Originally published September 12, 2018.
Updated on October 2, 2018 with remembrance by Nelson Pass.
Siegfried Linkwitz
(November 23, 1935 – September 11, 2018)
September 11, 2018 (San Francisco Bay Area): On this day, we have lost an industry giant. Renowned audio industry veteran Siegfried Linkwitz passed away in his Sea Ranch residence on September 11, 2018 after battling prostate cancer at the age of 82. Linkwitz was the co-inventor of the Linkwitz-Riley filter widely adopted by the audio industry.
A San Francisco Bay Area resident, Siegfried Linkwitz attended the California Audio Show more than once, and his LX Mini were exhibited at the show in 2017 to noted repute; it was voted by attendees to receive the Best Value Component Award.
The Linkwitz’s moved to Sea Ranch in recent years, a northern suburb of the Bay Area and became a neighbor of Nelson Pass. I visited his previous home in the Marin County years before founding the show in 2010 and listened to his Pluto speakers. The hospitality of him and Mrs. Linkwitz is fondly remembered.
Linkwitz’s work can be further studied at his website, Linkwitz Lab.
Nelson Pass offers the following remembrance of Siegfried Linkwitz to Dagogo readers:
“I met Siegfried at an early Burning Amp Festival in San Francisco, and later had the opportunity to spend time with him at his Sea Ranch residence where he lived part time at the far end of the beach from where I live. We would spend afternoons sunning ourselves on his back deck – just two old farts talking about audio, gossiping about the industry and reminiscing about the good old days.
He was great company and a deep thinker. He knew so much, and was happy to share it, but at the same time didn’t cling to faulty ideas. Siegfried contributed freely towards advancement of audio technology. He was able to deconstruct big problems into little ones, create solutions and reassemble them into coherent concepts.
He was particularly interested in the problem of reproducing a musical experience in a limited acoustic space, and the fruits of his efforts were numerous successful designs which he freely shared with the do-it-yourself audio community.
Everyone I have met who knew Siegfried respected and loved him. He had a spirit and attitude that inspired others and benefited all.”
-Nelson Pass, October 1, 2018, Sea Ranch, CA.
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I still thrill of my memories of the voice of Joni Mitchell singing Woodstock through my Audio Artistry Vivaldi speakers. The Linkwitz crossover preserved the energy and truth of the human voice with a power that l will always carry with me.
It is no small feat for Seigfreid to balance his years working at Hewlett-Packard and launching a legendary speaker company. To his wonderful daughter and family;
“ Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be driven”. George Santayana