Edgar Villchur, inventor of acoustic suspension speaker technology and the original audiophile turntable (AR-XA), upon which the LP-12 was based, died Monday, October 17, 2011, in his home in Woostock, New York. He was 94. Audiophiles have hailed Mr. Villchur as a seminal figure in the field. In its 50th-anniversary issue in 2006, Hi-Fi News ranked him No. 1 among the “50 Most Important Audio Pioneers.” John Atkinson, the editor of Stereophile magazine, credits him with bringing hi-fi into the home. His inventions, the acoustic suspension loudspeaker and the first audiophile turntable (upon which the LP-12 was based) were groundbreaking in their day, and top all-time "best of" lists consistently year after year. The AR-XA was recently named amongst the top 100 Most Important Audio Components Of All Time by Stereophile magazine as was the LP-12, #5 and #1, respectively. Sad to see the pioneers go one by one, as it is sad to see the old blues cats dying off as well over the years.
