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Hell of a Compliment

T

Toasted Almond

RIP 1952-2016
It appears the highly regarded British audio magazine Hi-Fi News has published its 50th anniversary issue, containing a list of who they feel are the 50 most important audio pioneers. I don't know who the other 49 are, but the pioneer who was number one, the pioneer they felt was the MOST important was ....... ............. (drum roll please)....... EDGAR VILLCHUR, founder of the acoustic suspension loudspeaker and co-founder of the venerable Acoustic Research company.

I would imagine the rest of the 49 were fairly talented individuals........ but there's only room at the top for one.

Good night!
 
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No, I don't. This was reported by a guy that probably has the premier collection of classic AR products on the planet. I'd imagine the others would include Kloss, Roy Allison, David Hafler, Fisher, Dr. Harman, Klipsch, Otala, Locanthi, Toole, etc. Probably a bunch that worked under the radar too. Quite the honor to be ON the list, no less at the top.
 
While I'm not sure Villchur would be at the top of my list --what about Blumlein, armstrong, Goldmark, Williamson etc? -- his subsequent public spirited work on hearing aids certainly puts some sort halo on his head.
 
Yup. Sold AR to Teledyne and never did any more consumer audio, save for trying to help the hearing impaired. BIG halo.

Like I said, I haven't seen the list, and those you mentioned are more than likely on it.

Edgar's at the top of mine.
 
I think I saw that list at the other Andy's house a few weeks back. It was pretty bent towards Brits, but I think Henry was on it and a couple other names I recognized. Squid, Keg, JMathers, you guys remember what that mag was??
 
I've always thought Maj. Armstrong deserved a LOT more credit than he got. Wonder what he could have accomplished if the last 15, 20 years of his life hadn't been spent in that stupid pissin' contest w/Sarnoff ? Sarnoff-there's another one. He was a genius-but a flawed one, just like Henry Ford.
 
Easy Unca' Sandy. Not everybody is perfectly normal...... like us. You have to always keep that in the back of your mind. Or whatever is left of it.
 
Hmmmm...It seems like so many times though, that whatever makes a man into a Sarnoff, or a Ford, also ultimately destroys him.. Billy Durant, the guy who founded GM, lost control of his baby not once, but twice, & died virtually penniless...Thomas Edison, who arguably kicked this whole "home audio" thing off in the 1st place, I've heard he was a kinda quirky so-and-so...Lee DeForest, who "invented" the audion tube, was plagued all his life by questionable business dealings, & beaucoup women problems. That one's kinda funny, 'cause Lee was about as attractive as the proverbial mud fence...<grin>
 
All those mentioned surely were/are great innovators but just think of the nameless ones who worked at Western Electric/Bell Labs. The place where most of the innovations started or were visualized.
 
... and don't forget Roy Allison.
Allison & Villchur were, as y'all probably know, interviewed by Stereophile last year.
http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/105villchur/index.html

We have a older friend in our little town who worked at AR with those guys way back when, although in what capacity I've never quite understood.

EDIT: I have a damn basement full of scratch-and-dent New England loudspeaker pairs in homage to Henry, and Edgar, and Roy, and Winslow, and...
 
Second guy on my list in the first post is Roy Allison, El Marko.

....and Andy Kostatsos (Boston Acoustics), Charlie McShane (the AR-3a), and.....
 
What about E.H.Scott ? He was making hi-fidelity phonos, radios 'n' stuff before there really was such a thing a "high fidelity" . And Commander Eugene F. McDonald, Jr. at Zenith did a fair amount of pioneering hi-fi work.
 
E. H. Scott? or H.H. Scott? William Shockley invented the transistor at Bell Labs... then later published some unfortunate things about racial stereotypes.
 
Actually, BOTH Scotts... Who were the other 2 guys who worked w/Shockley- Bardeen, & Brattain...Shockley might have been brilliant, but, uhh, he DID have a couple of Screws Loose, didn't he ?
 
Toasted Almond said:
Excellent and knowledgeable reply Grainger. That WAS Henry's part of the equation.
Click to expand...

Got to meet him once back in the 70s. He is one of my personal heros. Just an amazing guy.
 
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