R.I.P: Rest In Peace Roy Johnson, Green Mountain Audio's Genius


All,

It is with heavy heart that I bring to you the heart breaking news of the passing of one of audio's true geniuses. Roy Johnson passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. He was a truly brilliant speaker designer, and true friend, and an amazing person. For those of us lucky to have known him as customers or friends we know he was infinitely committed to lending a hand, imparting his wisdom, solving problems and creating some of the most amazing loud speakers ever heard.  There were often gremlins in my system not centered around his loudspeakers and Roy would literally drop everything and help me trace down problems, while all the time educating and teaching me, not for gain, not for money, but because that's who Roy Johnson was. 

He will be greatly missed for his humor, his dedication, and his selflessness in audio and in life.

Rest in Peace Dear Friend,

You Are Loved
128x128birdfan
Very sorry and saddened to hear the news - thanks birdfan for letting us know
I knew he had been ailing for some time but did not realize it had gotten worse, though I haven’t spoken with him in sometime. I believe his birthday would have been on July 27
I was fortunate to have had many long, informative and fun long distance conversations with him over years even before I bought a pair of Callistos (which I still use). He was particularly good at phone based customer service being able to guide you long distance - often wondered how he made the time. I recall he had even set up a demo for me with one of his customers in suburban London since he didn’t have a dealer in the area at that time. I obviously didn’t know this person but Roy was the common factor and that was sufficient for this person to throw open his house and his system for me to evaluate the Callistos before I decided to buy a pair! Since then, I have returned the favor by allowing my speakers to be used as demo for other aspirants in my neck of the woods - I believe it was just something we did for Roy - power of the Green Mountain family.
I know he had some interesting designs in the pipeline but not sure if those made it to commercial production - maybe his failing health didn’t allow him to complete those.
RIP Roy - You will be missed
I feel awful about this mostly unexpected news.  I spoke with Roy multiple times with the last time likely a week or two prior to his passing.  I know that myself and several other individuals had prepaid for some upcoming designs that were to include the ribbon tweeter.  It is strange to think that one of Roy's last activities may have been final tweaking of his design on my speakers.  They were scheduled to ship July 24.   My limited interactions with Roy left an indelible impression.  Truly a vibrant genius with a passion to help others understand his designs.  Roy's enthusiasm for his new Eos RX design was so contagious.  Not sure what to do now.  Hopefully someone associated with GMA will be sorting out what to do with completed or in process work.  I was so looking forward to hearing them.  Rest in Peace Roy.  
I'm terribly sorry to read this news. it was only last weekend I was talking about Green Mtn Audio & Roy with a family member & was informed that it was his birthday that day. We almost picked up the phone to call him to wish him but decided not at the last minute realizing the time difference across the globe meant it was deep into the night in Colorado Springs.
Little did we know that he was no more....... :-(

I've personally known Roy since 2003 when I bought my C1.5i both sight unseen & unheard. I never regretted it - loved the speaker! I was looking for a special speaker that would render the music as naturally as possible - little did i know that I was looking for a time-coherent speaker as that word didn't exist in my audio vocabulary. That's how I e-ran into Roy via (what I think is the single best audio thread on Audiogon) the forum topic " Time coherence - how important and what speakers?". Roy's contribution in that thread was superb - as many have posted above before me, he sought to educate us forum members unlike many other manufacturers. I was fortunate to meet Roy personally several times both at RMAF and at his 2 different manufacturing workshops. We spent a lot of time together listening, him educating me & touring his manufactory. I agree - for those interested in his work he had all the time in the world. It's also thanks to him that I know about Garden of the Gods which I've visited atleast 3 times now - spectacular place indeed! 
I'm sorry to see one of the best in this business pass. May his soul rest in peace.
Like others I hope he made succession plans to carry on his work - it would be a shame to see all this work flounder & stop. We still need time-coherent speakers....
All,

If you are in the Colorado area and would be interested in an "Audiophile" memorial in Colorado Springs in the coming weeks (or months). My thoughts are to choose a home here which could accommodate a  number of audio nuts and eat and drink while listening to Roy's deigns. I personally have three sets of speakers to add to this experience: Continuum .5's, Continuum 1.0's, and the amazing Chroma HD's please feel free to reach out to me via PM if interested. 

Best 

Benj
One more thing.. If you go to YouTube and type in "Green Mountain Audio" there's a playlist created by Roy with some great tunes and eccentric curiosities..