Looking back over this thread, one is struck by how much this hobby is really dominated by the talent and labor of talented individuals, to some extent more important than companies. Why it is such a good idea to meet so many of them at places like RMAF.
Designer Hall of Fame
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?
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?
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Major Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio. Alan Dower Blumlein, who devised a practical way to record and play back stereo in the late 1930's while working for EMI. Blumlein came up with the idea of the 45/45 method of cutting stereo records and his Sum/Differnce matrix is what makes FM stereo work. Georg Neumann for inventing the first practical condenser microphone. Fletcher, Munson and Snow at Bell Labs and Harry Olsen at RCA for their improvements and innovations in in film sound, where early Hi-Fi has its roots. Frank McIntosh for his Unity Coupled Transformer circuits. |
Major Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio.Also the inventor of the superheterodyne method of radio reception (used in nearly all modern tuners, radios, and tv's). And in the early days of radio, the inventor of regeneration and super-regeneration. Truly one of the more remarkable figures in the history of technology. Best regards, -- Al |
Based on what I am hearing from a Magtech amp I just purchased from Roger Sanders (owner of Sanders Sound System), I would think that he probably belongs in the Designer Hall of Fame. An incredible sounding amp with power to drive any speaker. I have a pair of Duntech Speakers that I bought 23 years ago and when I hooked up the Magtech amp I almost fainted. The sound was unbelievable. I've never heard an amp before that just takes complete control of the music. The realism of this amp is scary. It is truly the best sounding amp I have ever heard and I have had quite a few top rank amps in my 52 years as an audiophile. HAPPY DAYS are finally here. |
How about Horace Short? His amplifier was ground-breaking in 1899. Powered by compressed air, it didn't even need electricity:) Auxetophone |
I'd nominate any of the builders of Chinese built products that perform way above their market value, i.e., Prima Luna, or the Grant Fidelity 3400B SET integ...toss in a pair of Shuguang Treasure black 300B's into the GF and it will compete with virtually anything mentioned thus far. Before trashing the suggestion try it against your mega dollar setup and you'll hear what I mean. I don't use the integ often, but it's the one component in a system that has a revolving door for components that I've never considered parting with for its performance/price is far too good to part with. Which is a lot more than I can say for many a high priced ticket item I've owned from many manufacturer's on the initial list of this thread. |
Coltrane - I believe the OP was referring to great designers of audio equipment, not great designers of a shop floor and workforce to keep costs down. My understanding of just about all the stuff coming out of China is that it was copied from existing designs. Unless I'm mistaken on that point, the 'designers' of the products you mentioned do not get my vote. |
Sebrof - Any designer that can produce a product that produces 'the goods' as the two products I've mentioned definitely gets my vote - for the bottom line is what does it sound like? The two products I've cited deserve mentioning if for nothing other than it's no easy trick to accomplish. I understand how difficult it is for some to get beyond buying labels. I listen to results, not labels. Do I own more expensive gear, yes to be certain. Do I need to spend X amount of dollars to achieve enjoyable sound? These are but two products I've owned that prove I don't...if that's not a design achievement worth recognition what is! Of course an open minded person would rather experience the product first hand before passing judgement and categorizing it based upon some obvious bias. It may only be my experience but one can deny themselves so much of what life has to offer by possessing a closed mind. |
Coltrane - I guess I missed the posts where people showed close mindedness regarding Chinese products, so I'm not sure what you're referring to. My point was simply that I thought the point of the thread was designers of audio equipment hall of fame. To take an existing design and make it cheaper because you pay cheaper labor just doesn't impress me from a "Designer Hall of Fame" perspective, that's all. I built a 2A3 amp based on Western Electric's WE91A design from the 1930's for a fraction of what it would cost retail, and it sounds superb. Probably for less money than the GF and I bet it sounds every bit as good. But I don't get my vote for the Hall either. |
My sense of great design has little to do with manufacturing efficiency, which is a laudable trait, but not the sort of thing I meant by design, but rather original thinking related to circuit design - the sort of thinking that goes into Nelson Pass' First Watt amp experiments - the genius of originality and a new way of thinking that leads to better music recording and reproduction. Yet, there is something to be said for those that can build a product with high QC and consistency that saounds good and is affordable - but if the bulk of that low cost is accomplished predominantly with low wages, that seems like a rather blunt way of building something good that sell for "little". I prefer a clever design that uses just the part it needs and no more, that sounds very good and is not very expensive, something like the $760 Mapletree Audio linestage handmade in Canada. |
Mr. Israel Blume of Coincident Technogy. This man designs are the best that the high end offers and at performance and prices that undercut similar products. His high efficiency speakers are all excellent at their various preice points. Then he comes out with amplifiers, such as the Frankenstein and the Dragons which blows the doors off of similarly priced competitors. And then he adds to that with the best Linestage at $5,000, which can embarrass many of those with prices of over $10,000. And his new phono stage is unbeatable at its price point. Mr. Blume is clearly a man of all seasons in high end audio. Greg |
There seem to be many, many folks that we admire and have made contributions to the art/science of audio. But since the Hall does not exist (yet), try to think of it as having to select 5 for the inaugural inductees - truly the best of the best. Who belongs into the top 5 of conetmprary folks, and the top 5 of those who have unfortunately passed on per were critical when the audio business started (A Veterans Commitee vote if you will). So if you pick someone, would you really place them in the top 5? There are obviously many that would be included for future consideration. They really should do this in the real world at RMAF, that would be a very fun gathering, and a nice way to honor those that have contributed to the hobby. |
That's very true, you don't see that kind of protean talent very often, perhaps Nelson Pass comes closest to that across the board talent. Not only across product categories, but the incredible number of circuit approaches - the man is unbelievably creative. I would love to hear a Class A, 30-60 watt tube amp designed by Nelson Pass - would be interesting to see what he could do if he chose to immerse himself in tube design. |
oskar heil, inventor of the ESS transducer, lincoln walsh the designer of the original OHM A and F sound cylinder or later known as CLS or coherent line source, bruce thigpen, inventor of eminent technology of the push/pull electrostatic design without the use of a transformer and his unique tonearm and subwoofer design that uses primarily air with no cone drivers. Last but most noteable, the genius BOB CARVER of then phase linear, carver corporation and sunfire. Inventor of solid state amps sounding like tubes, sonic holography, various ribbon loudspeakers and high powered subs with the downtracking amps and developer of tube amps the power of high powered solid state, and famous for the stereophile challenge of developing the T series in the 80's over night od matching or exceeding the top of the line highly regarded CONRAD JOHNSON. |
I've come to find many of these "legends" really aren't that inventive or particularly blessed with good hearing. Nelson Pass thinks the Lowther DX and other fullrangers sound good. He felt the one was "a tad grainy on the very top". The drivers are complete ringing aluminum above 6kHz and sound like crinkling metal, apparently he cannot hear the highs, and instead is content with not deliberating any form of correction for the 6dB rise in HF response. Mids are good but high hats sound like pink noise instead of the instruments they are supposed to be. His amps have been dissected repeatedly and only recently have people finally had the courage to admit it- they aren't particularly good. The "guru" status is awarded to whoever gets the reviews and who's products have the looks. There are fantastic designers out there who are completely unrecognized for their efforts in many a fine piece of audio gear. Throwing titles at company CEOs like these is like Pharaoh Ramsey getting the credit for building cities in Egypt when it was the slaves who did the work. Not one of these famous gurus has actually designed an accurate speaker or audio device. Yet we are so quick to quote them like Gods, live by their words and buy as much of their product as we can. The original goal of audio is almost lost- To produce a replication of the original event. To do this, we need a speaker and gear accurate to the signal, at least within the boundaries of human perception and threshold. Because non has been made, the recording cannot ever be produced properly. We're hearing the speaker and electronics in the way. Audiophiles are in great shape- their constantly jumping to the wrong conclusions. But lets face it, that's what audiophilia has become with all of the flash and glamour victim products hitting the boutique shop floors. It's a sad day in audio when we hail the designers of tools and forget those who actually made the music. That's what it used to be about, the music and composition, not the gear or pseudo legends in design. |
In NO particular order... Jon Dahlquist, Saul Marantz, Jim Winey, Matti Otala-Per Abrahamsen, Tom Colangelo, James Bongiorno, Nelson Pass, Boothroyd & Stewart, Ray Dolby, Rob Watts, Stewart Hegeman, Peter Walker, John Curl, G.A. Briggs, Harold Beveridge, Amar Bose, David Reich, Decca London (yes I know...), Julius Futterman, Ed Meitner, Stefan Kudelsky, Stan Curtis and the one without whom nothing would never have been at all possible: Nikola Tesla. My two cents... |
Apologies if I missed it and this is a repeat but my top of the list would be Prof, Keith Johnson and Rick Freyer of Spectral Audio, Reference Recordings and Pacific Microsonics and possibly Michael Ritter of Berekeley Audio Designs belongs in that same group. There work makes up much of my system and brings me great great joy, many thanks gentleman. |
