1971

An Unlikely Start

On his return to the UK, Terry started work for Decca at their cassette duplication plant in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, where he designed and serviced the huge cassette tape winding machines which were made on-site.

1973

An Audio Legend is Born

Terry’s car wash machine business took off. However, mirroring his experience in Australia, he continued with his interest in audio electronics as a sideline making bespoke equipment for recording studios.

1975

Reel-To-Reel

Their next venture led to a long-lasting relationship with the BBC. Terry had used his experiences from working on the Decca cassette tape winding machines, which had very sophisticated motor control,

1977

Creating The Brand

Soon after the design was revised to reduce these costs by including more PCB mounted components, including precision 1% tolerance resistors, and subcontracting out the metalwork production using a new folded steel design.

1978

A New Home

In 1978 the company purchased a 99 year lease on a 1.5 acre plot of land on Walter Nash Road, Kidderminster and the 15-strong company moved to new purpose-built premises on the site in 1980, where it remains to this day.

1980

KLARK TEKNIK Goes Transatlantic

It was around this time that KLARK TEKNIK first came to prominence in the USA, with its graphic equalisers being shown for the first time at the 1976 Billboard Disco show.

1982

The Birth of Industry Standards

More new products followed, including the DN60 Real Time Analyser in 1980 and the DN300 series of graphic equalisers in 1982, which led to rapid growth and required an extension of the building to cope with the increased production demand.

1984

KLARK TEKNIK Goes Public - More Classics Are Born

1986

Royal Recognition - KLARK Acoustic

The company’s success led to an invitation to Downing Street. Phil Clarke, his wife Jenni and Doug Smith represented one of five successful Midlands businesses invited to a reception to meet Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

1987

KLARK TEKNIK Acquires MIDAS

MIDAS had run into financial challenges with the XL console, which it was unable to bring to market. Terry Clarke knew Jeff Byers and had a high regard for MIDAS, and whilst the purchase of DDA had cost £2 million,

1990

The Brothers Move On

1993

The World's First Auto-EQ

KLARK TEKNIK automated its graphic equalisation with the DN3600 Programmable Graphic Equaliser in 1993, the latter being complemented by the DN3601 Slave Equaliser and the DN3698

1996

The German Connection

In 1996 it was decided to split R&D into two separate sections, one for KLARK TEKNIK and one for MIDAS (DDA was already autonomous due to its Hounslow location)

2000

KLARK TEKNIK - Re-established

The KLARK TEKNIK R&D suffered from some growing pains and it was not until the end of decade that viable new home-grown designs started to appear.

2001

Into the New Millennium

With the genesis of a new product portfolio for KLARK TEKNIK, more new products started to appear. Building on the DN9848 hardware platform and incorporating features from both the DN3600 and DN4000 equalisers

2003

DN370-The New DN27

For many years, R&D had pushed to do another analogue graphic equaliser to build on the reputation of the DN360, launched nearly twenty years previously.

2005

On with the Show

A year later, and the DN9848 was incorporated into the HELIX range, and all units received digital audio interfaces and Ethernet control as well as a cosmetic upgrade and an “E” suffix.

2009

The MUSIC Group Connection

In December 2009 saw the acquisition of the MIDAS and KLARK TEKNIK brands by MUSIC Group from Bosch.

2011

The PRO Series Expands

With significant new investment in MIDAS and KLARK TEKNIK, the Company expanded with more engineers and another floor at the City Park site.

2014

The Future Sound of MIDAS & KLARKTEKNIK