Japanese washi
paper formed into a conical shape, and delivered groundbreaking performance. Though it was launched in the fall of 1947 to high acclaim, it was in 1950 that the speaker was formally accepted as a speaker for broadcast use. It was the first step into a market dominated by foreign products. The Diatone brand trademark was registered in September 1946, and from 1947 the product came to be known as the Mitsubishi Diatone Speaker.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric
Mitsubishi Electric
is a multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group....
which made loudspeaker
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
drivers and home and studio loudspeaker systems. It was founded in 1945 to manufacture monitor speakers for NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
Japanese Broadcasting Corporation and was closed down in 1999.
History
In the 1940s Mitsubishi Electric successfully developed a hard-ferrite (permanent-magnet) OP magnet and began to prepare for the commercial production of ferrite.The Diatone speaker was developed in the fall of 1945 at Mitsubishi Electric's Ofuna Factory. Its began life from the recycling of old stocks of magnets into magnetic speakers. At the time, speaker technology was not very advanced in Japan, and sales were limited to speaker products made by subcontracted manufacturers. However, since goods were in short supply after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and because of strong demand and a promising future market, the company decided to go ahead with full-scale speaker development.
At the time, the company benefited from cutting-edge technical help from NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories -- a relationship that would continue for many years. In 1947 Mitsubishi produced an adjustable resonance cone, and combined it with the OP magnet to produce the 16 cm P-62 F-type dynamic speaker (the antecedent of the P-610).
In the 1940s, practically all speaker vibration boards were constructed from plain paper pasted together into a cone shape. Mitsubishi Electric's speaker used a special single-cone paper made from a sheet of Japanese washi
Washi
is a type of paper made in Japan. Washi is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub , or the paper mulberry, but also can be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat...
paper formed into a conical shape, and delivered groundbreaking performance. Though it was launched in the fall of 1947 to high acclaim, it was in 1950 that the speaker was formally accepted as a speaker for broadcast use. It was the first step into a market dominated by foreign products. The Diatone brand trademark was registered in September 1946, and from 1947 the product came to be known as the Mitsubishi Diatone Speaker.
External links
- Mitsubishi Electric Global website
- Mitsubishi Diatone History
- Diatone History & hifi classics (private project, German)