Pilot Electric Manufacturing Co founded by Isidor Goldberg (1893) in Brooklyn, New York, in 1919; name changed to Pilot Radio and Tube Corporation, then in 1932 to Pilot Radio Corporation; produced pioneering domestic radio equipment, ground-to-air communication equipment, and television receiver and transmission kits; sponsored first TV broadcast; produced communications equipment during the war, switching back to civilian television and hi-fi production in the 1950s; marketed first portable (miniature) television receiver; acquired by Emerson Radio in 1965.
Pilot Radio Corp first introduced its high fidelity (Hi-Fi) product line in 1952. In the early years, the company worked closely with RCA. The production of products was handling by Pilot itself and the
design work was handled by RCA. Most of the early hi-fi products of Pilot were
licensed by RCA.
However, Pilot slowly took over the product development in the late 50'. No question that Pilot Radio Corp was one of the most successful hi-fi brands during the golden years of hi-fi and the company was focusing on the affordable and reliable hi-fi products. Pilot produced various hi-fi products, including power amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, integrated amplifiers, receivers, AM and FM tuners, speakers and audio consoles.
Consumer Report magazine in 1954 rated Pilot AA-903 as one of the best buy amplifiers of the year and most of the Pilot's products were also highly rated by audiophiles during the 1950s and 60s.