Kenneth Kantor
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Kenneth L. Kantor |
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Kenneth L. Kantor is an audio designer and businessman who helped shape the modern loudspeaker industry through a series of innovative products and technologies.[citation needed] He has been profiled in the New York Times, been a guest on multiple radio and television venues and has appeared in dozens of interviews from Forbes to Rolling Stone.[citation needed]
Psychoacoustics (the human perception of sound) were of particular interest to Kantor, and this became the underpinnings of much of the design work he has done for several companies.
Career[edit]
Beginning in 1983 Kantor was director of advanced research and development for Acoustic Research, at the time among the world's largest loudspeaker manufacturers.[citation needed] He introduced a number of innovations, including the adaptive digital signal processor (or ADSP, the world's first digital signal processor room correction system), and the first psycho-acoustically enhanced loudspeaker system, the "Magic Speaker".[citation needed]
In 1986 Kantor co-founded and became executive vice president of Now Hear This (NHT), a successful speaker company, based on "Focused Image Geometry", a fundamental new psycho-acoustic technology. He played a key role in formulation of the business, marketing and product development efforts. Other designs include the SuperZero, the first affordable, high end bookshelf speaker;[1] the industry's first complete, matched home theater system; and a patent for in-ceiling loudspeakers that dramatically improved off-axis frequency response. In 1990 NHT was sold to International Jensen, where Kantor was promoted to Vice President of Technology.
Kantor was a founder, CTO, and Senior Research Fellow for Tymphany Corporation. His principal invention was a driver design that solved performance issues from small form factor speakers targeted at the OEM car audio and television markets.[citation needed]
Kantor founded ZT Amplifiers, a musical instrument amplifier company. ZT uses proprietary DSP and amplifier technologies in a product line it imports from China.
References[edit]
- ^ Corey Greenberg (January 1994). "NHT SuperZero loudspeaker & SW2 subwoofer". Stereophile Magazine.
- http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/232/
- http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/nht_a20.htm
- http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1293nht/
- http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/08/71480
- http://www.onhifi.com/product/nht_m00.htm
- Ken Kantor, "DSP In Audio Technology: The Promise, Reality and Future of Digital Signal Processing." Audio Magazine, Dec 1996.
- Ken Kantor, "50 Years of Loudspeakers." Audio Magazine, May 1997.
External links[edit]
- kenkantor.com - official personal site
- ztamplifiers.com
- tymphany.com
- nhthifi.com - Now Hear This official site
- acoustic-research.com - Acoustic Research official site
- Ken Kantor Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2013)