Israel Blume
Dan Wright
Phil Jones (loudspeaker designer v.g. Soliloquy)
To name a few to start with...
Dan Wright
Phil Jones (loudspeaker designer v.g. Soliloquy)
To name a few to start with...
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?
319 responses Add your response
Paul Grzybek of Tube Audio Design, of the famed TAD-1000, TAD-60, and TAD-150 among other great products including his signature Fisher restorations, has died. The world lost a great, talented, and kind person and the audio designing world is one less today for he left us on March 20, 2012. He was 48. He is dearly missed. His obituary: PAUL A. GRZYBEK Paul A. Grzybek, 48, of Wheaton, passed away March 20, 2012, loving husband of Kathy, nee Huttenhoff; beloved son of Joseph and the late Anne Grzybek; dear brother of Maria Grzybek; fond uncle of many nieces and nephews. Visitation Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Rd. (one blk E. of Naperville Rd.), Wheaton. Funeral Mass Monday, 10 a.m. at St. Daniel the Prophet, 101 W. Loop Dr., Wheaton. Please meet at church. Interment Assumption Cemetery Wheaton. In lieu of flowers, donations appreciated to the charity of your choice in Paul's name. Info at www.williams-kampp.com or 630-668-0016. Published in Chicago Tribune on March 23, 2012 |
Additional info on Edgar Villchur mentioned in this thread who invented the worlds first moving piston acoustic suspension speaker in 1952 which allowed lower bass frequencies down to 35hz. His patents were issued up through 1957 but in 1958, his patents were challenged by an electronics company in Federal Court since one of the parts in the acoustic suspension speaker belonged to this company and was not designed or manufactured by Acoustic Research. Vilchur's patents were denied. He got burned. He got so depressed that he left the speaker business and made a fortune designing and manufacturing hearing aids. His three remaining partner's in Acoustic Research, Kloss, Lowe, and Hoffman, took the first initial of their last names and founded K.L.H. |
John Atkinson..give me a break. He became the very creature that J. Gordon Holt detested. Around 1961 J. Gordon worked for High Fidelity magazine and was instructed to favor and write false reviews praising audio products from companies that had the largest annual advertising contracts in the magazine. Out of protest, he quit High Fidelity and founded Stereophile in 1962. During the 1990's, Vandersteen Speakers had the largest annual advertising contract in Stereophile with full size ads taking up the entire back cover every month. Yet during that time period Vandersteen speakers were absolute junk with cheap $ 26.00 tweeters cheap midrange and woofer drivers, cheap internal wire and cheap crossover networks. The speakers had loose bass, muddy midrange and would stress when pushed too hard. Vandersteens are better today but back in the 90's they were junk speakers geared towards budding audiophiles. John Atkinson wrote great reviews on their models and always listed them in recommended components. He portrayed a false image of Vandersteen to the public to maintain his large annual ad contract with Richard Vandersteen. Give Atkinson a big check and a large annual ad contract and more than likely your tin can with copper wire will make it to the "A" recommended components list in Stereophile as one of the best speakers of the year. |
I have to give another shout out Bob Carver. He is not known for just one particular design. He has designed innovative SS and tube electronics and speakers. As with many innovative designers, he stirred up a lot of controversy in high end...for the good IMO. The marketing of his products is somewhat questionable (eg, Amazing Loudspeaker and Sonic Holography), but who in audio hasn't been guilty of gimmicky names. Most of his designs were for the masses and thus affordable and not given much credit by audiophiles unfortunately. I would have given a limb to listen to his monster Silver Seven Tube amplifier. |
I realize Saul Marantz and Jon Dahlquist have already been mentioned, but I'd like to share a little anecdote regarding them. When I was a salesman @ Midwest Hi-Fi in Mad City (MSN, WI) on State St. they came to visit. We were not a 'full-fledged" high-end store, but a college store that in our day our only Best Buy/internet threat was the students, a large portion of our base, would go to the mail-order catalogues of the time and order there after wasting hours of our time demonstrating audio for them. We called them Knobs, cuz all they wanted to do was play with the knobs on the equip and then buy off the catalogues. I was very young then, under 25, when they came to see us. Saul was playing Front Man for Superscope, a division of Sony that he had sold his interest in Marantz to, that line we carried (mostly crap). I think we were hoping to get the Dahlquist line of speakers, not so much for our market, but because I really lusted over owning a pair and I sure wanted the employee discount that most manufacturers offered to sales staff - 50% off! Well, we never got Dahlquist, of course Saul had no influence over quality control, but that's not what this is about. I was lucky enough to go to dinner with the pair, my boss was "too good" to come along, as I recall - leaving that kind of "dirty work" to us. What a fool! I think the real reason he didn't come is he owed Superscope too much money and didn't want to show his face. But a couple other salesman accompanied us. That evening was, of course, going to very memorable on those facts alone, but what really struck me about the pair was twofold. They got along so very well, obviously Saul had relished working on the DQ-10's and Jon was very appreciative. But what really got me was how incredibly humble the pair were. No pretention at all! In my mind at the time, Saul was the most noticeable guy in Hi-Fi at the time for although the argument could be made that McIntosh had always held an edge over his equip (not all!) his name was on that paragon of audio quality from our American past and I had expected a guy a bit too big for his britches, not at all. They both looked like refugees from the eastern front during WWII, not dressed up at all! What a delight, what gentleman and oh so patient to listen to our stupid questions and answered them as true gentlemen. The year was 1975, and American protectionism was in full swing, more so even than today. We all bought Jap products because, generally speaking, they made the lion's share of the best contemporary affordable equip on the market and a great deal of it was the best in category. Yet we all longed for owning American equip that we could honestly state was the best of its class. Not so Superscope, but for me and thousands of others across the country, there was no doubt that American speakers were the best and Dahlquist DQ-10's at 400 a side, could not be competed with! Well, I never got my discount and although at two bucks an hour, it nearly killed me to lay out $800. I still have a relish my DQ-10's. I'll say that Regnar, the present owner of rights to the Dahlquist line of speakers, but not the name, have some great up-grades for them. I wish I could recommend their quality in detail, but I can't (they arrived home w/ parts of the X-over not secured, the fuses don't seat snuggly in the fuse holders, so I keep losing L, R or both speakers (gotta fix that one), they did a poor job prepping and re-staining the rails on the edges of my speakers, but all in all - must say if you have a year and a half to be w/o your speakers (YEAH, IT TOOK THAT LONG!) the upgrade is well worth it for only $2,800 (ONLY?). Now theyÂ’re $3,600 speakers, but some of that work was due to age and much would have come in the original 800 if it were available back then. So, let's hear it for Saul and Jon! Thanks for your indulgence. Saul had to have been about 110 then, so I'm sure he's passed, RIP. I don't know what Jon may be up to now, anyone? |
Giovanni Mariani, of Graaf fame, should definitely be on this list. Anyone with the balls to design a 32 driver tube OTL amp like the GM200 has got to have a place on the Designer Hall of Fame! Nothing quite like it from an audio performance, sheer lust factor, and complete audio insanity point of view! |
Leopold Stowkowski..In 1934, Stokowski was conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, he was pissed off at the poor playback quality of 78 rpm records of the Orchestra recorded by CBS/Columbia Records. He went to Columbia records in New York in 1934 and demanded better quality recordings. His complaining and protesting resulted in Columbia Records inventing that year two channel stereo which did not become fully utillized until the late 1950's by RCA even though Columbia invented and produced the first 33-1/3 rpm vinyl record in 1948. |
I will definitely add Paul Weitzel of TRL (Tube Research Labs)...his designs, build execution and personal attention to his lucky customers is the epitomy of high end audio at its finest. His products will invariably outlast the lifetime of first owners, and then some. Truly "Final purchase" caliber, and simply amazing. I'll also add Leo Speigel and Jason Bloom of Apogee Acoustics fame...products so far ahead of the curve they are still competing with and exceeding today's highest contenders. |
I have a list... Lincoln Walsh, Peter Snell, Jon Dahlquist, Irving Fried, Paul W. Klipsch, Roy Allison, Edgar Villchur, Kevin Voecks, Scott Bagby, Paul Barton, Brian Cheyney, Andy Payor, Tom Colangelo and Paul Jayson, John Curl, Frank McIntosh, Saul Marantz, Sidney Harman, Tim DeParavicini, Steve McCormack, Nelson Pass, David Hafler, The artist responsible for Luxman's C-1000f, and B-1000f amplifiers. |
FYI - a UK perspective which embraces the finest of the USA specialists Designers |
Bruce Moore and Scott Frankland MFA Roy Gandy Jim Winey I have limited personal experience with most of the great names in audio because I rarely change components. I've loved my MFA Luminescence preamp for well over 20 years. The Lumi has been upgraded twice by Scott. I also have a pair of MFA M120B mono amps- upgraded once by Scott. All pieces are keepers. Roy Gandy-Rega P5- A heck of a lot of turntable for not a lot of money, although I wish I had not sold my Linn and VPI. :) Jim Winey- My first high-end speakers were MG1's and I recently restored a pair of MMG's and am, at long last, happily back in the Magnepan fold. |
Surprised, that only 2 mentions, of Stewart Hegeman appeared. He truly pioneered many things, such as wide bandwidth in amplifiers, minimal negative feedback in amplifiers, and, many speaker designs, just to name a few. He was brilliant, with both tube, and solid state, designs. Many, many years ago, I met him at an audio fair, in New Jersey. He was very soft spoken, and, seemed to shy away from all of the marketing hype that was going on. |
I agree with the recommendation of Nelson Pass and Kevin Hayes, though objectively my other 3 Hall of Famers would be Arnie Nudell, Richard Vandersteen & Dan D'Agostino, though so many others deserve to be recognized such as Franco Serblin, Andy Payor (whose Sirius turntable is still considered amongst the best ever made), Alon Wolf, Hans Ole Vitus, Flemming E. Rasmussen & Holger Fromme. |
It's inspiring for me that there are so many luminaries who've made such significant contributions to audio. Had I the motivation, time, and money, I would have availed myself of far more than I have. Still, it's great fun to read all these names and then research to find out more. Even though my hearing ain't what it used to be, one of life's supreme pleasures for me is reproduced music in my home. One unsung hero is the person who designed/manufactured the Goldbug Briar. I do not know his/her name. I had one many years ago and it was fabulous on my VPI TT. Sadly, the cartridge met an untimely death at the hands of someone in our home who was inept at handling the Alphason tone arm on the VPI. I could not afford to replace the Briar. |
As a dealer who found one of the best amps and preamps at any price I would say Dave Belles. I instigated the creation of the first 350=A mono blocks, in A/B comparison listening at my place and customer's homes I had guys trade me for several of the big gun mono block amps, which I would use for a few months for comparison demo work. I took Pass labs XL600's, Krell, Levinsons, Marantz in trade. Because the amps and preamps were so good I used cables costing more than the equipment. If you would use a $3500 power cord on $20k amps why wouldn't you use a cord like that on an amp that actually outperforms them even though they are only $4000 each? The comparison I did was showing the more expensive amps with the good power cord, then the Belles with the same quality power cord, no contest. People put too much credence into what something costs. |
