Onken

I still remember the deep impressions I had listening to Onken system in Paris, at Rue de Belfort… it was 30+ years ago, but I’ll never thank Hiraga-san enough for introducing us all to Onken W, OS-5000 tweeter and multicellular horns.

Onken An Audio tradition by Eijiro Koizumi

Before starting the Onken company, Eijiro Koïzumi worked as an engineer at Goto Unit from 1965 to 1967 with Mr. Seiya Goto. Koïzumi left Goto in 1967 to found Onken Seisaku.co Ltd in the city of Suwa near Nagano in Japan. The said company evolved until 2009, when its founder retired. Onken has designed and marketed audio compressors, horns, subwoofers, complete speakers, crossovers, and even amplifiers, as well as a modified turntable model.

Throughout his life, Mr. Koïzumi had famous clients such as Mr. Tamaru who was one of his first clients. The founder of Onken evolved at the same time as Mr. Akihiko Kanéda, to whom we owe a rich audio heritage in terms of tube and transistor electronics.

For about 25 years, Mr. Koïzumi was very active in the Japanese magazine MJ Audio. He wrote numerous articles there and took part in various round tables on audiophile subjects. This mythical character, to whom exceptional high-fidelity owes a lot, died on July 7, 2017.

In France and in the West, it is to Mr. Jean Hiraga that we owe the discovery of the Onken heritage. The latter, via the defunct French-language review L'Audiophile, has enabled a greater number of amateurs to discover Koïzumi's work.

Today, enthusiasts in many countries carry on this Onken tradition that has left its mark over the decades. These audiophiles and music lovers own sound systems which are equipped with these parts which have kept a greatness qualitative value.