well known producer of high quality turntables also produced cassette and a few reel to reel tape recorders in the 1960's
In 1907, brothers Christian and Joseph Steidinger began manufacturing clockwork and gramophone parts in the Black Forest town of St. Georgen. In 1927, Gebrüder Steidinger (Steidinger Bros.) adopted the name Dual in reference to the dual-mode power supplies it pioneered. The power supplies allowed gramophones to be powered from mains electricity or with a wind-up mechanism. Soon thereafter, Dual began producing turntables of its own.
Surely a novel idea at the time, and worthy of branding, but Dual Turntables have survived well beyond the technology of their namesake. Dual produced their first turntable in the late 1930s, following the development of their phono cartridge.
The Second World War halted production of leisure goods in Germany, but following the war’s conclusion in 1945 production progressed well.
After World War II, Dual became the biggest manufacturer of turntables in Europe, with more than 3,000 employees working in several factories.
Dual turntables began being sold outside of Germany following the creation of their 1009 model in the early 60s. In the 70s, Dual began producing direct drive and belt drive turntables. In the late 70s and 80s, Dual began exploring the new markets of cassettes and CD players. The 80s appear to have been a difficult time for Dual, but they came out the other side unscathed to continue producing high quality audio equipment.
Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Dual introduced audio cassette players, VCRs, CD players, and other consumer electronics. We found no mention specifically of their reel to reel tape recorders which were built during the 1960's.
But when Japanese consumer electronics started entering European markets in the 1970s on a large scale, Dual as most other traditional German manufacturers underwent a big crisis: Japanese products usually offered more features at a cheaper price in a much more modern package. Dual went bankrupt in 1982, and was sold to French electronic manufacturer Thomson SA. In 1988, Thomson sold Dual to German manufacturer Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG.
In 1993/4, Dual was finally split off into Dual Phono GmbH, i.e. the Dual line of turntables, which were acquired by the German company Alfred 
Fehrenbacher GmbH, which has continued to produce them in the Black Forest town of St. Georgen. Dual turntables Made in Germany are manufactured on the same traditional product line. They are easily to identify with the manufacturing code beginning with CS xxx.
Dual DGC GmbH (Germany) sells mostly rebranded consumer electronics made in Far East, including turntables (production code DT xxx). DGC products are exclusively sold in Europe.
For the American market, after the insolvency of Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG in 2001, TCL Holdings, a Chinese company, purchased the Dual assets and brand, and it began marketing its own products under the name.
In 2002, Namsung Electronics, a Korean company, bought the rights to use the name in the Americas and began selling lower-priced (but generally well-reviewed) consumer electronics under the Dual marque. The main product lines are home audio, mobile audio, marine audio and GPS receivers.
Dual Electronics Corporation is an international company headquartered in Heathrow, Florida with distribution centers in Nevada and Illinois The company has a total commitment to providing high-quality products at affordable price points.
Dual Electronics Corporation is the U.S. based subsidiary of the Namsung Corporation. Headquartered in Seoul S. Korea, Namsung is a public company registered on the Korean Stock Exchange. Namsung Corp. was founded in 1965
See also Multi-Track recording
