[BC] Sparkomatic (was: A Pig in a Polk)

[Kevin Tekel]

Jason Russell wrote:
> Yeesh.
> Willie, I didn't even know those Spark-O folks were still in business -
> do they still sell them where you are?

Sparkomatic acquired the Altec Lansing brand name back in the '80s, and
now calls itself Altec Lansing Technologies.  I believe the Sparkomatic
line of car audio and CB radio equipment was retired when their factory
in Milford, PA burned down some time in the '90s.

Speaking of which, in the mid-'80s Sparkomatic had a full line of
AM Stereo-equipped car radios.  I have the SR-430, and you'd be surprised
at how well it performs.  As typical of '80s car radios, the FM tuner has
poor selectivity, but the AM tuner has excellent sensitivity, and can be
switched between a decent medium bandwidth with good selectivity and a
"barn-door" wide bandwidth that will clearly reveal any stations
transmitting greater than NRSC 10 kHz audio response.  It also has a good
audio amp with a 5-band graphic equalizer (very rare on a single DIN-size
radio).  The nighttime illumination is done with very cool orange LEDs,
giving it a "techno-'80s" look.  It's kinda funny because when you really
turn it up, the lighting flickers along with the bass notes of the music!

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kevtronics/sparko.jpg

Sparkomatic was also the OEM radio supplier for Yugo.  According to
unverified rumours, some of the Yugo factory radios had AM Stereo, which
means the list of cars with factory-equipped AM Stereo receivers in the
'80s extended all the way from Yugo to Rolls Royce!  (Rolls used Delco
radios from GM.)



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com