Advent Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer audio and video equipment |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Founder | Henry Kloss |
| Defunct | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States |
| Products | Loudspeakers, cassette decks, home projection televisions |
Number of employees | 650 |
Advent Corporation was a manufacturer of consumer audio and video equipment established in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Henry Kloss in 1967. The company ceased operations in 1981.
Naming
The company’s name derived from the temporary legal designation the advent corporation used during its incorporation process before selecting the official title.
Products
In approximately 1968, Kloss departed from KLH to pursue development of an affordable projection television, but encountered funding obstacles for research and development. To support this effort financially, he designed a cost-effective, high-quality dual-driver speaker featuring a woofer, initially called The Advent Loudspeaker (later renamed "Larger Advent" following the introduction of the Smaller Advent model). This speaker offered sound performance comparable to the premium AR Model 3a but was priced at roughly half the cost.
Advent produced several iterations of this two-way speaker system, including the Smaller Advent Loudspeaker, "New" Advent Loudspeaker, Advent/2, Advent/3, as well as the 4000 and 5000 series. These speakers were available in both wood veneer and vinyl-covered enclosures while maintaining identical acoustic characteristics.
The commercial success of the Advent Loudspeaker surpassed that of other products, such as their innovative home video projector, the Advent VideoBeam 1000.
Kloss further advanced cassette tape fidelity technology, originally intended for voice dictation. The initial Advent 200 model released in 1970 suffered mechanical shortcomings and was succeeded by the Advent 201 in 1971. This updated version incorporated Dolby B noise reduction for both recording and playback and utilized chromium dioxide tape. It represented a significant breakthrough in high-fidelity cassette decks, competing with more expensive reel-to-reel equipment. Although it did not achieve the same commercial success as the speakers, it remained in production for several years.
In 1972, Advent introduced the VideoBeam, recognized as the first large-screen home projection television. By 1977, Kloss established Kloss Video Corporation (KVC) as a separate entity where he developed the Novatron tube to enhance projection TV efficiency.
Financial issues and closure
Despite concentrating on affordable yet high-performance consumer audio products, Advent encountered financial struggles following Kloss’ exit. Citing elevated labor expenses, the company closed its Cambridge manufacturing facility in 1979, resulting in layoffs affecting most of its 650 employees, and relocated production to New Hampshire. Persistent difficulties led to bankruptcy filing in March 1981. KVC opted not to repurchase the New Hampshire-based brand, which was subsequently absorbed into Jensen Electronics, itself acquired by Audiovox in 2004. Concurrently, KVC experienced intensifying competition from Japanese firms within the large-format consumer television sector, ultimately leading to asset liquidation and business closure.