[Mary]

Edgar Villchur was one of the most impactful innovators in audio electro-acoustics. Edgar's patented/not-patented acoustic suspension principle is behind around a third (guesstimate) of speakers made today. The dome tweeter he pioneered is by far the predominant type in current use. Many turntables use a version of his "acoustic low-pass filter" suspension. He also seemed more interested in making high-performance products that most music lovers could afford rather than luxury items.
 
Edgar's approach to audio is an ideology that Frank strongly shares. High-performance and affordable luxury sound is what underpinned Frank's decision to start, what would eventually become, Audio by Van Alstine over 60 years ago.

Here is a nice bio of Edgar Villchur. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJeQMVWrMes

[jonbee]

This brings back fond memories. His acoustic suspension made nearly full range speakers both much more affordable and of practical size for average rooms. In many ways this kicked off the golden age of hifi in the 60s and 70s. Speakers, turntables, amps- all classic designs. I loved his products and thinking.

[birbygdad]

I started out in the hobby with AR5 speakers. Even now there are a set of AR 11, AR 2ax, and 4x around the house. It has been fun to refurbish those old war horses, keeping them as original as possible. The 2ax and the 4x are great to listen to as they take me back to those early days. My first good turntable was an AR also. A few years back when I decided to put together an end game (for me) system I chose Salk speakers and AVA electronics because of the obvious value and that they seemed to me to have a bit of the spirit of American manufacturers in the early days of HiFi. I'm sure that there are many old HiFi nuts out there with similar experiences. We can still hear!