Eico

July 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

EICO was established in New York City in 1945 to manufacture electronic test equipment in kit form. A wide variety of test equipment remained the company's mainstay during the time it was in the electronics business, however EICO often augmented their product lines with what was thought fashionable. For example, in the late 40s it offered Geiger counters in response to public interest in uranium prospecting. In the 50s and 60s they offered amateur radio and electronic test equipment. Their largest secondary market was audio equipment.

Eico began producing hi-fi products in the early 50s with a line of tuners and amplifiers, available both in kit form or fully assembled. The model Eico HF-81 integrated amplifier is considered by many afficonados as their best vacuum tube powered effort. In the late 60s EICO introduced a line of solid state electronics audio equipment referred to as Cortina, but by the mid-70s the only audio products they sold were kits manufactured for them in South Korea. EICO left the audio market in the late 1970s and the electronics market some time later. EICO existed as a property management company until 1999, when the company was liquidated at the request of the shareholders.