[Vintage-Audio] Re Voice Of Music

Sun Apr 30 19:44:40 EDT 2006

Thank you Peter. Apparently some 'thing' somewhere along the electronic path 
intercepted my copy. Because I have to keep track of "who said" and "when it 
was", I retain copies of all list traffic for six months. I went back and 
did a search and did not find this post from Gerry. Thanks for sending it my 
way sir.

Duane W8DBF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Markavage" <manualman at juno.com>
To: <vintage-audio at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2006 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Vintage-Audio] Re Voice Of Music

> 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
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