Wayne H Coloney

Wayne H Coloney Origins

Wayne H. Coloney Company was an American machine systems design and fabrication company that originated in the late 1970s. It was started by John Watson around 1978. The company was primarily known for producing high-end audio equipment, including the AB-1 turntable system with an air-bearing tangential tracking tonearm. This turntable system was developed over a decade and was known for providing low distortion and high accuracy in sound reproduction.

The company’s involvement in turntable manufacturing began when Lew Eckhart introduced the turntable concept to a Tallahassee engineering firm, which Wayne Coloney decided to manufacture. Bruce Thigpen became the project engineer for this venture. However, when Wayne H. Coloney Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982, the turntable inventory was sold and rebranded as Mapleknoll. Bruce Thigpen then started his own company, Eminent Technology, which produced air bearing phonograph tonearms.