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

RIP Roy! 🙏🏻
I remember waiting almost 2 years for my C-3’s when he was just getting going. We had lots of long talks, and he kept telling me to hang on they will be done soon!
Was very happy I waited. I think I got the first or second pair. Then owned several Europa’s after that and ever time my wife I heard the speakers, we always said he was a genius!!!

just found out, loved the guy, he would spend time dumbing down speaker design to a level i could understand.  flew out to Colorado Springs and got to hang out with him one afternoon.  loved my Diamanté's.  i remember that he smoked too much, but a great guy and a true loss.  his speakers did not get the kind of notoriety they deserved unfortunately

Birdfan or others 
I would appreciate being able to contact someone from his family or estate etc 
It is business related 
perhaps you can let me know how this can be done?
Call me at my office at 250-351-4020
Thank you 
Perry 

I know it may be late but I have just tried to call him as we were working on a speaker project together, but alas no number was working so I looked up his name and alas I found out he’d passed on. 
I’m not even sure how or what to say except that to me he was easily one of most honest sincere people I’ve met in our industry and really anywhere. 
He and I would talk allot about many things not just his speakers lol. 
All were captivating and full of flair. It’s really difficult when people you care about go, it really is. 
Rest In Peace my friend

Perry 

does anybody have the circuit for the newer versions of Rio? or even the original?

I have some pictures that Roy sent me of the crossover circuit. Unfortunately, you cannot see all of the values of the caps and the resistor in the circuit. The other thing, form my discussions with him, was that the RAAL ribbon was being ordered specifically for these speakers. He was going to have the transformer wound to provide a specific impedance he wanted for the crossover design. I have no idea what that value is. I was told by him that he had tweeters on hand, but have no idea if that was true or not. Maybe RAAL can give you an idea of what was ordered for them. If they were never ordered or they won't tell you what the value was, I would think that it would be very difficult to incorporate into the speaker. Good luck

I am reopening this discussion for a specific purpose. I too have long been a fan of Roy's speakers and owned a number of his models. I still have EOS and had ordered (and paid for) the RX (Ribbon Tweeter) upgrade.  I am sad at Roy's passing and I get he was probably doing the best he could do to get through his last years (as all of us will do). 

Having had many emails and discussions around the design, I would like to complete the upgrade, purchase Raal (or equivalent) tweeters and build my own version of the enclosure. I have all the design photos and details. The thing that I am missing is the xover circuit, although I have a photo of the final circuit, I don't have the values for all of the circuit.

So Wondering if anyone out there has more information and is interested in completing this great project for Roy.

drew.

I met Roy once at his place of business.  He was friendly, gracious, and helpful.  I was sorry to hear of his passing, and I'm also sorry to hear that he left unfinished business and that he may not have left any plan or mechanism for finishing that business.

Here are some thoughts about how to proceed, at least preliminarily, for those folks who have claims against Roy's estate and who want to see if there's any chance to recover some or all of their losses without necessarily hiring a lawyer.

1.  Go online and determine the county in which Colorado Springs. Colorado is located.
2.  Then go online and determine whether the Probate Court of that county has records on-line.  Most courts these days have online access to court filings.  If you can't find probate records, then the rest of this post won't be any help.
3.  If you find the Probate Court, then look to see whether a probate proceeding has been opened for the Estate of Roy Johnson.  If one hasn't been, then the rest of this post won't be any help.
4.  If an estate has been opened, then look to see whether there's a deadline for creditors to file claims against the estate.  If there's a deadline that's passed, you may want to stop reading this and do something else with your time because although there may be a way to file a claim after the expiration of the deadline, that's way beyond the scope of these preliminary thoughts.
5.  If the deadline hasn't passed, file a claim against the estate with the court.  The court website should have instructions for doing this.  I'd guess that you could probably also google something like "filing claim against an estate in Colorado" and get some useful information.

Nothing that I've written should be considered legal advice.  If you want legal advice, you should consult a lawyer.

Good luck.

Hey all.... 

I do not know of any of GMAs business dealings but I am a friend of Roys.. I am truly sorry for those who have lost gear and money. All I know is that there really was no plan as far as I can tell. There is nothing left of GMA. It died with Roy. 
Sorry to all who lost both personally and financially. I do not believe there to be any recourse at this point. 

After knowing Roy for 8+ years and speaking with him on a nearly a weekly basis I feared this would become his legacy and told him so. I did own several iterations of his speakers, but stopped doing business with him after our last deal.  After that i always told him if he needed money I would rather him ask, then sell me a product I knew he wasn’t able to deliver.

i will add this experience with solo owned business really questions what I will purchase through any sole proprietor in the future.  Comes down to cost and the ability to get service repair at a later time. 

Agreed!

Grannyring, I respect your position and in fact do understand where you were coming from.  However, who really gets to determine “what is right” and “the right thing”?  It’s not like this is being done at his wake or a memorial service.  No one here knew Roy on a truly personal level.  It’s just a thread where people are sharing their thoughts and interactions they’ve had with him.
Maybe it would have seemed less “cold” and “thread-Jacky” if those who had poor interactions with Roy had posted their experiences way earlier in the thread?  I don’t know but sometimes difficult conversations need to be had.  

Have a great weekend.

Seems my point was missed.  Mr. Johnson will never respond wether true or not and sometimes the right thing to do has nothing to do with who is right. Carry on. 

There is a lot more to the story than your over simplified view. I am not going into any more detail about it. Enough said. 

 I paid for speakers more than 4 years ago. I know I will never get them.

I dont know the reasons green mountain gave for being unable to ship your speakers but why has he kept your money if he cant supply the goods you paid for? Thats inexcusable 

you are right lets just turn a blind eye to all those innocent people who have according to some reports lost a lot of money or been betrayed.

@kenjit 
I am one of those people. After lengthy conversations with Roy over the last couple of years, it became obvious that I was going to have to be lucky to get them.The whole thing was a version of go fund me. I paid for speakers more than 4 years ago. I know I will never get them. There was nothing to get from him then, and there is nothing left to get now. Period. Like @silveraudio, I have said enough about how things went down, but I am resigned to the fact I will never get money back. Time to let it go, because life is too short. 

I couldn’t agree more.  I’ve made my point as others have too.

 Roy was still one of the best speaker designers out there.  Many have debated his claims of time and phase but the debate always ended when they would actually hear one of his better designs.  There’s no denying that truth either!
I wish everyone here a good rest of the week and please don’t be offended.  After all, we have much bigger things to worry about while we spin around on OUR lava cored rock at approximately 18,000 miles per hour!   

The gushing responses of people who I am guessing really didnt "know" the man is what necessitates the unsavory posts. I maintain that when you screw people over this becomes part of your legacy. 

Also be mindful, even though this  is an internet based community, MOST, if not all who are posting here have been in this community with numerous verifiable transactions for many years.  I’ve been an Audiogon member for a long time.  I just choose not to post every idea, review, thought that I have.  I also encourage people to share their experiences even if it doesn’t always resonate positively with me.  Freedom of speech comes to mind.  Acceptance that we all don’t see things the same way but are willing to participate in a conversation that isn’t one sided.  
GRANNY, you may have thousands of posts but feel free to NOT thwart the opinions of others.  Nothing here said was disrespectful or cruel.  Just honest.  Let people vent because they certainly aren’t going to get their money back.  At least they can get it off their chests. 
I’ve been a member here longer than you but NEVER would I feel that I have the right to police a thread that I don’t agree with.  

I have already sought advice from a solicitor about making a claim as a creditor against Roy's estate, but have decided not to pursue this because of the expense to do so, and the likelihood of getting my money back even if the court ruled in my favour. For anyone wishing to pursue this, however, note that there will be a time limit to make a claim, which is usually a matter of months.

Grannyring, please allow the mods to look at my feedback if credibility is what you seek.  Have a glass of scotch and take it light.  Just because a little truth tastes like sour milk in your cereal doesn’t give you the right to keep others experiences from this thread.  If you some how get our posts removed (I’d hope the mods can allow some sanity to prevail here) then you will have accomplished nothing other than us having to start a new thread.  
Relax, Roy was a great designer.  Some people have concerns (people got swindled) though and you should mind your business.  This is the perfect place for them to seek retribution.  The proper audience is in attendance.

Apparently, csmgolf is unaware of estate law (me too but I’ve always wanted to say that)!  Anyway, maybe there is some recourse for those who got screwed.  You can contact a lawyer to go after his estate.  ITS PROBABLY NOT WORTH IT THOUGH BECAUSE THERE WASNT MUCH OF AN ESTATE AND THE SPEAKERS YOU WERE WAITING FOR WERE PROBABLY SOLD BY ROY OR WHOEVER WAS LEFT AFTER HE PASSED!

For all those who loved the man, I’m not saying Roy wasn’t a great designer.  I AM SAYING that those of us who’ve known him for a long time or tried to do business with him, know (knew) the real Roy.  On that note, I’ll leave it at that and no longer comment on his character.

Moving forward, for those that still own his speakers, enjoy them.  They really are some of the best designs you can own.  
Those fortunate enough to have the Calypsos or the Pico Medeo have some of the most musically dynamic and expressive speakers ever built.  Feed them well and treat your room properly and take comfort in knowing that even $100k speakers from Wilson don’t even come close to what you already own.  That is my opinion so it’s pretty much fact 🙄.  Just kidding but really, I’m serious.

The man has passed away and cannot defend himself against what anyone on the net cares to say.  I am uncomfortable with these latest posts and don’t think they should remain here.  Mods take a look.  Just not the right place or time. 

I agree with kenjit on this. 

you are right lets just turn a blind eye to all those innocent people who have according to some reports lost a lot of money or been betrayed. 

Legal rights against who? It was a one man show and he is gone. Just when I think you can't possibly say anything dumber, you pull one out of your hat. Congratulations!

what about legal rights in cases like this? 

I’m a long time Green Mountain Audio fan.  The best system I’ve owned over the last 30 years had Green Mountain speakers.  The clarity and coherence of his designs were second to NONE! Roy was also very giving of his time as he did love to talk.  However, he has, on more than one occasion, taken money from customers and promised them the world only to not make good on his promises.  

Roy basically lived hand to mouth and was just trying to survive doing what he knew how to do best, make great speakers.

I had once referred a customer to Roy and he promised this poor guy a custom effort on a new pair of speakers he was designing.  Needless to say the customer paid for the speakers but NEVER received them.  More promises and a little more bullshitting.  This went on for over 2 years until the gentleman finally gave up.

Roy’s ability to design was undeniable.  His business prowess was horrific.  He wasn’t a bad person but not everyone knew him the same way.  
May he Rest In Peace as any outstanding orders will more than surely be resting in peace too.

Im sorry for anyone’s financial loss but sometimes it’s best to move on.  I know it sucks but your “time has phased out!”

I too have speakers that he had been reworking for 18 months 
he said they were ready and then nothing
no contact email or phone. I’m out big bucks if I can’t contact someone to get them back. 
More spend a lot more time and money and drive out to Colorado and who knows what’s left??? Can anyone help me?

I came across Roy and GMA in 2006, long before he became ill, when looking for a new pair of loudspeakers. I ordered one of his 3-way designs, which represented a significant financial investment for me. I do not know why there was a delay, but they were not delivered until 9 months later, had manufacturing faults, and needed to be returned to the factory. This was not arranged for another 18 months, however. Then, after endless promises, I never received a replacement pair or a refund, and by the time I found that I could sue him from overseas, I was thwarted by a statute of limitations. I remained in contact with Roy, and the promises of a refund never stopped, but I ultimately lost a lot of money.

This was sad news. Although I never met him, he seemed like a great guy. My condolences to his family and friends. I need replacement woofers , payed for 2 new woofers and had been texting him back and forth for a while. He was in the process of finding a matched set for my speakers when I suddenly couldn't get in touch with him. Found out he had passed. Now I don't know what the proper thing to do is. I hope some one steps up to finish his buisiness. I see that the Green Mountain web site is down. RIP Roy Johnson.

I too will miss Roy and the contributions he made in speaker designs.  He had some good ideas that led to some nice sounding speakers.  I hope he had a legacy plan so his ideas and designs will not be loss.

I want to share the future logo of GMA with the community. I’ve been rolling around the idea of posting this for a while, being unsure if it's appropriate for a memorial thread. However, I think GMA patrons would be interested in what they would have seen on all their future gear. I also think it’s a sort of waypoint on the path ahead where Roy was taking the company. I imagine he would want it to be seen.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GqkDHRcB6Vpugy_6an3r8duuH5Ilppjn

I should add that I am not looking for input / compliments / criticism on the design here. I’m sharing this with hesitance because I want the thread to remain focused on memorializing Roy and GMA. I’m hoping this just adds another color in the details of the tapestry.

RIP Roy... Wow, what a shock!  I just spoke with him the first week in July, and he seemed in great spirits, full of energy and info as always. Roy was always willing to talk your ear off for an hour or two with advice, info, and whatever he could help you with to make your system sound it's best.  He had a pair of Chroma HX's almost finished for me... they were supposed to ship mid July.  That will not happen at this point unfortunately.  The speakers are insignificant in comparison to the subject matter here.  Such a loss to the audio community and such a shock.  I wish his family the best.  I knew he was sick for a while, but I thought he was doing better and on his way to good health. Very sad indeed. RIP Roy, you are missed.  

I had a pair of the original Diamanté’s in green with black bases.  I visited Roy at his shop in Colorado Springs.  He was a very knowledgeable and entertaining guy.  He spoke of his crossover designs in terms of mathematical models.  He was always working on the perfect crossover.  Roy liked to play music loud and hard hitting selections with a lot of impact, my first introduction to the music of Rusted Root.
 I had my Diamanté’s upgraded to series 2, then to series 3.  The series 2 iteration was the best.  Series 3 was slightly warmer but lost some of the magic of series 2.  There are certain musical selections that they recreated better than anything I’ve heard since such as the the previously mentioned Rusted Root and Pat Benetar.  Ultimately, they weren’t the speaker for me and my room.  They didn’t quite have the lower end weight and warmth for the hard bop jazz I like.
I sold the Diamanté’s here on Audiogon.  I hope the person who purchased them is still enjoying Roy’s creation.
Roy made some unusual looking speakers with synthetic marble, the Diamanté’s easily the best looking of the lot.  
The audio world lost a great guy and innovative designer.

So sorry to hear of Roy's passing. My condolences to family and frirends. Tom Grabosky

Very sorry to hear this, I met him at the RAMF about 11 years ago and spent a good amount of time listening to his monitors up above the Callistos. He was very nice as a matter of fact we was rocking out really liked my music I brought with me, RIP a very nice guy...and a incredible speaker designer...

Just found this information in The Colorado Springs Gazette.  If anyone is interested in the memorial service details are included.

Johnson
ROY ALAN JOHNSON
July 27, 1953 - July 16, 2019
Son, brother, friend, Manitou Alum ('71) and long-time Green Mountain Falls resident. We have lost all of the above when Roy passed peacefully after an extended illness.
He was preceded in death by his dad Keith and is survived by his mom Dove, brother Tony (Diane), sister Kelly (Chip Swenson), former wife and friend Jeannie Bremer, many nieces, nephews and extended family.
Roy was a unique individual. As a Physicist, he turned his attention to Audio Reproduction and extraordinary sound. Sound so pure, you only have to close your eyes to bring whatever or whoever you are listening to right up front. In the words of a dear friend "Roy was one of the audio's true geniuses. A brilliant speaker designer". "He never gave up on his pursuit of making better sound".
He was just as persistent in his health battle. Never a "why me". Always the belief that he would get better and would persevere with his work. Forever the optimist
Goodbye Soundman and Godspeed. May the heavens be forever graced with your music.
In Lieu of flowers please donate to the American Cancer Society in Roy's name.
A Memorial Celebration to be held at the Sallie Bush Community Building in Green Mountain Falls on Sunday 8/11/19 2pm.

I was saddened to hear the news of Roy's passing.  As everyone who has spoken with Roy as commented, he was very generous with his time and loved to discuss the physics behind why speakers behaved the way they do. I got to know Roy back around 2000. I was on a business trip to the Philadelphia area and stopped in an audio dealer to listen to a Plinius amp. It happened to be hooked up to a pair of Green Mountain Imago IV speakers. I ended up buying the speakers and calling Green Mountain for advice on installation and met Roy. We had many conversations over the years and I had the great pleasure to visit Roy in Colorado Springs.
   I ended up buying a pair of Europas...then a pair of C-3s, then the matching Vortex center channel and then a pair of his SW15 subs. Later on when came up with his HX crossover breakthrough I bought the upgrade parts for the C-3s and Roy sent me very detailed directions on how to perform the upgrade. That was a fun project with very worthwhile results...  I have become very attuned to the benefits of Roy's phase and time coherent design principles. To this day my main system, which is a hybrid 2 channel/ surround system has Roy's C-3 HX, Vortex C-3 center channel, Europa speaker for surround.  I have listened to many systems including all the systems at RMAF 2018, but I have not yet been lured away from Roy's designs. I will miss our conversations. I know he struggled with cancer over the years and always wished he had greater business success.

Sorry to hear of this sad news! I knew he had been ill for some time but didn't know it was this serious.

I'll never forget how he attempted to help me address the (then) severe room problems I had for 45 minutes despite the slim chances of making a sale of any of his products.

A true gentleman and true music lover. He will be missed.

Very sad indeed. I always made sure I was sitting down when I called him as he was a world-class conversationalist- incredibly generous with his time. I felt his Europa Max was exceptionally coherent - quite special to be sure. Like others have said, he was the audio guru I knew I could always call with a question, for insight, for a reasoned and humble response. Cheers to you Mr. Green.

When the time is right, if anyone has information on whether someone is sorting out his business affairs, I know I am doubtless the only one who's speakers are currently sitting in his shop, being built, or in various stages of repair or completion. I would love to be able to eventually get them back (mine have been there for several months for a simple crossover cooking). Any information will be appreciated.

I'm in shock also at his passing.  Roy was such a great guy and I had so many conversations with him over the past fifteen years.  He would do most of the talking but I could always feel his passion and love for speaker building and always felt as though I had taken an informative physics class when on the phone with him.

I started with the Europa, then the 1.5, then the Callisto and currently the EOS HX.  He was also working on the EOS RX model for me which I was anxiously awaiting.  Hopefully one of his workers will complete the pending projects as from what I've heard they would be substantial upgrades from past models.

He will be missed.

In the mid-1990s I just lusted after a pair of green marble Diamantes at a local dealership. Just gorgeous. Sad to hear this.

RIP

Rip Roy. The Europa was my first real speaker .
How old was Roy?

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..

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

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....

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.