Bernard Kardon

American engineer and inventor

Bernard Peterson Kardon (January 8, 1914 – April 14, 1993) was an American audio pioneer who founded the Harman/Kardon audio equipment company with partner Sidney Harman in 1953.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Kardon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jan 8, 1914, died Apr 14, 1993.1

Companies

Early life and education

Kardon was born in New York City the third of Peter and Sarah (née Friedland) Kardon's five children.

As a child Kardon showed an interest in science at an early age. By the age of nine in 1922, both he and his brother Nathan would travel to their father's radio factory and assemble parts. Afterward they would go to a restaurant with their father for dinner.

Kardon graduated from Stuyvesant High School and studied engineering at Cooper Union, but quit there before earning a degree.

Kardon returned to school later in life. In his fifties, he received a BA in engineering from City College of New York in 1973 and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Kardon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Consumer electronics career

Bogen Company

In 1937 Kardon was hired by the David Bogen Company, manufacturers of audio and intercom equipment. While working at Bogen, Kardon also served as Chief Engineer for his father's company, the Premier Instrument Corp.

Kardon moved up at Bogen, from Design Engineer to Chief Engineer and was finally named Executive Vice-president. While working at Bogen, Kardon met Sidney Harman, also a Bogen employee. During his 14-year tenure at Bogen, Harman moved from engineer to sales manager. He was later named general manager of the firm.

Precursors of high fidelity equipment

In the late 1930s, Kardon often helped recording engineers and professional musicians modify available public address amplifiers and speakers to better reproduce radio programs and recorded music.

Recognizing a nascent high-fidelity industry, Harman lobbied the Bogen company to develop an improved audio system for American consumers. Bogen wasn't interested so Harman left in 1953, taking Kardon with him. Naming their new company Harman/Kardon Inc., each invested $5,000 (equivalent to $60,168 in 2025) in capital.

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Harman Kardon

Naming their new company Harman/Kardon Inc., each invested $5,000 (equivalent to $60,168 in 2025) in capital. Harman handled sales, merchandising, and advertising, while Kardon was Chief Engineer, Designer and Production Manager.

In 1954 their first product was the Festival D-1000 receiver, the world's first integrated hi-fi receiver. The unit included a wide bandwidth FM radio tuner, a pre-amplifier and 30-watt amplifier all in a complete chassis.

By 1956 Harman/Kardon was worth $600,000 (equivalent to $7,105,263 in 2025). Kardon left the firm in 1959 to become an independent consultant.

Later career

In 1961 Kardon was named Director of Engineering at Ultrasound Industries, Inc., a dental equipment manufacturer in Plainview, Long Island, New York.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Kardon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJan 8, 1914, New York City4 5
  • CitizenshipUnited States6

Kardon married Anna Jaffe on December 8, 1933, and had two children. Born as Bernard Kardon (no middle name), he added a middle name of Peterson (Peter's son, in honor of his father, Peter Kardon), which appeared in his obituary.

From Wikipedia’s article on Bernard Kardon (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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