Transcribed from the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Volume 42, Number 3, 1994 March.

Editor's Note: When the sad news of Bart Locanthi's death reached AES members, many of his longtime friends and colleagues called headquarters. Their voices were filled with sorrow as they recalled the manner of the man and moments they had spent together. They spoke not only of his brilliance, of his being ahead of his time, but of his ability to solve problems, to be a good listener, and to be helpful. "He knew so much that you could bet your seat in heaven what he said was correct," reminisced one of his close friends. The AES grieves the loss of this intellectual, unassuming, and very gentle man.

Bart Locanthi, AES fellow, Silver Medal award winner, and former president of the society, died 1994 January 9 in Glendale, California, after a long bout with cancer. Bartholomew Nicholas Locanthi II was born in White Plains, New York, in 1919. Although his studies at California Institute of Technology were interrupted by the war, he returned there to graduate with a B.S. degree in Physics in 1947. Bart was certainly one of the most versatile audio engineers of his day. His distinguished career spanned the development of analog computers, acoustical transducers, audiophile amplifier design, and digital techniques.

From 1947 to 1953 Bart was associated with an analog computer development group at Cal Tech. It was during this time that he published a seminal paper on modeling loudspeaker performance via electrical equivalent circuits. This paper (later reprinted in the Journal in 1971) has become the foundation of most of the loudspeaker driver/enclosure programs available today.

From 1953 to 1960 he was a partner in Computer Engineering Associates, a company specializing in large scale analog computers and engineering services. In 1949 Bart had begun a long consulting association with William Thomas and James B. Lansing Sound Incorporated, and was later vice president of engineering at JBL from 1960 to 1970. Those of us at JBL are reminded every day of Bart's contribution to the art; such cone transducers as the LE-10, LE-14, and a host of large format compression drivers were all Bart's handiwork, and their progeny are mainstays in the present JBL catalog. He also developed the acoustical lens products, long a hallmark of the company.

It was during the late sixties that Bart developed the "T-Circuit", an output configuration for solid state amplifiers that has become a standard in the industry. Some of the original 20-year-old JBL consumer amplifier models embodying his circuitry now command collector's prices, especially in Japan.

I had first met Bart in New York during the late 60's. It was my pleasure to be a colleague of his at Altec Corporation when I moved to California in 1971. Bart later was associated with Cetec Gauss, a company that manufactured high-quality tape duplicaing products and professional sound components.

In 1975 at the invitation of Takeo Yamamoto, Bart joined Pioneer North America as vice president of development. Out of this association grew the notable HPM series of consumer loudspeakers and TAD series of professional transducers. Bart was also deeply involved in digital development at Pioneer during the early years of the Compact Disc. Bart officially retired from Pioneer in 1986 and formed his own consulting company, BNL Research Associates. Pioneer remained his principal client.

Active in AES affairs, Bart served as papers chairman for conventions, member of the Board of Governors, and as president (1986-1987). His major AES activity in recent years was chairmanship of the technical committee on digital audio. The significant role AES plays today in standards in this vital area is a direct result of Bart's determination and enthusiasm.

His other technical affiliations included membership in the Acoustical Society of America, of which he was a fellow, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He was also a member of the Hollywood Sapphire Group, an association of audio and recording engineers.

Bart is survived by his widow Dorothy, daughters Carol Wainwright and Jeanne McLaughlin, son Bart III, sister Rose and seven grandchildren.

Among Bart's passions were automobiles and airplanes. He was also a superb teacher. He knew his technology cold and when you approached him with a question, he would not simply give an answer; instead, he would lead you, by example and analogy, to your own answer. This we shall miss most of all.

John Eargle
JME Consulting Corp.