Designer Hall of Fame


There are many great designers out there, and especially in the lore from the golden age, but I'm not to familiar with them. I thought it might be interesting to discuss some of the great designers for engineering skill and knowledge, business integrity, and ultimatley quality of their products. My short list a "hall of fame" if you will of designers working today are:

Nelson Pass, Pass Labs
Charles Hansen, Ayre
Roger Modjeski, Music Reference
Ken Stevens, Convergent Audio Technolgy (CAT)
Kevin Hayes, VAC

and how could I leave Jeff Rowland off? Well it is a short list. Who would you nominate?
pubul57
Myself off course (i m joking ) .

I would suggest Andy payor of rockport for speakers and turntables , by the way ,i ve never heard them as there is no dealer/importer in holland , its just the way things are made .

For amps and digital mr Yamada from zanden audio , as his amps sound wonderful
I'd nominate any of the builders of Chinese built products that perform way above their market value, i.e., Prima Luna, or the Grant Fidelity 3400B SET integ...toss in a pair of Shuguang Treasure black 300B's into the GF and it will compete with virtually anything mentioned thus far. Before trashing the suggestion try it against your mega dollar setup and you'll hear what I mean. I don't use the integ often, but it's the one component in a system that has a revolving door for components that I've never considered parting with for its performance/price is far too good to part with. Which is a lot more than I can say for many a high priced ticket item I've owned from many manufacturer's on the initial list of this thread.
Coltrane - I believe the OP was referring to great designers of audio equipment, not great designers of a shop floor and workforce to keep costs down. My understanding of just about all the stuff coming out of China is that it was copied from existing designs. Unless I'm mistaken on that point, the 'designers' of the products you mentioned do not get my vote.
Sebrof - Any designer that can produce a product that produces 'the goods' as the two products I've mentioned definitely gets my vote - for the bottom line is what does it sound like? The two products I've cited deserve mentioning if for nothing other than it's no easy trick to accomplish. I understand how difficult it is for some to get beyond buying labels. I listen to results, not labels.

Do I own more expensive gear, yes to be certain. Do I need to spend X amount of dollars to achieve enjoyable sound? These are but two products I've owned that prove I don't...if that's not a design achievement worth recognition what is!

Of course an open minded person would rather experience the product first hand before passing judgement and categorizing it based upon some obvious bias. It may only be my experience but one can deny themselves so much of what life has to offer by possessing a closed mind.