HOME THEATER GEEKS PODCAST

Podcast 90: Kevin Voecks

Scott Wilkinson  |  Dec 6, 2011

Kevin Voecks, speaker designer and manager of product development for Harman's Luxury Audio group, returns to the podcast to talk about box speakers versus dipole designs such as electrostats, speaker and subwoofer placement in a room, the importance of first reflections, Harman's new QuantumLogic Surround upmixing algorithms, the placement of multiple height speakers, in-wall/ceiling versus on-wall/ceiling speakers, answers to chat-room questions, and more.

Run Time: 56:23

Click here to listen to this podcast.

Kevin Voecks' background includes a mixture of engineering, manufacturing, and retailing high-end audio, dating back to high school, when he imported and sold high-end audio from his parents' home. Kevin founded "Natural Sound," a high-end audio store in Framingham, Massachusetts, in 1975 while attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, one of the few schools to offer specialization in audio engineering at the time.

Kevin became a Mark Levinson dealer in 1976, which began a long association with the brand. Kevin sold the retail store and began Symdex, a small high-end loudspeaker company. Kevin later sold Symdex and joined Mirage as Chief Engineer, designing all of their models for several years. He joined Snell Acoustics as Chief Engineer in 1984, shortly after Peter Snell's untimely death, and designed their entire product line for many years. While at Snell, Kevin utilized the Canadian National Research Council's famed loudspeaker research facilities headed by Dr. Floyd Toole.

In January 1996, Dr. Sidney Harman announced the formation of Revel, with Kevin to be responsible for the technical aspects of the company. Dr. Harman announced that the company would be dedicated solely to advancing the state of the art in loudspeakers and producing the world's finest loudspeakers. Revel is in a unique position as a high-end perfectionist loudspeaker company with the incomparable research, engineering, and financial resources of Harman International Industries. Kevin is now involved with product development for Mark Levinson, JBL Synthesis, and Lexicon in addition to Revel.

Here's the video of this podcast:

COMMENTS
WazNeeni's picture
Submitted by WazNeeni on December 9, 2011 - 5:14pm

I must have listened to this episode 4 or more times. Almost 3 times all the way thru, along w/ countless rewinds to catch something I missed.

SpeakerMan's picture
Submitted by SpeakerMan on December 14, 2011 - 9:09am

Scott - We love in-depth (geeky) stuff about amps and speakers and enjoy hearing from the Harman guys, Nelson Pass, Phil Clements, etc. Like you say, "The geekier, the better !"

Keep it coming and thanks for your program !