A.J. Conti of Basis Audio has passed away.

You have to be kidding, was he sick or was this a sudden heart attack or aneurysm? I have had many beautiful long conversations with him on the phone and the last one about a month ago. He really had precise knowledge on the engineering side of things. I will surly miss him. Does anyone know if there is someone else who will take over and run the company?

Massive heart attack.  Basis Audio website  posted  details about the status of the company.

Hello Jeff. I agree A.J. will be missed and he will be missed on multiple levels bigtime. I liked your mention of precise knowledge as precise and precision indeed and in part defined him and the wonderful turntables and tonearms he produced.

Per your questions: yes, there are people taking over Basis Audio and A.J. always a health nut had an unexpected and massive heart attack. For mention of these details see the Basis Facebook page and Michael Fremer's website with links to below:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Basis-Audio-Inc/179180802164059

http://www.analogplanet.com/content/rip-armando-aj-conti  

It sucks.
He wasn't overweight, but in weak physical shape

This is a huge loss for analog turntable lovers. AJ was a brilliant designer who focused on precision and sound in the design of his his excellent turntables. I've owned several Debuts in the last twenty  five years or so and they have brought great pleasure.

He was a gentleman too, and very patient with endless questions about all things analog. 

Very, very sad. 

I saw this first now. What a shock!
A great loss for the music lovers that want to hear "the truth".
Allways the best boys, leaving first. 
RIP AJ...

I thought this would be a better  year than last year as one of my favorite actors Leonard Nimoy (Spock) passed last year.

I commented in the other AJ thread but wanted to weigh in here also.  A real shame, such a passion for his trade, a gentleman and first class cusomer service skills.  RIP.

Sad to hear. I had many long enjoyable conversations on the phone with him too.

R.I.P.

God Bless AJ.

Over the past several years, when our child has come into our audio room inquiring about the Ovation's various parts and mechanics, I've reminded him "Be careful with Uncle AJ's instrument.  He won't be happy if anything happens to it."  Always curious about who's this guy AJ, our son would follow up with "Is AJ an engineer?  What does he look like?  Is he tall? How long did it take him to build this instrument?"

AJ -- A great, compassionate, sensitive human being and dearest of friends.

Sad. I bought a debut gold standard from him in 1990 on advice of Arthur Salvatore that I used and enjoyed for 23 years. It now resides happily with another basis lover in Taiwan. It was the most revealing and enjoyable part of my system.  When I spoke to him on phone his passion was obvious.  He will be missed

Omg, how terrible

For those of you who have not seen his vector tonearm setup dvd you have missed a treat.   It is a testament to his passion for music and his craft and his unique way he wanted to share it with others.  He does a very patient step by step setup process enabling most anyone to set up a tonearm and cartridge optimally.