Top Audio Designers Of All Time?


We have all had fun and world of info have spilled forth from Audiogon members. Lets give ourselves a round of applause. From me a sincere "Well Done" to all members that have participated. I have learned a great deal. In this thread,which may be a little esoteric for some,lets hear from members that support certain designers. After all if not for their dedication and genius,we would not have the topic or equipment. Ill start the thread for the inventor Thomas Alva Edison.For it was his revolution,that we now find ourselves here. In the more contemporary era I vote for Nelson Pass. His white paper on Cascode/Stasis toplogy was and is truly ground breaking. In my opinion since 1975,other designs are a variation on a theme of Pass.
ferrari
I am in firm agreement on all of the above,...Bravo to them all! I would add two gentleman that greatly helped a generation, or two, of us to get into this adventure. First Mr. Henry Kloss. From AR and KLH to Advent...and esp. the large Advent he opened thousands of ears to the world of more accurate sounding hifi. Second would be Jon Dahlquist. I am not sure if the Wilsons, Thiels and many others would be where they are without the pioneering efforts of Mr. Dahlquist. Of course Harold Scott, Avery Fisher, Saul Marantz and others paved the way for many. However if there were a gun to my head and the person said "name one", it would be Henry Kloss. Myself and four of my closest audio friends all got our start with either single or double large Advents. Bravo to you Mr. Kloss....I kinda think you may have had a bit of impact on the world of big TV's as well....aka: Videobeam. (again Ferrari, great thread.... thanks!)
My God,...I almost forgot, Jim Winey! Nothing has brought me more pleasure, audio-wise, than the various Magnepans that I have owned over the years. From the 1D through the 1.6, 3.6 and MG20, they have always been the cornerstone of every system that I have enjoyed. Mr. Winey, Mr. Diller (and company) are two of the great gentlemem of our current audio industry.
As a former retailer I know most of these men well.They all were or all practical purposes terrible businessmen. But that wasnt really their forte. Like most truly gifted people only the end result mattered. I sincerely applaud all of them for their undying devotion to the audio art and sciences. Just look how far high end audio has come in just a short span of time!! In due respect to all designers I feel I cannot name just one or two,as I said I know most of them personally. Lets just sit back and enjoy the efforts of Pass,Curl,Levinson,Marantz,Fisher,Van Alstine,and so many others. We can only hope that this new century will bring forth as many gifted designers as the 20th Century did.