There are many great designers out there, and especially in the lore from the golden age, but I'm not to familiar with them. I thought it might be interesting to discuss some of the great designers for engineering skill and knowledge, business integrity, and ultimatley quality of their products. My short list a "hall of fame" if you will of designers working today are:
Nelson Pass, Pass Labs Charles Hansen, Ayre Roger Modjeski, Music Reference Ken Stevens, Convergent Audio Technolgy (CAT) Kevin Hayes, VAC
and how could I leave Jeff Rowland off? Well it is a short list. Who would you nominate?
My guess is that anyone familiar with the ZH270 and Siegfried amplifiers might have included David Berning among the esteemed list above. Real design innovation rather than among the best of the "me too's".
Your mentioning a Jerry reminded my of Jerry Ozment the digital design guru (DACs) behind Altis, Audio Logic, Jadis, VAC and consultant to others. Not well known to many, but those that do, know he is the real deal as a digital designer.
In the realm of solid state, definately Steve McCormack for designing gear that is very musical, involving, & affordable which is further enhanced by revisions!
John Curl. The Parasound JC-2, JC-1's, CTC Blowtorch Pre, and Vendetta Phonostage define his accomplishments. All World Class to World Beating products.
John Curl. The Parasound JC-2, JC-1's, CTC Blowtorch Pre, and Vendetta Phonostage define his accomplishments. All World Class to World Beating products.
Yup, have all of them, and I hear they are making progress on the new VR3 phono stage.
Peter Noerbeck (PBN Audio amps and preamps-Montana speakers), as well as Ron Hedrich at Marigo Audio (all types of cabling and vibration control devices).
What about Roy Kimber of Kimber Kable,Bill Low of Audioquest cables,Bjorn Erik Edvarsen of NAD electronics,Henry Kloss of KLH and Cambridge Soundworks(just to name a few),Matthew Polk of Polk Audio,Roy Allison of Allison Acoustics,Paul Klipsch of Klipsch,Amar Bose of Bose,Didn't a fellow named Marconni invent FM radio,Dr. Hsu of Hsu Research(subs),Joe D'Appolito(speaker design),John Curl(Parasound),Nelson Pass(amps),and the grand daddy's Thomas Edison,Ben Franklin.Wow, what a list and I still have not scratched the surface!
i'm surprised nobody mentioned stan klyne. perhaps i missed his name. while i'm at it, what about jim winey of magneplanar/magnepan fame and jason bloom of apogee fame and gayle sanders of martin logan ?
just thought of a few more: bruce moore of moore and franklin, bruce thigpen, designer of eminent technology and harold beveridge.
there are so many competent designers, a book is needed to present a biography of each of these creative designers.
Man Oh' Man where is Bruce Thigpen in all of this...his work on Tone Arms and Speakers deserves mention and credit! I also have not seen Joe Grado...RIP.
Richard Vandersteen is the man I most respect in this business with his succesful product and Sane prices.
Roger Sanders for Electrostat and Amplifier technology.
Loyd Walker....enough said.
Dr HSU for his subs.
And Product marketer Hall Of Fame....you guessed it Dr Bose..Boo Hiss!
Moongfongos Garson Piel is an unsung genius. In point of fact, hes arguably the greatest audio designer who ever lived. Ive never spoken to the man personally, but I understand he doesnt like to have direct contact with his customers because theyre either too stupid or too uneducated to understand his design concepts. I say Amen to that, brother! Also, and I dont know whether this is true or not, it is reported that he is the only audio designer ever to have killed one of his customers. Scary... but cool!
Chadnliz: Just spoke to a very close friend of Joe Grado a few minutes ago (10:30 PM, 3-31-08) and he advised me that Joe Grado was very much alive and well and getting ready soon to have his 85th birthday. Just thought you and the rest of the audiophile world would like to know. Warmest regards.
Dr. Floyd Toole at the National Research Council his contributions in the use of measurements in the design of equipment; making the work of many other designers better (3M).
Now that I have heard the Atma-sphere OTLs, I have to put Ralph Karsten's up in the top ranks. Not an amp for everyone, but if you can use and OTL with your speakers, pretty darn impressive. The Hall of Fame for taking a basicly wonderful sounding approach to amplifiers and engineering them so that they are extremely reliabable.
David Reich- of Classe Audio DR series amps/preamps. DR developed the unique Classe circuitry that uses J-Fet/Mosfet and Bipolar transitors. Many audio engineers have since copied this "recipe"
Not doubt there are others that also belong in the Hall of Fame but these designers would pretty much have to be charter members; if this were the NFL, they would be first ballot inductees in their first year of elibility.
William Z. Johnson, Henry Kloss, Saul Marantz, and Jon Dahlquist all made some excellent products and strong contributions to the audio industry with their designs and business initiatives.
When you consider the best sounding of all their products, their ability to build a long standing made in America business, and who has stood the test of the time - all the way to the present (he's still designing new products) - you have to give the gold medal to Bill Johnson for roughly 40 years of persevering greatness at ARC. For sonic greatness, tubes rule and ARC has ruled the tube business better than anyone for excellent products, service, and support.
And what about the two designers of arguably the best transistor amps of our time,or the best ever... Hervé Delétraz (Dartzeel) and Friedrich Schäfer (ASR Audio Systeme)?...too young?
1. A.J. Conti and Associates -- Basis Audio, Inc.: Ovation, 2500/2800 Series, and Debut tt's;
2. Henry O. Wolcott for implementing distortionless amplifier designs used in mission critical laboratory applications for Uncle Sam and converting these designs to a more user-friendly consumer version of his Presence Monoblocks;
3. Dr. Rogers of Sound Lab and Dr. Sanders of Sanders Sound Systems(subsequent to his leadership at Innersound) for their electrostatic innovations;
4. Michael Elliott of Aria Audio (Founder of Counterpoint Systems) for his hybrid preamp./amp circuitry;
5. Nelson Pass for his eternal engineering feats while working for Threshold, Inc.
William Firebaugh (Ford Aerospace, Inc.) and Andy Payor (Rockport Technologies) for their innovative carbon fiber tonearm with viscuous damping design -- integrated on the Well Tempered Super Classic and Reference tt's.
"... this pivoting arm has no pivots. For all intents and purposes, the 'pivoting' is absolutely frictionless. ... viscous damping is still the best system that has been devised for stabilizing tonearm behavior." (Holt & Various, Pars. III and IV.)
. . .
"The result is frictionless anti-skate bias." (Par. V.)
See, J. Gordon Holt & Various, "The Well-Tempered Arm." Stereophile April 1985 P. 1. Source Interlink Companies, Inc., 261 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016. Friday, May 30, 2008 6:21:10 AM. .
Naim's Julian Vereker. Julian was one of the first, if not the first to incorporate the use of an external power supply into his amplifiers, which offered dramatic improvements in overall sound quality.
His designs were also extremely appealing in a simply elegant way. For example, the fact that his amplifers were encased in aluminium extrusions, which along with their class B running design, negated the need for ventilation slits within these amplifiers. The result was that after 20 years of owning a Naim component, you would find no dust inside them as you would with any product that required the need for such open ventilation.
Case in point, I recently purchased an Electrocompaniet Ampliwire 65, which upon opening on arrival,was loaded with dust that had fallen into the unit over the course of the past two decades. The AW 65 is a beautifully made product, but not nearly as clever as Naim gear.
Vereker's designing talents are world renown for a good reason, and he certainly deserves to be included amongst that short list of greatest audio designers of all time.
Lot's of good designer's; it makes you realize how many talented folks have been involved with the industry, and how hard it would be to pick just five inductees in an inaugural launching of the Designer Hall of Fame. Makes me eager to get to RMAF this year and see some of the designers already mentioned.
Sidney Smith (you can't list Saul without mentioning Sid!) James Bongiorno (SAE, GAS, Sumo, etc.) Bob Carver Kevin Volks (Snell, Revel) John Wright (IMF, TDL)
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
