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Jason Warren[_2_] Jason Warren[_2_] is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94


He invented the acoustic suspension speaker. His obit in the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/bu...vator-dies-at-
94.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
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"Jason Warren" wrote in message
...

He invented the acoustic suspension speaker. His obit in the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/bu...vator-dies-at-
94.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries


Edgar Villchur died this morning in his sleep in Woodstock NY. He was 94.
(Pls forward this as appropriate.)
Memorial service this Sunday in Woodstock; I will be attending w/ Roy
A.
Edgar Villchur, 1917-2011
Edgar Villchur died in his Woodstock home on Monday, October 17,
2011, at the age of 94. He was an inventor, educator, and writer. His 1954
invention of the acoustic suspension loudspeaker revolutionized the field of
high-fidelity equipment, providing better bass response than was previously
possible, at the same time radically reducing the size of the cabinet. He
received a patent for that invention as well as for the dome tweeter, which
greatly improved the ability of loudspeakers to reproduce accurate high-end
sounds. His AR-3 speaker is on display in the Smithsonian Institute's
Information Age Exhibit in Washington DC. Acoustic Research (AR), of which
he was president from 1952 to 1967, manufactured high-fidelity loudspeakers,
turntables, and other stereo components of his design. After leaving AR, he
went into hearing aid research and developed the multichannel compression
hearing aid, whose basic design has become the industry standard for hearing
aids.
Villchur received his master's degree from City College in art
history, and was headed for a career as a scenic designer. World War II
changed those plans, and he was trained in maintenance and repair of radios,
radar, and other equipment. He was stationed in New Guinea, where he rose to
the rank of captain and was in charge of the electronic equipment for his
Army squadron. Later, he served in the Philippines and on Okinawa.
After the war, he opened a shop in Greenwich Village where he
repaired radios and built custom home high fidelity sets. He continued to
educate himself in the area of audio engineering, taking night courses in
mathematics and engineering. After submitting an article to Audio
Engineering magazine (later renamed Audio), he was asked to write a regular
column. He also taught a course in his special area of interest,
Reproduction of Sound, at the night school at New York University. He wrote
three books and over one hundred and fifty articles on acoustics and sound
reproduction, including two articles written at the age of ninety.
Although he considered himself a scientist and a researcher, he was
very successful as a businessman. As president of AR, Villchur was known for
progressive employment practices and innovative advertising techniques. AR
used equal opportunity employment practices, and employees received health
insurance and profit sharing-benefits which were highly unusual in any but
the largest firms in the 1950s and 1960s. The company was also known for its
liberal repair policies, fixing most products for free no matter how old
they were, and in general providing excellent customer service. AR's
advertising was distinct from the sensationalistic ads of its competitors,
instead concentrating on technical information, reviews by impartial
critics, and endorsements from well-known musicians and other personalities
who actually used Acoustic Research components.
In 1967, Villchur sold AR to Teledyne, and went back to working as a
researcher. He chose the field of hearing aids, since he felt that there was
considerable room for improvement in these devices. He spent several years
investigating the problem in his home laboratory in Woodstock NY. By 1973,
he had come up with multichannel compression, a revolutionary concept in
hearing aid design. Rather than apply for a patent, he decided to publish
his findings and make them available to anyone who wanted to use them.
Resound, a hearing aid company in California, worked with Villchur to
produce a compression hearing aid. Over the next two decades, Villchur's
design became the industry standard for hearing aids.
Villchur lived in Woodstock from 1952 until his death. Music and art
were very important to him, and he served on the boards of Maverick Concerts
and of the Woodstock Artists' Association for many years. He was a friend,
advisor, and benefactor to countless organizations and individuals in the
community.
He is survived by his wife, Rosemary (Romy) Villchur, to whom he had
been married for sixty-six years; his son, Mark Villchur of Boston; his
daughter, Miriam Villchur Berg, of Woodstock; and many devoted friends who
considered themselves, and were considered by him, members of his family.
For more information, see the Wikipedia article "Edgar Villchur"
and its accompanying bibliography and links, as well as his personal
website, edgarvillchur.com. He was a great philanthropist, and supported
many local organizations, including Family of Woodstock, The Woodstock
Emergency Rescue Squad, the Woodstock Fire Department, the Woodstock
Library, Maverick Concerts, and the Woodstock Artists Association and
Museum. Donations in his name can be made to any of those organizations.


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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

Thank you for reproducing this.

But with what degree of fidelity?

It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real" influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.

The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know exactly
why people were so easily fooled.


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hank alrich hank alrich is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

William Sommerwerck wrote:

Thank you for reproducing this.


But with what degree of fidelity?

It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real" influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.


Your bias against Jobs is obivous enough that I canot take you seriously
in any discussion that might include his name.

The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know exactly
why people were so easily fooled.


Because we are programmed to be amazed and bamboozled by "the new" and
lacking preparatory instruction in what to listen for we blow it.

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

"hank alrich" wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote:


It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real"

influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.


Your bias against Jobs is obivous enough that I canot take you seriously
in any discussion that might include his name.


I'm not at all biased against Steve Jobs. It's rather that I see him for
what he was. I do not grovel.

Jobs was no genius. It's that everyone else is foolish. He recognized the
need for a great "user experience", something that no one else in the
computer industry has truly taken to heart. If Steve Jobs really HAD
"changed things", everybody else would think the same way. They don't.


The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know

exactly
why people were so easily fooled.


Because we are programmed to be amazed and bamboozled by "the new"
and lacking preparatory instruction in what to listen for we blow it.


Not so in this context. The issue is why people couldn't tell the difference
between live and recorded. This failure dates back to Edison's "tone tests",
in which people couldn't distinguish between a live singer and an acoustic
recording of same! (The answer is probably that the hall acoustics masked
the differences.)




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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"hank alrich" wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote:


It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real"

influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.


Your bias against Jobs is obivous enough that I canot take you seriously
in any discussion that might include his name.


I'm not at all biased against Steve Jobs. It's rather that I see him for
what he was. I do not grovel.

Jobs was no genius. It's that everyone else is foolish. He recognized the
need for a great "user experience", something that no one else in the
computer industry has truly taken to heart. If Steve Jobs really HAD
"changed things", everybody else would think the same way. They don't.


Hence, the market cap of his company, versus those who "don't think the
same way". A good user experience is comparable to a good playback
system for those who care about such things. It's not abotu the
gadget(s), at least for those who actually are into the music, it's
about the experience.

The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know

exactly
why people were so easily fooled.


Because we are programmed to be amazed and bamboozled by "the new"
and lacking preparatory instruction in what to listen for we blow it.


Not so in this context. The issue is why people couldn't tell the difference
between live and recorded. This failure dates back to Edison's "tone tests",
in which people couldn't distinguish between a live singer and an acoustic
recording of same! (The answer is probably that the hall acoustics masked
the differences.)


And that lacking experience with the new phenomena, i.e., being
untrained, perception can fool us.

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94


"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
Thank you for reproducing this.


But with what degree of fidelity?


It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real"
influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.


The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know
exactly
why people were so easily fooled.


If you had more experience with live sound William, you'd know. I've been
flogging live sound pretty intensively for over a decade, and I know.

The short answer is that there's a giant gap between evaluating sound
quality in a live context in a concert hall as opposed to listening with
earphones, or a high resolution system in a fairly well-padded relatively
small listening room.

The strongest effect is that every live performance or simulation of it by
definition happens only once. A lot of the precision that we demand from
recordings comes from the fact that we can listen to them as many times as
we want. Repetition is the key to learning about small details and subtle
changes.


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"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...

Jobs was no genius.


I would like to know your qualifications for making that claim.


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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real"
influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.


The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know
exactly why people were so easily fooled.


If you had more experience with live sound William, you'd know. I've been
flogging live sound pretty intensively for over a decade, and I know.


The short answer is that there's a giant gap between evaluating sound
quality in a live context in a concert hall as opposed to listening with
earphones, or a high resolution system in a fairly well-padded relatively
small listening room.


The strongest effect is that every live performance or simulation of it by
definition happens only once. A lot of the precision that we demand from
recordings comes from the fact that we can listen to them as many times as
we want. Repetition is the key to learning about small details and subtle
changes.


Given the state of the recording and playback art in the late 60s, the
differences between live and recorded sound were gross. Hearing the
difference should not have depended on "learning about small details and
subtle changes".

The "correct" answer is probably that the hall acoustics masked the
differences -- not that people didn't have the experience needed to make the
judgment.


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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


Jobs was no genius.


I would like to know your qualifications for making that claim.


Another groveler at the altar of Jobs, eh?

Common sense, Arny. "Genius" has the same root as "generate". What new or
original thing did Steve Jobs ever come up with? Nothing.

Indeed, Jobs' greatest "contribution" might turn out to be destroying the
"personal computer" revolution he started with the Apple ][. The Macintosh
is hardly my idea of a "personal" computer.




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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


Jobs was no genius.


I would like to know your qualifications for making that claim.


Another groveler at the altar of Jobs, eh?


Bill, you could hardly say something funnier than that to Arny, of all
people!

Common sense, Arny. "Genius" has the same root as "generate". What new or
original thing did Steve Jobs ever come up with? Nothing.

Indeed, Jobs' greatest "contribution" might turn out to be destroying the
"personal computer" revolution he started with the Apple ][. The Macintosh
is hardly my idea of a "personal" computer.


It is, however, my own idea of a personal computer, thanks very much.

So, how have you impressed the world with yoru view of what is a
personal computer? Wy the need to take digs at someone who has succeeded
in delivering a tool that at least a few million folks consider their
personal computer? What's the point?

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


It's fair to say that Edgar Villchur had far more-profound "real"
influence
than Steve Jobs ever had. He actually contributed something original.


The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know
exactly why people were so easily fooled.


If you had more experience with live sound William, you'd know. I've been
flogging live sound pretty intensively for over a decade, and I know.


The short answer is that there's a giant gap between evaluating sound
quality in a live context in a concert hall as opposed to listening with
earphones, or a high resolution system in a fairly well-padded relatively
small listening room.


The strongest effect is that every live performance or simulation of it by
definition happens only once. A lot of the precision that we demand from
recordings comes from the fact that we can listen to them as many times as
we want. Repetition is the key to learning about small details and subtle
changes.


Given the state of the recording and playback art in the late 60s, the
differences between live and recorded sound were gross. Hearing the
difference should not have depended on "learning about small details and
subtle changes".


Hindsight and hindhearing are gtenerally better informed than
first-round on-the-spot versions of the same.

The "correct" answer is probably that the hall acoustics masked the
differences -- not that people didn't have the experience needed to make the
judgment.


Hall acoustics would certainly have been _at least one factor_, among
many others that could be considered, such as lack of experience with
the very experience undertaken. We are easily fooled when we are
ignorant of details. This is the small print in the aural human contract

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

"hank alrich" wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote:


Indeed, Jobs' greatest "contribution" might turn out to be destroying
the "personal computer" revolution he started with the Apple ][.
The Macintosh is hardly my idea of a "personal" computer.


It is, however, my own idea of a personal computer, thanks very much.


So, how have you impressed the world with yoru view of what is a
personal computer? Wy the need to take digs at someone who has
succeeded in delivering a tool that at least a few million folks consider
their personal computer? What's the point?


In my view, the Apple is too much a closed system to be a true "personal"
computer. Perhaps I'm being unfair, as USB largely eliminates the need for
expansion slots, but I really prefer a computer I'm free to rip into and
configure as I choose.

I might add that "the computer for the rest of us" slogan carries the
implicit judgement of "you're too stupid to use a PC". The success of the
Macintosh was partly due to convincing people it was easy to use, thus
removing their fear. On a certain level, I resent using a machine whose
existence implies I'm not smart enough to operate anything else.


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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

William Sommerwerck wrote:

The article doesn't mention the live-versus-recorded experiments, which
someone really ought to repeat. Among other things, I'd like to know exactly
why people were so easily fooled.


Everybody, including myself, was astonished to find that it was impossible
to distinguish between my own voice and Mr. Edison's recreation of it."
-- Anna Case, Metropolitan Opera soprano, 1915

I have seen them repeated, and people are easily fooled because in fact
people are very easily fooled.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


In my view, the Apple is too much a closed system to be a true "personal"
computer. Perhaps I'm being unfair, as USB largely eliminates the need

for
expansion slots, but I really prefer a computer I'm free to rip into and
configure as I choose.


Apple recently introduced a new interface, Intel's Thunderbolt standard,
that makes their Pro laptops more expandable than any other laptops. It's

a
dual 10 gigabit/second ( 20 gigabits total ) bus, via one innocent little
connector on the side of the laptop. For the first time, you can have full
speed external video/display. It's like having a big bulky box that you

can
take apart and customize, except it isn't a bus. Read about it he
http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/


Isn't that nice, William?


Ooooo, I can feel the chills running up and down my spine...

The existance of an interface doesn't mean they'll be peripherals that take
full advantage of it.




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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

William Sommerwerck wrote:

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


In my view, the Apple is too much a closed system to be a true "personal"
computer. Perhaps I'm being unfair, as USB largely eliminates the need

for
expansion slots, but I really prefer a computer I'm free to rip into and
configure as I choose.


Apple recently introduced a new interface, Intel's Thunderbolt standard,
that makes their Pro laptops more expandable than any other laptops. It's

a
dual 10 gigabit/second ( 20 gigabits total ) bus, via one innocent little
connector on the side of the laptop. For the first time, you can have full
speed external video/display. It's like having a big bulky box that you

can
take apart and customize, except it isn't a bus. Read about it he
http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/


Isn't that nice, William?


Ooooo, I can feel the chills running up and down my spine...

The existance of an interface doesn't mean they'll be peripherals that take
full advantage of it.


The offering of grapes doesn't always imply that they're sour.

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
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"hank alrich" wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote:


The existance of an interface doesn't mean they'll be peripherals
that take full advantage of it.


The offering of grapes doesn't always imply that they're sour.


No, but a high-speed interface is not the same thing as being able to "pop
the lid" and plug a card into the main buss.


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William Sommerwerck wrote:

"hank alrich" wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote:


The existance of an interface doesn't mean they'll be peripherals
that take full advantage of it.


The offering of grapes doesn't always imply that they're sour.


No, but a high-speed interface is not the same thing as being able to "pop
the lid" and plug a card into the main buss.


No, the card goes into the outboard chassis. Like PT TDM, etc.

--
shut up and play your guitar * http://hankalrich.com/
http://www.youtube.com/walkinaymusic
http://www.sonicbids.com/HankandShaidri
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vdubreeze vdubreeze is offline
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Default Edgar M. Villchur, a Hi-Fi Innovator, Is Dead at 94

One of the least classy hijacking of obit threads I've seen, William.
I came in to learn more about Villchur and ended up learning about
you.,

Anyway, thanks Arny for posting that. He's one of those people where
I was familiar with the end results of his work but knew nothing about
the person behind them. I've always been fascinated by people like
him (and Raymond Kurzweil) who were more interested in solving things
than necessarily the audio stuff they were known for, and ended up
doing such incredible work for those with sensory impairments as a
result. It's one thing to create a hearing aid design and another for
it to become the standard.

And he was one of those progressive thinkers who walked the walk with
how he ran his companies.

What an incredible man.



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William Sommerwerck William Sommerwerck is offline
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"vdubreeze" wrote in message
...

One of the least classy hijacking of obit threads I've seen, William.
I came in to learn more about Villchur and ended up learning about
you.


I didn't change the subject (that I recall).


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