Seems worthy of a screenplay. Who could we get to play Iverson? Russell Crowe? |
Did Ed Vilchur recently pass away? Sure did influence the audio marketplace. |
Rodman99999, no list is complete without the men you mention, and I am very remiss for not have included Ralph Karsten who has proabably done more than anyone else to bring a well engineered, reliable, and excellent sounding OTL to the market. |
Your mentioning a Jerry reminded my of Jerry Ozment the digital design guru (DACs) behind Altis, Audio Logic, Jadis, VAC and consultant to others. Not well known to many, but those that do, know he is the real deal as a digital designer. |
William Shockley of Bell Labs for his contributions to the development of the transistor. |
Yes indeed, one of the greats. |
There is something almost Gumpish about this story. Next I expect ot hear that he had a prototype diesel engine that got 200mpg, but somehow did not see the light of day.... |
Good choice. Hard to believe he wasn't mentioned already. |
con't
Henry Kloss and Ed Vilchur - go to Wikipedia
Saul Marantz, Sidney Corderman, and William Johnson
Well' that's then sort of. |
Let's not forget MaryAnn, his muse. |
I wonder if Audiogon could arrange a mechanism where we could elect 20 folks year one and a slate every year for additions. I find the tale of the designers, their approaches to technical issues, and to some extent their success in the market to be interesting. When you get to talk with or meet with some of these folks you find they all have an interesting story and views on the art of making equipment that works well and sounds good. I was originally thinking of amp/pre amp folks when I posed the question, but of course that was a bit limiting wasn't it, and an explanation of why the person is mentioned is essential, it is proabably the core of what would appear on their "plaque". So in the speaker category:
1. Bobby Palkovic, Merlin Systems - for perfecting the 2-way speaker and finding an innovative solution to producing satisfying bass from this design.
2. Ed Vilchur - Acusitic Research - for succesfully implemeting the acoustic suspension principle.
3. Richard Vandersteen - Vandersteen Audio - for producing highly successful and "affordable" speakers using time & phase coherence as their underlying principal.
4. Peter Walker & Jim Winey, Quad and Magenplanar - for perfecting the electrostatic design principle.
5. Paul Klipsch - Klipsch - for pioneering the horn loading principle. |
I also get the feeling that John Chapman of Bent Audio will one day be elected - for his work on passive TVCs - high quality, high functionality, great business ethics, and of course great sound in the right system. |
Mike Sanders of Quicksilver - for consistently high quality, affordable and reliabile tube design without relying on advertising or hobknobbing with industry media wonks.
Who invented the transistor? |
I agree. Vilchur does qualify on at least two fronts. |
I would think being a modifier is no disqualifier; if you are a great one. Alex's reputation is of being a very skilled practitioner. |
Let's not forget D.T.N. Willamson whose circuit design from the 40s is perhaps the most copied and influential in tube amp history. |
I stupidly neglected to mention Henry Kloss who in addition to many other contribtutions to the audio field, codesigned the AR1 with Ed Vilchur. We also need to remember H.H. Scott for his contribtuions related to tuner technology. |
Dr. Floyd Toole at the National Research Council his contributions in the use of measurements in the design of equipment; making the work of many other designers better (3M). |
Speaking of cartridges, whoever designed the Shure V15 should be considered for the longevity and dominance of this cartridge. |
Now that I have heard the Atma-sphere OTLs, I have to put Ralph Karsten's up in the top ranks. Not an amp for everyone, but if you can use and OTL with your speakers, pretty darn impressive. The Hall of Fame for taking a basicly wonderful sounding approach to amplifiers and engineering them so that they are extremely reliabable. |
Lot's of good designer's; it makes you realize how many talented folks have been involved with the industry, and how hard it would be to pick just five inductees in an inaugural launching of the Designer Hall of Fame. Makes me eager to get to RMAF this year and see some of the designers already mentioned. |
I can imagine the debates in the selection committe; it would make the Continental Congress seem like a picnic in the park. |
Arnie Nudell made some great speakers indeed. Question is, if you had five spots would he make it on the first ballot versus all the other folks mentioned in the thread (I think he was mentioned earlier). Would he make it over Ed Vilchur whose AR3 brought acoustic suspension enclosures to the market? Tough call for five slots. I would be interesting to have an annual election held by Audiogon - five new folks every year honoring the work of the great designers, maybe with some broad categories (Speakers, Amps/Preamps, Digital, Analog,, dare I say Accesories etc. -- proabably need an old timers committe as well for those important folks from the early days who should not be forgotten). Give the awards RMAF, and toast the winners. I for one would attend. Best of all, you have to be a member of Audigon to vote. |
Good call on David Berning. He certainly has developed a very innovative (worthy of a patent) approach to an OTL-type circuit and you can't argue with his ergonomics and reliability. |
Jerry Ozemont unsung, but one of greqat digital designers. |
Wow - lot's of "legends". Hard part with so many worthy candidates is narrowing it down to a group of 10. So I'm updating my first 10 inuagural selections:
Nelson Pass, Pass Labs - best SS designer
Roger Modjeski, Music Reference/RAM Labs tubes and classic amps
Ken Stevens, CAT - best transformer coupled amp
Ralph Karsten - Atma-sphere perfecting OTL
Richard Vandersteen - 1 million Elvis fans can't be wrong
Bobby P, Merlin - designer of my favourite and most well sorted speaker.
Ed Meitner - for Digital wizardry
David Hafler - see Richard Vandersteen |
Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery - if it doesn't infirnge on a patent. |
John Curl has to be listed somewhere on this list - one of the greats (and cool). Oh, and that fella Williamson too. |
Looking back over this thread, one is struck by how much this hobby is really dominated by the talent and labor of talented individuals, to some extent more important than companies. Why it is such a good idea to meet so many of them at places like RMAF. |
That JGI story is really weird, isn't it? |
My sense of great design has little to do with manufacturing efficiency, which is a laudable trait, but not the sort of thing I meant by design, but rather original thinking related to circuit design - the sort of thinking that goes into Nelson Pass' First Watt amp experiments - the genius of originality and a new way of thinking that leads to better music recording and reproduction. Yet, there is something to be said for those that can build a product with high QC and consistency that saounds good and is affordable - but if the bulk of that low cost is accomplished predominantly with low wages, that seems like a rather blunt way of building something good that sell for "little". I prefer a clever design that uses just the part it needs and no more, that sounds very good and is not very expensive, something like the $760 Mapletree Audio linestage handmade in Canada. |
The number 1 Digital man? |
There seem to be many, many folks that we admire and have made contributions to the art/science of audio. But since the Hall does not exist (yet), try to think of it as having to select 5 for the inaugural inductees - truly the best of the best. Who belongs into the top 5 of conetmprary folks, and the top 5 of those who have unfortunately passed on per were critical when the audio business started (A Veterans Commitee vote if you will). So if you pick someone, would you really place them in the top 5? There are obviously many that would be included for future consideration. They really should do this in the real world at RMAF, that would be a very fun gathering, and a nice way to honor those that have contributed to the hobby. |
That's very true, you don't see that kind of protean talent very often, perhaps Nelson Pass comes closest to that across the board talent. Not only across product categories, but the incredible number of circuit approaches - the man is unbelievably creative. I would love to hear a Class A, 30-60 watt tube amp designed by Nelson Pass - would be interesting to see what he could do if he chose to immerse himself in tube design. |
Imagine having to pick just 5 for the inaugural selection:) |
What five in the writer/reviewer's Hall of Fame - after JGH and HP? |
