Recorded concerts with a half-page article with pictures, providing free publicity for AR, in which they said that audiences were fooled over and over by the seamless transitions between live performance and sound reproduced through the AR speakers.Īs president of AR, Villchur was known for progressive employment practices and innovative advertising techniques. The Washington Post featured the Live vs. ![]() Musicians participating in these concerts included the Fine Arts String Quartet and classical guitarist Gustavo Lopez, as well as performances on a thirty-two foot pipe organ and an old-fashioned nickelodeon. In keeping with that philosophy, AR produced a series of “Live versus Recorded” concerts in which live performances by musical ensembles were compared with previously taped performances played through AR stereo equipment. One of his strongly held views was that the only appropriate criterion to determine the quality of high-fidelity components was comparison with the actual live music in performance. Villchur continued to do research, production design, and technical writing during his tenure as president of AR. Virtually every loudspeaker today uses Villchur’s innovations: Acoustic Suspension Woofers and Dome Tweeters. An example of this model is on display in the Information Age Exhibit of The National Museum of American History at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The AR-3, which combined the acoustic suspension woofer with the dome tweeter, is considered Villchur’s ultimate achievement in speakers. This greatly improved high-frequency fidelity by its smooth response and wide dispersion of sound, and complemented the acoustic suspension woofer’s improved bass response. 3,033,045 for his invention of the direct-radiator dome tweeter. Villchur continued to research improvements in sound reproduction, turning his attention to the tweeter. Of the four speakers that received the check rating, two were made by AR, and two were made by KLH under license from AR. The AR-2 was one of only four speakers that received the Check Rating for highest quality, regardless of price. The independent testing agency Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, did a report on loudspeakers that year. The AR-2, produced in 1956, was a no-frills version of the speaker at a lower price. Villchur continued to improve loudspeakers, coming out with new models roughly every two years. The first acoustic-suspension loudspeaker, the AR-1, was introduced at the New York Audio Show in 1954, and was an instant success. Villchur decided not to contest the loss of his loudspeaker patent, but rather to move on and continue improving the quality of high fidelity equipment. Armstrong spent years unsuccessfully fighting that injustice, and eventually committed suicide. He cited the example of Edwin Howard Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio, whose patent was rendered unprofitable through the actions of RCA. In an interview about the case, Villchur says that he knew the judge’s decision to void the patent was incorrect, but that he felt he had better things to do than to spend his life in litigation. The ensuing lawsuit resulted in the loss of the patent for Acoustic Research, a decision which Villchur chose not to appeal. Electro-Voice countersued, claiming prior art in the form of a mention of an air spring in a different system. ![]() ![]() When the Electro-Voice Company refused to pay the royalties, AR sued them for patent infringement. At first they did so under license to AR, paying royalties to use the principles of Villchur’s patent. Over the next two decades, all major loudspeaker manufacturers gradually changed from mechanical to acoustic suspension. The partnership lasted until 1957, when Kloss left to form KLH, manufacturing loudspeakers using Villchur’s acoustic suspension principle, under license from AR. Kloss had a loft in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he was making loudspeaker cabinets, and the two men became business partners in Acoustic Research, Inc. Villchur decided that since the established manufacturers were not interested in the invention, the only way to make it available to the public was to go into business producing the new speaker. One of his students at NYU, Henry Kloss, listened to Villchur’s explanation of acoustic suspension and agreed that a speaker built on this principle would be a major improvement in hi-fi sound reproduction. ![]() 2,775,309, granted to Edgar Villchur and assigned to Acoustic Research in 1956. AR was established to produce the $185 model AR-1, a loudspeaker design incorporating the acoustic suspension principle based on patent US No. (AR) was founded in 1952 and incorporated on August 10, 1954, by audio pioneer, writer, inventor, researcher and audio-electronics teacher Edgar Villchur and his student, Henry Kloss.
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