## hpr0850 :: Another Tech Giant Passes - Household Tech in the Pre-Micro Era

 In today's show Mr Gadgets pauses to remember the passing of some pioneering greats in the tech field. He focuses on personal heroes who have had a profound impact on the direction of his life.
Edgar Villchur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Villchur)


Edgar Marion Villchur (28 May 1917 - 17 October 2011) was an American inventor, educator, and writer widely known for his 1954 invention of the acoustic suspension loudspeaker which revolutionized the field of high-fidelity equipment. A speaker Villchur developed, the AR-3, is exhibited at the The Smithsonian Institutions Information Age Exhibit in Washington, DC.
Villchur's speaker systems provided improved bass response while reducing the speaker's cabinet size. Acoustic Research, Inc. (AR), of which he was president from 1954 to 1967, manufactured high-fidelity loudspeakers, turntables, and other stereo components of his design, and demonstrated their quality through live vs. recorded concerts. The companys market share grew to 32 percent by 1966. After leaving AR, Villchur researched hearing aid technology, developing the multichannel compression hearing aid, which became the industry standard for hearing aids.

Henry Kloss

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kloss)


Henry Kloss (1929, Altoona, PA - January 31, 2002, Cambridge, MA) was a prominent American audio engineer and businessman who helped advance high fidelity loudspeaker and radio receiver technology beginning in the 1950s. Kloss (pronounced with a long o, like "close") was an undergraduate student in physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (class of 1953), but never received a degree. He was responsible for a number of innovations, including the acoustic suspension loudspeaker and the high fidelity cassette deck. In 2000, Kloss was one of the first inductees into the Consumer Electronics Association's Hall of Fame. He earned an Emmy Award for his development of a projection television system, the Advent Video Beam 1000.

Acoustic Research

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Research)


Acoustic Research was a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company that manufactured high-end audio equipment. The brand is now owned by Audiovox. Acoustic Research was well known for the AR-3 series of speaker systems, which used the 12-inch (305 mm) acoustic suspension woofer of the AR-1 with newly designed dome mid-range and high-frequency drivers, which were the first of their kind. AR's line of acoustic suspension speakers were extraordinary for their time, as they were the first loudspeakers with flat response, extended bass, wide dispersion, small size, and reasonable cost.


https://homepage.mac.com/oldtownman/recording/villchur.html
