[Possum]

For anyone who's fond of Henry Kloss' audio products, etc.:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/700007.asp?0dm=T238T

 

[Vertigo-1]

Man this is really bad news. It's always bad when a major driving force behind the audio industry as it is today leaves us forever.

Those Tivoli radios really look awesome, I think I'll get one now...since it was Henry Kloss' last contribution to us.

 

[Xevion]

 

[MacDEF]

How sad. While his stuff was never at the absolute top of the high-end, it was always VERY good stuff for the price, and a way for the average consumer to get very good sound for their money -- the kind of thing all of us here can appreciate.

My Tivoli has a bit more meaning now

 

[andrzejpw]

I think I'll pick one up

 

[Russ Arcuri]

I heard an interview with a Stereophile Magazine writer/editor(?) on the radio yesterday. He told a story about Henry Kloss. I thought the story was interesting, so I'll try to paraphrase it here.

Back in the very early days of Hi-Fi, if you wanted any semblance of bass, you had to have a single absolutely giant speaker sitting in the corner of your room. The things were commonly the size of a refrigerator, which allowed them to produce reasonable bass. The WAF (wife acceptance factor) was stretched, but since it was only one (no stereo), people truly interested in good sound could usually find the space for one. (Note: At this point in the story, the Stereophile guy apologized for promoting gender stereotypes, but said that generally it was true in those days.)

A problem happened with the advent of stereo sound -- there was no way most people could find the space for two gigantic speakers in a given room, and the WAF was much harder to overcome.

Around that time Henry Kloss invented the acoustic suspension woofer, which provided far better bass performance in a much smaller enclosure than the previous (refrigerator) designs. He would take his "small" speakers down to lower Manhattan where there was (at the time) storefront after storefront of appliance/musical gear dealers. He'd bring the small speakers into the store, and demo them. The funny part is that the store owners thought he was pulling a fast one, and refused to buy the speakers. They didn't think it was possible that such a small speaker could be producing real bass sounds.

Of course, the acoustic suspension design did eventually catch on, and the average size of a typical speaker shrunk from refrigerator size down to the size of a typical garbage pail or smaller.

Hopefully I remembered the details correctly. I was amused by the story. Losing Henry Kloss is a bad thing for audio.

 

[redshifter]

i have a 20 year old pair of advent prodigy 2 speakers (the ones with the better woofers) that i recently refoamed and restored. they have been my main speakers for that whole time and i've never seen the need to upgrade because they sound so great. advent was a kloss product and i'm sad to hear we lost him. he made some damn fine speakers in his time.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Around that time Henry Kloss invented the acoustic suspension woofer,

Actually, I believe credit for that invention goes to Edgar Villchur, who, along with Henry Kloss, started Acoustic Research back in the early 50s.
According to info on an unofficial AR site, "The first AR-1 was initially designed (and patented) by Ed Villchur. The guy who actually came up with the final-design-version of the woofer was Henry Kloss, who made it possible for the unit to be assembly line produced. Villchur held the patent, of course, and Kloss was more or less second in command when AR first got going.
Fairly early on, they split (Kloss was company presidential material, not vice-presidential material), with Henry starting KLH with two other gentlemen. Part of the separation deal was that KLH got rights to use the acoustic-suspension principle that Villchur had patented. KLH went on to make some very good loudspeaker systems, and two of the best, the KLH-6 and KLH-4, were among those that Consumer Reports lionized in 1958, along with the AR-1 and AR-2."
I'm happy to have a few of Kloss's products, including the KLH Model 18 tuner, which, 30 years later still works perfectly and pulls in an amazing number of stations. I've always wanted the Advent Model 300 Receiver........I just may have to search one out now. His designs were incredible.........he will be missed.

 

[KurtW]

Thanks guys for the info, it was sad to hear of his passing. You're correct joelongwood about the patent, I actually read it a long time ago. You're also right that he will be missed...with all of the "me-too" products out there, he was a breath of fresh air.

 

[gloom]

Whoa, joelongwood - my dad has an Advent 300 integrated, hooked up to some AR speakers. It's a beautiful piece of equipment, though I haven't a good idea of how it sounds, as I've never auditioned it extensively, or with primo gear.

He's thinking of upgrading (wants surround for movies). If he does, and he's willing to part with that ancient beast, I could contact you...

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Whoa, joelongwood - my dad has an Advent 300 integrated, hooked up to some AR speakers. It's a beautiful piece of equipment, though I haven't a good idea of how it sounds, as I've never auditioned it extensively, or with primo gear. He's thinking of upgrading (wants surround for movies). If he does, and he's willing to part with that ancient beast, I could contact you...

Thanks..............please do.

 

[Russ Arcuri]

Quote:

Originally posted by joelongwood Actually, I believe credit for that invention [The acoustic suspension woofer] goes to Edgar Villchur, who, along with Henry Kloss, started Acoustic Research back in the early 50s. [...] The guy who actually came up with the final-design-version of the woofer was Henry Kloss [...] Villchur held the patent, of course, and Kloss was more or less second in command when AR first got going.

I lost track of this thread till now. Anyhow, I was just repeating the story the Stereophile guy told. I'm absolutely sure he said Kloss invented the acoustic suspension woofer. It's possible that he invented it and Villchur, who was the president of the company, got the patent in his name. Or, the Stereophile guy got it wrong. In any case, Kloss will be missed.