Koss Corporation
Beginning of an EraAs a Jazz lover, John Koss wanted to make something used purely for music. He helped "fuel a revolution" with the way people used to listen to music, making personal music possible. You no longer had to fight over what to listen to with everyone around you. Instead, you could have a space all your own to listen to whatever you wanted.
Not only were you able to plug in and listen to what you wanted, Koss was the first to develop an "entire 'private listening system.'" The Koss Model 390 phonograph was used for music. It included a phonograph, speaker and headphone jacks all in one small package. However, throughout this website, we will be focusing on the stereo headphones. |
The First of Their Kind
Headphones were originally used for radio communication equipment and aviation hardware. In 1958, Koss created the first stereo headphones, the Koss SP-3. They were unique in that they were only used for music.
The Koss ESP-6 were the first electrostatic headphones produced in 1968. They had less distortion and less weight than previous models of headphone. Aside from headphones, Koss was the first to utilize the idea of celebrity endorsements for advertising. After realizing that headphone competitors were on the rise, Koss reached out the celebrities, including The Beatles and Tony Bennett in order to further endorse his products. This strategy is something that has stuck with advertising today and nearly all companies use this strategy. |
Koss Today
The Koss Corporation has multiple types of headphones that are more advanced than the first ones he produced. The current Koss product line includes: full-sized headphones, ear buds and in-ear headphones, ear-clip headphones, on-ear headphones, in-line microphone headphones, and communication headsets.
As well as having their own corporation, Koss' headphones are also rebranded as Radio Shack headphones and are sold in Radio Shack stores. Radio Shack utilizes most of the same technology as the Koss for these particular headphones and calls them Titanium Diaphragm headphones.