Here are two that are rarely mentioned but were true pioneers in audio. I had the pleasure of working with both when I was in manufacturing.
While Arnie Nudell was the face of Infinity, it was co-founder John Ulrick who stayed behind and actually designed most of the speakers. However, John should be remembered primarily as the man who introduced Class D amplification with his Swamp amplifier way back in 1976! He improved his designs when he founded Spectron, and now Class D is all over the place. John also licensed his designs to Samsung and similar companies.
The other engineer I have in mind is Ron Genereux. Ron was with Acoustic Research for many years, working on the famous “magic speaker,” turntable, and other components. Later, with the backing of Burke Mathis (President of Curtis Mathis, Pacific Stereo, Acoustic Research, etc.), they formed Cambridge Signal Technologies. Under the trade name of SigTech, they brought to market the first DSP device. It never received much attention from consumers, other than Robert Green, who still refers to his, but studios around the world became owners, including CBS.
As if one invention was not enough, Ron, Burke, and I formed another company, Sonus Research and Design, where Ron invented the very first USB-DAC, which sold under the name of Stereo-Link. I think this was in 1999. While the company is long gone, amazingly, the website is still up!
https://stereo-link.com/
