Castle (formerly known as Castle Acoustics) is a former British, now Chinese manufacturer of hi-fi

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or " ...

s. Castle Acoustics was founded in 1973 and takes its name and its logo from the 11thC historic

Skipton Castle Skipton Castle is a Grade I Listed medieval castle in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, and has been preserved for over 931 years. History The castle was originally a motte and bai ...

, the

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

market town of

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Air ...

having been Castle's home from its foundation to 2006.

History

In 1932 the former wool merchant

Gilbert Briggs Gilbert Arthur Briggs (1890 – 9 January 1978), commonly referred to as "G. A. Briggs", founded Wharfedale Wireless Works in Yorkshire, England, in 1932, and was a leading figure in the early development of high fidelity loudspeakers introduci ...

from

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

formed The Wharfedale Wireless Company primarily to further the design and manufacture of loudspeakers to reproduce as accurately as possible the music in which he was keenly interested. His legacy has over two generations passed to the Castle Acoustics of today. Moving to Skipton in Craven (Airedale), located in an old woollen mill, Castle Acoustics was born on 3 September 1973. Almost twenty years later, with the original founders approaching retiring age, a second group of senior executives from Wharfedale made a proposal to buy out the original management team. Having bought the brand name from the Receivers in 2006 Castle is now part of the

International Audio Group The International Audio Group (IAG) is a Chinese manufacturer of consumer and professional audio & HiFi components. It is based in Shenzhen in China. It is owned and run by twin brothers Bernard and Michael Chang. Products In the past the IAG ...

. Its headquarters, design and manufacturing are now based in Shenzhen, China.

References

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External links

Castle site
{{Authority control Loudspeaker manufacturers Audio equipment manufacturers of the United Kingdom Audio equipment manufacturers of China Electronics companies established in 1973 Companies based in Craven District Skipton 1973 establishments in England