source : Walter O. Stanton
"Walter O. Stanton
Amy Harmon, New York TimesApril 23, 2001
2001-04-23 04:00:00 PDT Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. -- Walter O. Stanton, the inventor of an easily replaceable phonograph stylus that was key to creating a consumer market for audio equipment, died April 16 in Palm Beach Gardens. He was 86.
In the late 1940s Mr. Stanton's slide-in stylus made it possible for users to replace the needle assembly when it wore out, instead of having to send it back to the factory. Audiophiles snapped them up for home use, and the invention became one of the basics in phonograph cartridge design.
But Mr. Stanton was as much a salesman as he was an engineer. In 1950, he bought Pickering & Co., the audio component manufacturer that first sold his patented stylus. A decade later he founded another company, Stanton Magnetics, which was one of the first American companies to make and sell magnetic cartridges that improved sound quality and allowed for a less-expensive product in the 1970s. Both companies had operations in Plainview, N.Y., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Rather than sell the phonograph as one big console, Mr. Stanton was one of the first to separate the electronics, turntable and cartridges and sell them separately to consumers. To do that effectively, he prodded the major manufacturers to arrive at standards for the mounting systems for cartridges and the type of recording on vinyl records. He served as president of the Audio Engineering Society and was inducted into the Audio Hall of Fame, family members said.
In his effort to broaden the market for audio components, Mr. Stanton helped found the Institute of High Fidelity, whose annual trade shows in Manhattan attracted crowds of gadget-lovers. In 1967, complaining that too many women still thought of audio equipment as "assorted pieces of gear lying about connected by all kinds of wires," he set up five rooms at the New York National Design Center to illustrate how music could be integrated into home decor.
Mr. Stanton was born in Canton, Ohio, and graduated from Wayne State University's School of Electrical Engineering in 1939. While there, he set up one of the first student radio stations in the country. During World War II, Mr. Stanton was involved in the design and creation of mechanisms for aerospace applications.
A dynamic, hard-driving businessman, Mr. Stanton was known for holding outings on his boat near his longtime home in Laurel Hollow, N.Y., and playing jokes on employees. He ran both of his companies until retiring in 1998, having forged new business in the compact disc era by selling headphones and speakers and having fostered the resurgence of the disc jockey market for his cartridges.
John Kuykendall, who worked for Mr. Stanton for 23 years and is still vice president for operations at Stanton Magnetics, said that Mr. Stanton was able to draw people together for common goals and inspire employees to achieve their ambitions.
"One thing you did know was who ran the company," Kuykendall said. "He never let you doubt that."
Written By
Amy Harmon"
Related links :
The Brush on Pickering and Stanton carts
Let's talk about Pickering V-15 and Stanton 500 carts...
Pickering XV-15
https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=158.0
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