Sad to hear this. Great guy, answered the phone when you called AVA. He made good sound affordable to the masses. RIP Frank!
Frank is gone. AVA lives on!
A very sad day:
We are saddened to announce that after a short illness, our founder, Frank Van Alstine, died on Wednesday, January 29th. Frank had been an innovator in the audio industry for over 57 years. Always bringing a “no nonsense approach” to the products he offered, satisfying his passion for creating high quality products with high value was always his primary goal. His greatest joy in business was from the happy letters and feedback he received from his customers.
At the time of his death, Frank had been transitioning toward full retirement. His staff has been skillfully managing the business for the last few years. Daily operations, manufacturing, engineering and product development, and service on AVA products continue without pause.
Many of Frank’s staff have worked with him for decades. We started as his customers and were drawn to his passion for audio. We were audiophiles, and we became his friends. He will be greatly missed!
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thanks for letting us know, he will be missed I am sure. found this interview from 2012 other links to share? |
Bought my first decent set of speakers from Frank sometime in the early 80's. Went back several times over the years to buy various AVA amps and pre-amps. Always performed way above their price point. Still have a beloved 'fully differential' amp in my living room (might be the only one of its kind, it was some kind of prototype). Glad to hear that AVA will continue. Sad to think that Frank is no longer there to dispense his unique brand of audio wisdom. Those of us who lived in the Twin Cities were lucky to have him with us as long as we did. |
Sad news to hear of Frank's passing. My condolences to his family and friends. Among the Dynaco amps and their derivatives I currently own is an Audio by Van Alstine Ultravalve. It gets a fair amount of use. I called Frank, and he was quite eager to speak about it. His pride in that product clearly came across. He lamented no longer producing them as the transformer manufacturer which supplied a lot of the North American tube amplifier builders had folded. It feels like it's time to put the AVA back in one of my systems |
Frank was a no-nonsense, "traditional" engineer who didn't go for questionable hi-fi tweeks. Though Bill Johnson was considered "the" tube amp designer of the 1970's (and beyond), Frank studied the ARC SP-3 pre-amp and came up with fixes for the weaknesses in it's design (including it's inaccurate RIAA phono compensation curve). His redesign of the Dynaco PAS pre-amp put more expensive pre-amps to shame (I owned both an SP-3 and a PAS3).
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in the late 80s, we were two or three months into an extended stay in Rochester, MN as the docs from Mayo clinic desperately tried and ultimately failed to keep our six-year-old son alive. Needing a break one day, I drove down to Burnsville to what I assumed would be a shop of some sort. After driving by Frank’s home a few times I finally called and was invited into his basement whre AVA lived. I spent the afternoon in the comfort of Frank’s generosity while bathed in glorious music from his modest system. Yes, I bought stuff from him. |
@wideload Did you also snuggle with his cat? Frank always had a cat hanging around the house. Two of us from work were in Minny one week and we stopped in to visit Frank and company. He was of course playing Salk speakers in the shop. I wish I could find the photo of Frank sitting at the counter in our house in Michigan eating a piece of pie and he requested a glass of milk to wash it down while he chatted with my wife. We were having a large home theater group GTG that day and he was travelling along with Jim Salk who lived about an hour away. Frank was a great guy and incredibly knowledgeable as folks above pointed out. He really knew his shiite but he was also very opinionated about circuits he may have poo-poo'd along the way. It was always great to hear him zero in on what worked and what hadn't in his journey. Colorful insights from the professor. RIP Frank!!
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Very sad news indeed. I consider him a big player in American audio history. Solid products without the boutique costs. I still have an assortment of Alstine/Dynaco preamps stashed away..I still use my AVA ST70 Ultra pretty regularly. Frank was a great guy. Always helpful with any problems or questions I had. Mary has stepped up & answered any emails I've sent over the year or two. She has carried on with how great AVA/Frank has been with replying, dealing, & helping the public. One thing I feel I can confidently say is that Frank & team designed well made products. Stable, low noise gear that will work for decades. I feel like he tried to consider the budget of the average worker that wanted quality sound. Frank did great things for the audio community. |