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HiFi News 50th Anniversary Issue: “50 Most Important Audio Pioneers”


tysontom

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>In HFN’s 50th Anniversary Issue, there is a special feature

>article on “50 Most Important Audio Pioneers” to appear in

>this very highly regarded UK magazine.

Of the pioneers, Edgar Villchur was chosen No. 1.

>

>--Tom Tyson

Hi Tom;

Myself, if I was just in the 50, I would be very happy.

To be number 1, is an outstanding recognition of his gift to all of us, the acoustic suspension principle.

Bravo, Edgar, bravo and thank you.

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I thought the following link from "Stereophile" may also be of interest.

It reviews a book inspired by the 50th anniversary of HFN.

Sound Bites: 50 Years of Hi-Fi News by Ken Kessler

http://www.stereophile.com/features/806book/index.html

ALSO, if you click on the Edgar or Roy links (para 4)

you will also see a copy of the Stereophile articles on them both from January 2005.

Some newer members may not have seen these articles.

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>In HFN’s 50th Anniversary Issue, there is a special feature

>article on “50 Most Important Audio Pioneers” to appear in

>this very highly regarded UK magazine. Of the pioneers, Edgar

>Villchur was chosen No. 1.

>

>--Tom Tyson

Hi Tom;

I see that on page 4 of the AR-1 brochure, that our own Roy F Allison, wrote the High Fidelity magazine comment.

It would have been nice also, to see Roy F Allison and the late Henry Kloss, receive their due acknowledgement credit to our classic AR speaker history.

Remove one or the other and who knows what AR would have become, earlier.

Imagine, if the three of them could have worked together, where AR could have gone as well.

We can only look back in history now.

I wonder how many men are brave enough today, to ask their wife to cut up their bed sheets?

What if Edgar's wife had refused to do it?

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>

>It would have been nice also, to see Roy F Allison and the

>late Henry Kloss, receive their due acknowledgement credit to

>our classic AR speaker history.

Not to diminish Henry's contributions by any means, but I have to say I am frustrated that the masses out in ebayland and elsewhwhere are giving Henry way too much credit for AR's success. The fact is he left AR before the AR-2 hit the market, yet it is quite common for him to be credited for the 3a. I wish Ed and Roy had the same level of household recognition.

>

>

>I wonder how many men are brave enough today, to ask their

>wife to cut up their bed sheets?

>

>What if Edgar's wife had refused to do it?

I'm sure she would have only provided an old sheet she was saving for rags, or she may have wanted new sheets anyway. Women are generally not that agreeable.>

>

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>

>>

>>It would have been nice also, to see Roy F Allison and

>the

>>late Henry Kloss, receive their due acknowledgement credit

>to

>>our classic AR speaker history.

>

>Not to diminish Henry's contributions by any means, but I have

>to say I am frustrated that the masses out in ebayland and

>elsewhwhere are giving Henry way too much credit for AR's

>success. The fact is he left AR before the AR-2 hit the

>market, yet it is quite common for him to be credited for the

>3a. I wish Ed and Roy had the same level of household

>recognition.

>>

>

>>

>>I wonder how many men are brave enough today, to ask

>their

>>wife to cut up their bed sheets?

>>

>>What if Edgar's wife had refused to do it?

>

>I'm sure she would have only provided an old sheet she was

>saving for rags, or she may have wanted new sheets anyway.

>Women are generally not that agreeable.>

>>

>

Hi Brad;

I read your write-up last night, but, I have been digesting it until now.

If we look at Henry Kloss and Edgar Villchur at the advent of AR, we see the creator and a business man.

Henry raised the most cash to start up.

Henry already had the entrepenurial spirit, prior to their connection, with his producing the, Baruch-Lang speaker sytem.

Henry already had some business sense.

Edgar had the idea and Henry made it possible to produce it, and package it and sell it and make money.

I believe I read here, that, Henry convinced Edgar to use the 1/2 roll surround, rather than the conventional ribbon surround.

Once the AR-12" woofer was being sold, money was coming in to provide the needed capital for future expansion and engineering.

The fact is that early on Edgar found no other manufacturers were interested in his acoustic suspension speaker system concept, parallels another American visionary.

A few years prior to Edgar Villchur and his vision, a man by the name of, William B Ruger, also had a design of a product.

He also approached several well known firearms manufactureres with his vision.

He and his invention also were rejected.

He and a partner, Otto Sturm, formed Sturm, Ruger and Company and it is now are the worlds largest firearms manufacturers.

If Edgar had been successful convincing just one of those speaker manufactures of his idea, maybe Altec or whomever would be on our website and not AR.

I cannot leave this topic without crediting another outstanding individual.

That man had a major impact on that era of AR, and that man is Roy F Allison a very fine gentleman.

Besides, he answered all of my many stupid questions like a gentleman.

I don't think we can say that either Henry or Roy were not instrumental in our classic speakers, even though they were there at different times periods.

If Henry had been a follower, instead of a leader, who knows where AR could have gone, had he stayed on longer.

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Hi again;

I did some more thinking again.

Behind every one of those names is, engineers, production workers and a whole army of un-named and un-recognized individuals, who will forever be un-acknowledged, for their contribution, for our personal enjoyment.

We salute you, one and all.

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>

>Behind every one of those names is, engineers, production

>workers and a whole army of un-named and un-recognized

>individuals, who will forever be un-acknowledged, for their

>contribution, for our personal enjoyment.

>

Agreed :-) The purpose of my post was not to diminish Henry's contributions to AR by any means. I am just tired of seeing AR-3a's, AR-5's and LST's advertised as "Henry Kloss Speakers." I think it's the same goofs on ebay replacing the stuffing, bypassing level pots and "coating" woofer cones with urethane.

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Hi Brad;

I think that Henry's name has been much more in the limelight with KLH, Advent and Tivoli, just to name a few he was associated with, since AR.

There is a lot of incorrect hifi information being used on just ebay, to choose just one area of interest.

When Edgar Villchur left AR, he went into the hearing aid field and once again became successful with that specialty.

As far as hifi goes, he became more invisible with the passing of time.

Invisible or not, he was the father of invention, rather acoustic suspension.

I don't think it gets any better than that.

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In October 1994 I had the very good fortune to obtain two tickets to the gala event at New York's Grand Central Station, heralding the 40th anniversary of the founding of AR. My friend Ray and I attended, and it was a high point in my life. I met "luminaries" such as Edgar Villchur, Henry Kloss, Ken Kantor, Julian Hirsch, and .... Tom Tyson. It was also a showcase for the new AR-303 and 302 loudspeakers.

Several of us were standing around Mr. Villchur, when another attendee asked him, "How do you think the new 303 compares to the original 3a?" His response was, "Do you see that guy over there (pointing to a uniformed rent-a-cop)? Go ask him. He has a better f#cking idea than I do." This spoke volumes to me. It didn't diminish his greatness in my eyes one iota. He solved an engineering problem with the acoustic suspension principle, and moved on. Plus, it was pretty cool to hear him drop an "F" bomb.

My friend Ray accosted Henry Kloss with, "It's because of YOU that I have a house, FULL of loudspeakers." Mr. Kloss' IMMEDIATE response was.... "At least I made them small!"

I've said it before and I'll re-iterate. Thank you Ken Kantor for making that entire affair possible. Thank you Tom Tyson for some of the great displays you arranged to have on hand for us. Truly a night to remember.

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>

>>

>>It would have been nice also, to see Roy F Allison and

>the

>>late Henry Kloss, receive their due acknowledgement credit

>to

>>our classic AR speaker history.

>

>Not to diminish Henry's contributions by any means, but I have

>to say I am frustrated that the masses out in ebayland and

>elsewhwhere are giving Henry way too much credit for AR's

>success. The fact is he left AR before the AR-2 hit the

>market, yet it is quite common for him to be credited for the

>3a. I wish Ed and Roy had the same level of household

>recognition.

>>

>

>>

>>I wonder how many men are brave enough today, to ask

>their

>>wife to cut up their bed sheets?

>>

>>What if Edgar's wife had refused to do it?

>

>I'm sure she would have only provided an old sheet she was

>saving for rags, or she may have wanted new sheets anyway.

>Women are generally not that agreeable.>

>>

>

Just a thought regarding H.Kloss' popularity. I believe his name on headphones is what really gave him the large vote, although I would never diminish his contributions to AR. In the later '60s and through-out the seventies, the headphones named Kloss were very sort after, even though the Pro-4 and Pro-A and double A models ( the most popular) were very heavy and somewhat uncomfortable to wear.

Frank Marsi

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>

>Just a thought regarding H.Kloss' popularity. I believe his

>name on headphones is what really gave him the large vote,

>although I would never diminish his contributions to AR. In

>the later '60s and through-out the seventies, the headphones

>named Kloss were very sort after, even though the Pro-4 and

>Pro-A and double A models ( the most popular) were very heavy

>and somewhat uncomfortable to wear.

>Frank Marsi

The headphones were the brainchild of John Koss, another pioneer in the high-fidelity industry. Henry Kloss was not a part of that legacy.

--Tom Tyson

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Toasted—

I received an invitation to attend the 40th Anniversary Party at GCT, and I wanted to go very much. However, due to my somewhat “compromising” employment situation at the time, it would have been very, shall we say, “awkward” for me to attend.

I still regret missing it. I would have seen some great people--yourself included--had I been there.

Steve F.

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>In October 1994 I had the very good fortune to obtain two

>tickets to the gala event at New York's Grand Central

>Station, heralding the 40th anniversary of the founding of AR.

>My friend Ray and I attended, and it was a high point in my

>life. I met "luminaries" such as Edgar Villchur,

>Henry Kloss, Ken Kantor, Julian Hirsch, and .... Tom Tyson. It

>was also a showcase for the new AR-303 and 302 loudspeakers.

>

> Several of us were standing around Mr. Villchur, when

>another attendee asked him, "How do you think the new 303

>compares to the original 3a?" His response was, "Do

>you see that guy over there (pointing to a uniformed

>rent-a-cop)? Go ask him. He has a better f#cking idea than I

>do." This spoke volumes to me. It didn't diminish his

>greatness in my eyes one iota. He solved an engineering

>problem with the acoustic suspension principle, and moved on.

>Plus, it was pretty cool to hear him drop an "F"

>bomb.

>

> My friend Ray accosted Henry Kloss with, "It's because

>of YOU that I have a house, FULL of loudspeakers." Mr.

>Kloss' IMMEDIATE response was.... "At least I made them

>small!"

>

>

> I've said it before and I'll re-iterate. Thank you Ken Kantor

>for making that entire affair possible. Thank you Tom Tyson

>for some of the great displays you arranged to have on hand

>for us. Truly a night to remember.

ToastedAlmond, thanks for the reference, but I'm certainly not a "luminary," not by any stretch. All the others you mention are/were luminaries; I'm merely a collector and an AR historian of sorts, and I've been at it a bit longer than most.

I will say that it was a great honor for me to be involved in the AR 40th Birthday Party, and I was pleased to be able to display a lot of AR artifacts. I wish I could have provided more, but there wasn't room beyond what we had. Roy Allison was not able to make the party due to health reasons at the time, so we missed having another very important "luminary" at that party.

As for Villchur's reference to the AR-303 vs. the AR-3a, I don't know about his use of language. He could be pretty outspoken, but usally in a discrete way. Also, he was not directly involved in the AR-3a product development even though he initiated the AR-3a design work before he retired from AR in 1967. Roy Allison took that lead and went on to complete the AR-3a (along with Chuck McShane, formerly with CTS).

Similarly, in 1966 I was at the New York High Fidelity Music Show, "hanging out" in the AR booth. I caught up with new-acquaintance Ed Villchur and was following him over to the Dynaco booth. Villchur had been invited over to the Dynaco room by Bob Tucker to hear the new Dynaco-Seas A-25 “aperiodic” speakers being introduced then, and a couple of the Dynaco engineers descended upon Villchur before he could even get through the door. They asked him what he thought of the new A-25, and how it compared with his AR speakers. Villchur never hesitated, “They sound fine, as any good bookshelf speaker should sound.” I believe the engineers were stunned for a moment to hear those words from the great loudspeaker designer, thinking that he would perhaps try to critique them or compare them to his AR designs. Villchur, being “fast on his feet,” neither criticized nor praised the speakers, which was the proper way to handle such a question.

--Tom Tyson

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Hi there;

One can only imagine, if Henry had gone there, though.

Koss and Kloss sound the same and that may have helped keep Henry's name out in the public eye as well.

I also serviced Koss headphones under warantee.

To be honest, I don't have any personnal memories of Henry Kloss from the AR days.

From reading his interview in, The Audio Amatuer Magazine, which was very interesting, was the first time I new much about Henry Kloss, the man.

When I was recommending, The Larger Advent speaker, I knew a little bit about Henry, by the magazine reviews.

My hifi beginning was in the fall of 1964.

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I call "luminaries" as I see them Tom. You're a big, bright light here and you know it. You, Steve F., and Ken K.

Trust me on the "F" bomb. It's not the kind of thing a person would ever forget.

The Chuck McShane Files.......

Around 1987 or 1988 I was on a trip flying out of Hill Air Force Base, near Ogden, Utah. On a day off, the nav and co-pilot wanted to go fishing up in the mountains. We only had one car, so the aircraft commander and myself drove up into the mountains with them, but had no intention of going fishing. The AC was Gerhard Augustus Leipfinger. We'd been friends for quite awhile. He gave me my first listen to LST's, and eventually sold me his AR-5's. To get back on track, we went into the fishing lodge with the other guys, and as they were renting their canoe or rowboat, I started wandering around. Noticed an awful lot of Phase Tech speakers on the walls, hanging from the rafters, etc. I asked the kid behind the counter what the deal with all the speakers was. He pops open a closet door and the closet is FILLED with Fosgate amps, processors and stuff. We were in Heber City, Jim Fosgate Central. We made our way downtown and found the Fosgate shop. Not much, kind of a little place. We asked the guy sitting there if he was Jim Fosgate. "Nope, I'm Chuck McShane" was the response. I boldly asked him what his main claim to fame was. He looked me square in the eye and said, "The AR-3a was my baby. I engineered it."

"The Finger" and I JUST ABOUT hit the floor, up in the mountains of Utah. Honest injun.

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>

>Koss and Kloss sound the same and that may have helped keep

>Henry's name out in the public eye as well.

>

Hi Vern,

I'm just a nitpicker at heart, but Henry's last name was pronounced "Close" (like Glenn). This goofy English language--we see things in print and THINK we know how to pronounce them. One would thing Kloss and Koss would rhyme.

Reminds me of the famous inventor of the synthesizer. Most people pronounce Moog the way it looks--like a cow sound with a G at the end. It's really pronounced "Moge" or "Moag"> Can't think of anything it rhymes with.

It's like Ben Franklin's (I think) comment on English: What does GHOTI spell? fish!

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>>

>>Koss and Kloss sound the same and that may have helped

>keep

>>Henry's name out in the public eye as well.

>>

>Hi Vern,

>I'm just a nitpicker at heart, but Henry's last name was

>pronounced "Close" (like Glenn). This goofy English

>language--we see things in print and THINK we know how to

>pronounce them. One would thing Kloss and Koss would rhyme.

>Reminds me of the famous inventor of the synthesizer. Most

>people pronounce Moog the way it looks--like a cow sound with

>a G at the end. It's really pronounced "Moge" or

>"Moag"> Can't think of anything it rhymes with.

>It's like Ben Franklin's (I think) comment on English: What

>does GHOTI spell? fish!

Hi there;

I know a man named Jergen.

All my life I would just say, Jergen.

The man I met recently corrected me, it is pronounced Yergen.

I had my business until Jan/05.

A few years ago I met a man, as I have met a lot of over the years, and he was MR ?, until he wrote me a cheque.

His first name was, Jesus.

I said your name is, Jesus?

He said, HAYZOOS, is the correct pronounciation.

I used to watch Hill Street Blues and other police shows and there was always graffiti spray painted on buildings, Jesus was here.

I always thought there must be religious fanatics living there.

I felt so silly after learning that.

I do remember a reformed street gang leader named, HAYZOOS, but I never gave it a thought how it would be spelled.

Here in Vancouver, I grew up around Italians and Portugese families.

I have never met a person other than that man with the name, Jesus.

Here in Vancouver, Koss and Kloss, would still be spoken as they appear in English, except by a person from those countries very likely.

A quick, and casual glance of each name, back when both those brands were very visible in local stores, it would have be easy to think they were the same to the un-informed.

I intended no disrespect to anyone for my lack of language spelling or pronounciation.

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Hi Vern

It may be because you are part of the Commonwealth. My own heritage is English, although I'm an American. If I remember correctly, the English tend to Anglicize everything. For example, here we say "Don Kee-Ho-Tee", but I believe the Brits say "Don Quicks-It" (you know--that guy who tilted at windmills). It's a cultural thing. btw--on Hill St Blues Jesus was the leader of the gang--the guy who always called the Lt "Frankie" (why do these things remain in memory when I can't remember what I ate for dinner????)

English is certainly the universal language, but how on earth does anyone ever learn it? Incidentally--I met a man in Turkey who lamented how illogical the English language was. I thought I'd trip him up with GHOTI, but he said "fish" without a moment's hesitation!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Of the top-50 most-import audio pioneers, Edgar Villchur outclassed the following (partial list) well-known pioneers in audio history:

#46 Amar Bose (Bose Corporation0

#45 John Bowers (B&W)

#46 Paul Klipsch (inventor of the Klipschorn corner speaker)

#40 Nelson Pass (Threshold Amplifiers)

#37 Raymond Cook (founder of KEF)

#36 Harry Olson (upon whose patent E-V challenged AR)

#34 Joseph Grado (Grado Laboratories)

#21 Guy Fountain (founder of Tannoy Loudspeakers)

#32 H.H. Scott (founder of H.H. Scott)

#30 Paul Voigt (inventor and researcher in early days of loudspeakers)

#26 Thomas Stockham (inventor of soundstream digital recorder)

#13 Peter Walker (renowned Quad electrostatic designer)

#15 D.T.N. Williamson (Williamson amplifier fame)

#11 Gilbert Briggs (founder of Wharfedale Wireless Works)

#12 Edwin Howard Armstrong (made the first FM broadcast)

#08 David Hafler (Dynaco)

#03 Ray Dolby (inventor of noise reduction and surround-sound processes)

#07 Avery Fisher (founder of Fisher Electronics)

#05 Akio Morita (Founder of Sony!)

#04 Henry Kloss (co-founder of AR, KLH, Advent, Cambridge Sound, Tivoli)

#02 Peter Goldmark (introduced the first 33-1/3 rpm long-play record)

#01 EDGAR VILLCHUR (founder of Acoustic Research)

This is a pretty impressive (if a bit incomplete) list of the top-50 pioneers in hifi, and a great honor to Villchur! In the magazine, editors were also asked to select ten pieces of equipment that were landmark contributions to hifi, and the AR Turntable was chosen by three editors and the AR-3 was chosen by one editor.

--Tom Tyson

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  • 2 weeks later...

>I'm just a nitpicker at heart, but Henry's last name was pronounced "Close" <

My hi-fi uncle was embarrassed upon meeting Gerrard, the turntable guy. Seems it isn't "Je"rrard but "Gu"rrard. (hard G)

Bret

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