[Vintage-Audio] Re Voice Of Music

[Peter Markavage]

Duane:
You asked a similar question back on February 17, 2006 and, on  February
20th, Gerry Steffens answered with these comments:

The following brief history was written by V-M Corporation President
Victor Miller for the January 1996 V-M Collectors Voice Newsletter:

Fast Forward" ..... Through a few high spots of V-M Corporation's
history! It is inspiring to see the effort Gary is putting into keeping
the  products and legends of V-M going this many years after our
bankruptcy in 1977. I consider it a privilege to contribute in some small
way to this tribute  to the dedication, skill, loyalty, and decades of
hard work of  employees, suppliers, distributors, dealers, and
independent service centers who  made
up the V-M action team.  A special "thank you" is due the loyal
manufacturers who kept including our record changers and/or tape 
transport
mechanisms in their products - and to the consumers who bought  those
products as well as items sold under our own name.

Benton Harbor was the scene of record changer manufacture before  V-M
Corporation existed. My father Walter Miller, was an electrical  engineer
building up New Products Corporation, a custom die cast operation, 
through the heart of the depression of the 1930's. He had also started
Modern Plastics Corporation, a custom plastic molding company in 1937.
The reputation of those two companies for quality, service, and value 
led to his being approached to produce record changers for the blossoming
 phonograph market. Commencing in 1940, New Products Corporation produced
the Erwood  "blade" type record changer. Some 2,300 of these cumbersome
units were being  shipped daily by the time World War II cut off all
consumer product  manufacture (shortly after the December 7, 1941 attack
on Pearl Harbor). V-M was created as a separate entity in 1944 and
distinguished  itself  early on by producing initial quantities of one of
Dad's classified  wartime inventions.

When the war ended, this separate entity jumped into  the production of
record changers just as soon as such consumer product manufacture was
permitted. In addition to phonograph manufacturers, early customers began
to include independent service shops and electronic parts distributors.
This  then led in the early 1950's to designing and building amplified 
phonographs, consoles, and tape recorders - and selling tape transport
mechanisms  to other manufacturers. We had "binaural" sound in our tape
recorders  as an adaptation by late 1955. Then came "stereo" tape
recorders, stereo  record changers and stereo phonographs by 1958.

Our best year for sales and earnings was 1962, but we were serving  an
industry that subsequently got wiped out so far as U.S.  manufactured
products were concerned. As the battle got tougher, we tightened our 
belts and hung in, trying to also apply our technological skills to 
special motors, amplifiers, etc. These we had hoped would become standard
 products used by many U. S. manufacturers, resulting in lower costs and
a  more competitive position.

>From 1971 on, we were on a shoestring. In spite of everyone's dedication,
that string broke in 1977. When we could no longer produce, we filed  for
bankruptcy in the interest of protecting general creditors to the  extent
we could, from various predators. With the permission of the court, we
converted what we could to cash for the benefit of employees and 
suppliers.
 
 V-M remains a registered corporation in the State of Michigan, but  is
no longer engaged in manufacturing activities. Service parts and  manuals
are
now available from V-M Audio Enthusiasts at 37530 E. Meadowhill,
Northville, MI 48167. Let me say that it is great to have this
opportunity to express my appreciation for the confidence manufacturers,
distributors,  dealers, service shops, and consumers placed in our
products and in the men and
women who built them. Many thanks! God bless you all!

Victor A. Miller
January 1996
Revised: January 2000
Victor A. Miller, son of Walter Miller, is the president of the VM
Corporation founded by Walter Miller.


> On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 16:47:33 -0400 "W8DBF D.B. Fischer"
> <dfischer at usol.com> writes:
> > 
> > 
> > Hello All,
> > 
> > Once upon a time, far far away, in a state called Michigan there 
> was 
> > a 
> > company that made home audio products under the name of "The Voice 
> 
> > Of 
> > Music". What city was this company located in? What year did the 
> > company 
> > cease to exist? Why did it close its doors?
> > 
> > I purchased a stereo tape deck by VM in 1966. You could select 
> which 
> > of the 
> > four tracks you wanted to record on, or listen to, by means of two 
> 
> > elongated 
> > switch knobs. They ran parallel with the bottom of the deck. Each 
> 
> > knob was 
> > about 3/8 wide and 2.25 inches in length. You could flip it up for 
> 
> > track #1, 
> > the middle for normal stereo, down for track #3. The other switch 
> 
> > which 
> > faced it handled tracks #2 and #4. I think!
> > 
> > It was a simple design, quite straight forward and very efficient. 
> I 
> > think 
> > it had three speeds.
> > 
> > I used it until I moved up to better equipment with the Grundig 
> > TK-141 in 
> > 1969. It was a deck, but had an internal stereo amp with built in 
> 
> > speakers. 
> > Hence it could be either a deck or a tape recorder. (Never did 
> > understand 
> > why because it had an audio amp and speakers built into the case 
> it 
> > was 
> > called a "recorder", as both versions recorded!
> > 
> > Whatever became of the VOM?
> > 
> > Didn't some of their products, such as stereo amplifiers and AM/FM 
> 
> > tuners, 
> > come as kits that you could assemble too?
> > 
> > Thanks!
> > 
> > Duane Fischer, W8DBF
> > dfischer at usol.com