Just a FWIW- Harvey didn't do any designs. Its George Kaye that was largely responsible for the NYAL designs- or Julius Futterman.
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
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
FYI - a UK perspective which embraces the finest of the USA specialists Designers |
