John Morgan Eargle (6 January 1931 in Tulsa, Oklahoma – 9 May 2007 in Hollywood, California) was an Oscar- and Grammy-winning audio engineer and a musician (piano and church and theater organ). He was the Chief Engineer for Delos International, author of seminal textbooks on audio, a consultant (and vice president of engineering) for 31 years at JBL, and past president and fellow of the Audio Engineering Society.[1]
... for the concept, design and engineering of the modern constant-directivity, direct radiator style motion picture loudspeaker systems. The work of John M. Eargle, D.B. 'Don' Keele and Mark E. Engebretson has resulted in the over 20-year dominance of constant-directivity, direct radiator bass style cinema loudspeaker systems.[2]
During his teenage years while at Texarkana High School in Arkansas, Eargle worked part-time for Paul Klipsch in Hope, Arkansas, which was about 30 miles from his home. Eargle graduated with honors from Texarkana Arkansas High School in 1948.
John Eargle was posthumously awarded a Technical GRAMMY Award in 2008 at the Special Merit Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on the evening prior to the 50th GRAMMY Awards Telecast. The Technical GRAMMY Award is presented by vote of The Recording Academy's National Trustees to individuals who have made contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field.
"John Eargle left an everlasting and profound impression on the audio industry," said Mark Gander, Vice President of Marketing, JBL Professional, who accepted the GRAMMY Award on behalf of John Eargle, along with John's niece, Cyndi Bird, and nephew and namesake, John Paul Eargle. "He was a brilliant engineer, musician, author and teacher. His 2008 Technical GRAMMY Award commemorates the industry-wide recognition of John's accomplishments, as well as the considerable time he devoted to sharing his expertise, experience and wisdom.
His brother, Robert Gray Eargle, said that John Eargle had perfect pitch.[5]
Scientific & engineering
After serving in the military, Eargle studied electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering 1962) and engineering at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Master of Engineering, 1970). His thesis at Cooper Union, under the direction of Professor Daniel M. Schutzer (born 1940), was titled Four-Channel Stereophonic Transmission Over Two Normal Audio Channels. He also studied acoustics with Cyril M. Harris (1917–2011) at Columbia University.
Eargle co-chaired with Tomlinson Holman the Audio Engineering Society Task Force on High Capacity Audio (Holman is the former Technical Director for Lucasfilm Limited where he pioneered the THX Sound System and Home THX; Holman named the most widely used multichannel sound system "5.1")
(4 vols.) Jan W. Churchwell (born 1942) (senior ed.), Louann Chaudier (assoc. ed.); 3rd ed., J. Dick & Company (1982); OCLC9895590
Note: J. Dick & Company was an Illinois entity, John Howard Dick (born 1946), founder; the company was acquired by the Thomson Corporation
(5 vols.) Barbara A. Tunucci (born 1932) (senior ed.), Louann Chaudier (assoc. ed.); 4th ed., Research Publications, J. Dick Publishing (1984); OCLC11372774
