IF BAD SOUND WERE FATAL, AUDIO WOULD BE THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH (Paperback)

by Carolyn Davis (Author), Don Davis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
If Bad Sound Were Fatal, AudioWould be the Leading Cause of Death is about the "mind set" surrounding themost successful education idea in the audio industry, started by Don &Carolyn Davis, the founders of Synergetic Audio Concepts. Taken from over twenty years of Syn-Aud-ConNewsletters, If Bad Sound Were Fatal-- is thenon technical side of what was shared world-wide with thousands of Syn-Aud-Con"grads." It is a look at what inspired, thrilled, educated, re-directed, andentertained those on the journey to professionalism in audio and acoustics. Itis what the Davises foundinteresting, both in their own experiences and in the experiences of theirgrads. Liberally annotated with 2003comments on the original articles, it reveals the humorous,the travel experiences, philosophy, management mishaps, mistakes and myths, andis a cornucopia of shared synergetic insights on everything from audio toxylophones. There is a heavy dose ofhistory of audio giants, many of whom the Davisesknew personally, and the explosion of audio knowledge moving the audio industryout of the 1920s into the 21st century. The majority of the book canserve as an "ink blot" of diverse individuals who shared what amused,entertained and informed them. If youapproach this book logically, you're doomed to failure. It is an extreme caseof "free association" reminiscences.

About the Author
Don & Carolyn Davis form a unique husbandand wife team working in audio, starting in 1951 with The Golden Ear in Lafayette, IN, selling eclectic highfidelity equipment. Don was Paul Klipsch's Presidentin charge of Vice in the late 50s, and worked for Altec Lansing from 1959 until1972 where he was co-inventor of 1/3-octave equalization. The Davises founded Synergetic AudioConcepts in 1973 in response to the growing need in the audio industry fortraining in the fundaments of sound reinforcement. Their work in equalization,speech intelligibility and recording technologies provided the backbone fordeveloping training seminars and workshops. Don has authored three books, AcousticalTests and Measurements in 1965, How to Build Speaker Enclosures in1968, co-authored with Alex Badmaieff, which has sold over 200,000 copies, and SoundSystem Engineering, co-authored with his wife, Carolyn, in 1975. They areworking on the 3rd edition with co-author, Dr. Eugene Patronis. The authors of this book, after enduringreally poor sound quality at a meeting of a professional audio society, utteredin frustration, "If bad sound were fatal, audio would be the leading cause ofdeath." They have spent their professional careerswriting and lecturing on sound system engineering. The audio industry hasgenerously recognized their efforts as instrumental in the better sound qualitywe enjoy today. Don & Carolyn are both Fellows of the Audio EngineeringSociety and have received many awards in the audio industry. In the process of communicating with thegrads of their seminars on audio and acoustics, a quarterly Newsletter wasestablished. Most of the Newsletter was technical in nature, but also containedthe evolving mindset that bonded teachers and grads into something notoriginally expected - a fraternity of people dedicated to changing an industry.These excerpts from the Syn-Aud-ConNewsletters, annotated in 2003, go back to the beginning of these changes inthe industry up to the Davises' retirement i

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (March 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414078838
• ISBN-13: 978-1414078830
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,479,559 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of, June 18, 2004

By	Glen Ballou (Guilford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

"If Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of Death" is a delightfully entertaining and informative book with photos and graphics. The book does not have even one equation in it!

Don and Carolyn started their career in audio in 1951 with the "Golden Ear" hi-fi store. Don worked with Paul Klipsch and was Vice President of Marketing at Altec Lansing. He was co-inventor of 1/3 octave equalization which is the standard for sound system equalization today. They founded Synergetic Audio Concepts (Syn-Aud-Con) in1973 and over the years have taught thousands of people in the audio field. Through the years they met and worked with many of the audio greats of this century.

There is a chapter called "Don and Carolyn" which they tell about their experiences in watching the audio field grow. Of course any book written by Don and Carolyn Davis wouldn't be complete without stories about their many travels into Russia, Japan, Europe, Australia, and more, their pets, the joys of country living, firearms and, of course, humor. One of my favorite cartoons is of a man with a big smile on his face walking into the office of "Alfonso Construction" with a set of plans under his arm and saying "They took our low bid for that tower at Pisa".

"If Bad Sound Were Fatal, Audio Would Be the Leading Cause of Death" is a book that should be on the desk or in the bookcase of every person that is interested in audio. I highly recommend it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Finally!, June 18, 2004

By	Mario J. Maltese (Williston Park, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This book is a real gem. Don and Carolyn are the true titans of the audio, and their venture of fostering synergy throughout the industry made them the magnet for any serious audio professional or amateur. In an industry that is but a few career spans in duration, this compilation of anecdotes, curiosities, personalities, and science provides a vital insight to this industry's cultural roots. The reader will go from "Cool!", to "Hey, I never knew that!", to a deep, silent ponder. For three decades, I never stopped learning from them.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real People, October 29, 2004

By	Don Eger "Don" (Pottersville NY) - See all my reviews

What a delight to read about people with a passion for audio that seems to consume them and to learn they also love other activities! In our minds the heroes of audio are often placed on high pedestals and viewed as doing only audio. Through the stories in this book we see a fascinatingly different part of their lives. A must read for anyone interested in Heroes of the Audio Industry.