The inside story of why America’s iconic Harman Kardon was sold to Samsung in 2017 and what it means for hard-to-find audio parts today. JBL, Citation, AKG and more — why these legendary components remain vital for restorations in 2026.
Vintage Parts. Over the last 6 months I have received quite a few mails from desperate individuals wishing to restore their old radios, tube and semiconductor, integrated amplifiers, turntables and tape decks.
Belts and power supplies and many semiconductors have equivalents but we get stuck with Germanium, decals, knobs and switches with most gear and then the mechanical parts to decks and turntables. In South Africa we have to turn to eBay where often shipping charges become exorbitant.
RCF have been around for some time, almost 70 years to be exact. Named after the initials of the first three shareholders (but also formerly known as Radio Cine Forniture?), the company invested in the manufacture of ribbon microphones. With concerts becoming more electronically amplified RCF soon turned their art to the manufacture of transducers and the release of OEM devices for loudspeaker manufacturers in the USA and Europe.
When one does feel the urge to find out more about this company and their products the internet is strangely quiet. My first experience was actually in trying to get my hands on a pair of Yamaha or Behringer Truth monitors but the sales person motivated the sale of the Ayra 8s. Pressed for time and knowing nothing about RCF except their use in large stage arrays I only did research after I laid out the cash. Look, in all honesty the audio industry is amok with clueless critics tearing apart well known brands without thinking of the consequences (forum trolls, trap bait and undeserved criticism) – but I hardly see RCF comment.
So yesterday evening you switched off your sound system and today it shows the dreaded “protection” warning. You check the cabling for shorts, open circuits and tear the unit apart hoping to find the offending gremlin. Reassembly and it works, bingo – you didn’t find the problem – it must have been a loose wire.
Practical Examples The below came from a previous website, same author called Analogian Just before we get started, Kenneth, a reader wants to know why…
The pure ambiguity of high end sound systems The purist may rate the ultimate audio amplifier as being a straight piece of wire with gain.…