Klark Teknik

Klark Teknik is a company that designs and develops professional signal processing and audio equipment. Located in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, UK, the company was founded in 1974 by brothers Terence and Phillip Clarke. It developed a number of new types of equipment in the audio field, winning a Queen's Awards for Enterprise in 1986. It is now owned by Music Group.

In 1971, the brothers were running a company known as “Klark Equipment”, producing garage forecourt equipment: vending style vacuum cleaners, space heaters and other similar products.

Phillip was the entrepreneur having previously run a clothing business in Australia. Terry was the engineer: he had worked for Decca and was also an active local musician. With this background, the company soon branched into professional audio, at first upgrading and customising Decca multi-track tape recorders and later producing a very high quality ¼ inch 2-track tape machine of their own, the SM2. This tape machine was sold to the BBC and independent broadcasting companies under the brand name “Teknik”.

Terry also started to develop signal processing hardware including compressor/limiters and small graphic equalisers. These were produced in very low quantities and sold to (mostly local) recording studios to complement the relatively simple audio mixing console of the day. The graphic equalisers developed during 1973 onwards were called Teknik 7S and 9S, with seven and nine bands respectively, plus a stereo 11+11S with eleven bands of EQ.

In 1974 the brand name “Klark Teknik” came into being. 1976 saw the first KT product produced in real volume, the DN27 (later DN27A and previously DN27S). Approximately 6500 units shipped between 1977 and 1985.

In 1980 the company moved to its current purpose built premises at Walter Nash Road, Kidderminster. Up until this point the business had been run out of an old Nissen hut in a back corner of the Summerfield MOD solid fuel rocket motor factory with only 15 employees.

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