Rotel
Japanese audio equipment manufacturer
Rotel is a family-owned Japanese manufacturer of hi-fi audio and video equipment: home theater, amplifiers, compact disc players, etc. Rotel was started by Tomoki Tachikawa in Tokyo Japan in 1957 as a hi-fi electronics manufacturer. It is currently run by the nephew, Peter Kao.
In the early 1980s, Rotel joined the B&W Group forming a strategic alliance with Bowers & Wilkins and established exclusive distribution networks in North America and several European markets. Classé Audio later joined the group. Over the next 20 years, Rotel appointed virtually all Bowers & Wilkins distributors globally. In 2000, the B&W Group established Rotel Europe in the UK to consolidate all Rotel sales and support activities outside North America.
The Classé brand was acquired by Sound United in 2018. In October 2020, Sound United LLC also acquired Bowers & Wilkins.
Rotel maintains an exclusive network of specialist hi-fi dealers around the world.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Rotel”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Logo ROTEL.svg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
- Rotel A10 amplifier (2026-01-19).jpg by Olgierd Rudak, CC0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.