Bartholomew Nicholas Locanthi II (
White Plains, New York, 1919 –
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
, January 9, 1994) was an
audio engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
and leading expert in the US pro-audio industry in the 1970s and 1980s.
Education
Bart Locanthi graduated from
California Institute of Technology in 1947 with a B.S. degree in
physics.
Career
From 1947–1960, he mostly contributed to
analog computers.
Locanthi became the Vice President of Engineering at
JBL in 1960.
In the late 1960s, he developed the "T circuit", an output configuration for
solid-state power amplifier
An audio power amplifier (or power amp) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals, such as the signal from a radio receiver or an electric guitar pickup, to a level that is high enough for driving loudspea ...
s that became a standard in the industry. He received three US
patents for his pioneering work on
transistor amplifiers.
In 1975, he was named a Vice President of
Pioneer North America Development. While at Pioneer, he and his team of engineers designed the
HPM-100 loudspeaker. It was also at Pioneer that he was deeply involved in digital development during the early years of the
compact disc.
Bart Locanthi was a
Fellow of the
Acoustical Society of America and the
Audio Engineering Society
The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is a professional body for engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products ...
(AES); he was awarded posthumously the AES Gold Medal in 1996. Locanthi was active in many AES affairs, he served as papers chairman for conventions, member of the Board of Governors, and served as president (1986–1987).
Personal life
Locanthi married astronomer
Dorothy N. Davis in 1943. They had two daughters and a son.
He died on January 9, 1994, in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Locanthi, Bart N.
1919 births
1994 deaths
JBL
California Institute of Technology alumni
American audio engineers
20th-century American engineers