On September 1, 1927, Lou Burroughs and Al Kahn began a small business servicing Radios in Indiana As a result of the Great Depression the two found themselves insolvent to the extent of $5,000. They decided to move their business to audio products, and on June 1, 1930, they incorporated under the name "Electro-Voice."
Burroughs and Kahn perceived an opportunity to capitalise on what they perceived as the generally poor quality and high prices of existing microphones. They purchased a lathe and a Drill and started producing about one microphone a week. Soon after, Burroughs withdrew from the business, leaving complete ownership to Kahn. By 1933, the previous business debts were completely paid off, and Electro-Voice began hiring employees to help in the production of the products. In 1936, twenty people were hired, and Lou Burroughs returned as chief Engineer.
In 1946, the business moved to a bigger facility and expanded its engineering efforts. In 1948, they began successfully producing pickup cartridges. In 1950, they started production of the first automatic TV booster, which sold in great quantities. They also started to design and produce a loudspeaker line. In 1963, EV received an Academy Award for their 642 Cardiline shotgun microphone, the first ever given for an audio product.
1945 Advertisement for the Electro-Voice range of mics.