Charley Hansen (Ayre) Passed Away


Just got this email from Ayre.  So sad:

With heavy hearts, we regret to inform you that Charles Hansen, founder of Ayre Acoustics, has passed away on November 28th, 2017. Those who knew Charley knew that he was a passionate man who always stood up for what he believed to be right. His family knew him as a loving and dedicated father of his two children. With the passing of Charley, the world has lost one of the most creative and innovative minds in the audio industry and we have lost a good friend.
 
While we can never replace Charley, his spirit lives on in the team at Ayre. We are dedicated to continuing his mission of creating and manufacturing the best sounding audio equipment in the world. Most importantly, we will be there for our friends, partners, and customers who have supported us over the years. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at any time.

We wish you all the best over the holidays, and please play an album for Charley sometime.
cedargrover
"There is no negative feedback in heaven" -- great line and fitting tribute to someone (only one?) I put in the same league as Richard Vandersteen.
I have much respect for his designs - both in philosophy and execution. My Ayre stack is one of my prized possessions. I had many great interactions with Charley over the years on various forums - I learned much from him. I always looked forward to his next release. He will be misssed. 
Charlie seemed as if he was laying everything on the table the last month or so at AA. I even thought to myself “ this guy is going to run himself out of business by pissing off every audio writer”. Now..it seems as if Charlie knew his time was short. A recent exchange I had with Charlie at AA was about him meeting Julian Hirsch ( Stereo Review) many years ago It was a wonderful story ( just a few sentences) that really exhibited Charlie’s passion about audio “systems”.