RIP Jim Fosgate, Dec 9, 2022, was 85.

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RIP Jim Fosgate, Dec 9, 2022, was 77.
R.I.P. JIM

Have two of your amazing units!

https://www.stereophile.com/interviews/1204fosgate/index.html
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From the Rockford Fosgate site...

Jim Fosgate Receives Emmy Award for Development of Surround Sound for TV​

19 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGOTempe, AZ
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New York, NY, October 27, 2003 – Audio industry pioneer Jim Fosgate received a special Emmy Award during the 2003 Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards black-tie dinner ceremony at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on October 23. Fosgate was a co-recipient of the Development of Surround Sound for Television award, presented by the National television Academy for his continuing efforts to develop and refine surround technologies for television broadcast. As the holder of more than 14 patents (plus three pending) for surround audio, Fosgate is widely acknowledged to be one of the forefathers of the concept. “Everyone at Rockford is immensely proud of Jim and honored to be associated with the company he first started in the seventies,” said Gary Suttle, President and CEO, Rockford Corporation, parent company of Fosgate Audionics. “It’s due to his hard work and dedication that millions of people enjoy surround sound from their home theater systems. He literally changed the way we experience music and movie soundtracks.”
Fosgate first started working on surround technologies in 1978, leading to the introduction of the Fosgate Research TATE 101A surround processor three years later. The TATE 101A is recognized as the cornerstone of high performance, multichannel home audio. Under Fosgate’s direction, the company went on to demonstrate the first consumer-focused high separation sound demo at the January 1982 Consumer Electronics Show. More recently, Fosgate developed the surround decoding technology that is now known as Dolby Pro Logic II. “My pursuit of surround technologies that could play stereo recordings was driven by my love of music, especially older recordings,” said Fosgate. “I always wanted to hear them in flawless, multichannel audio, and wanted to share that experience with other lovers of music. “As one would expect, splitting stereo into five channels is like trying to defy the laws of physics. But, after more than 25 years, I found a way to do it right, matching the goal of performance I first set for myself in the seventies.” Fosgate Audionics is a brand name of Rockford Corporation.
Rockford Corporation is based in Tempe, Ariz. and is a publicly traded company under the NASDAQ stock symbol ROFO. Company website can be viewed at www.rockfordcorp.com.

About Rockford Corporation​

Setting the standard for excellence in the audio industry, the Rockford Corporation markets and distributes high-performance audio systems for the car, utv audio, and marine audio aftermarket and OEM market. Headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., Rockford Corporation is a publicly traded company and manufactures or distributes its products under the brand: Rockford Fosgate(R). For more information, please visit: rockfordfosgate.com.
 
Every now & then I get into one of those what ever happened to... moods. I googled for anything new on Jim Fosgate a couple of weeks ago, half expecting to find an obit. I didn't but now the news is here.

I highly respect the man & his genius. Fosgate & Scheiber will be audio heroes to me in a way Ray Dolby never could.
 
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I owned the Harmon Kardon Citation 7.0 SSP with Jim Fosgate's 6-Axis 5.1 from 2 channel processing in the mid 90's, msrp $3995 back then. It was wonderful at that time! Had the pleasure of meeting Jim at CES in the early 2000s, when he and Fosgate had on display his analog tube SSP with his 6-Axis processing.
 
I was fortunate to have a Fosgate "Gavotte II" 360⁰ Space Matrix processor in a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback, with MB Quart and JL Audio speakers, driven with a Precision Power 4x50 amplifier, and Soundstream head unit. It was the most enveloping sound I ever heard in a car. People who heard it found it a deeply religious experience; reactions ranged anywhere from "Oh my God!", to "Holy shit", but it was generally along those lines. I wish I still had it.
 
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