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A HISTORICAL LOOK AT
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Posted by Keith Clark | Jan 21, 2015 | Analog Audio,
Treating
Audio Technology, Development Of Audio
Painted
Technology, Early History, Hardware, Hardware Acoustic Tile
Technologies, History and Business of Audio, Ceilings to be
History Of Professional Audio, Installed Sound, Live Sound
Reflecting
Sound, Loudspeakers, Manufacturers,
Microphones, MIxers & Mixing Consoles, Systems
Analysis Software | 0 Comments on
“G,” a Measure
of Loudness
A Historical Look At Electro-Voice Comments on

the importance
of the early-to-
reverberant
sound-energy
By Keith Clark ratio, “Clarity,”
in speech and
music
Editor’s note: This article was written in 2005. acoustics,
related to use
In 1927, Al Kahn and Lou Burroughs established the of sound-
reflecting
company Radio Engineers in the basement of the
panels with
Century Tire and Rubber Company in South Bend, attention to
Indiana. At this site they first began producing data in Dr. Leo
microphones to use in their PA systems, and later L. Beranek’s
three concert-
to sell to people who couldn’t but them any other hall books.
way.
http://proaudioencyclopedia.com/a-historical-look-at-electro-voice/ Page 1 of 18
Kahn: “Lou Burroughs and I began an association

The Early-To-
that has been devoted to problem-solving, filled Reverberant
with excitement and a great deal of fun.” Sound-Energy
Ratio In
Concert Hall
During the early months of 1930, Knute Rockne, the
Acoustics
legendary football coach of the University of Notre
Dame, was recovering from an illness that made it
An
difficult for him to supervise activities on the four
Autobiographic
practice fields just south of the university. Kahn and al Assessment
Burroughs were asked to design a public address of the
system to solve the problem. Importance of
the Early-to-
Reverberant
A tower was built overlooking all four fields and the Sound-Energy
talented duo designed a four-loudspeaker system Ratio, “Clarity,”
in Speech
with a microphone and switching mechanism by
Acoustics.
which Rockne could bark training orders to each of
the four squads.
By some accounts, Rockne referred to the system
CATEGORIE
as his “electric voice,” and is credited with inspiring S
the name for the new company.
Select Category
Incorporated on July 1, 1930, Electro-Voice was
involved heavily in installation and rental of public
address systems for churches and other public
buildings. Politicians especially had become aware OUR
of the power of the microphone to increase their AUTHORS
reach, and demanded ever more powerful PA
systems.
Microphones were originally manufactured only for CHRIS

EV’s own use, but within a few years the balance FOREMAN
had shifted and manufacturing microphones for 5 Posts
sale to others had become the more important part

of the business.
Kahn: “The Great Depression was a wonderful time. DAVID

You had to fight for everything you got. I can’t think KLEPPER
of a better time to have begun a company, because 14 Posts
if you established the base during those years, you
had a good start when the recovery came.”
In 1934, EV made a technological breakthrough that

gave them a tremendous edge. While going through
some old technical journals, Kahn had stumbled
upon what he calls “an ancient watt meter – DAVID READ 1
Post
patented in 1892 or thereabouts” which had a
balanced winding to cancel hum from the stray 60
Hz fields that the watt meter might pick up.
As he described it, “A little light bulb went off above GUEST

my head, and I rushed back… got some tin snips, AUTHOR
cut some laminations out, and I made a 0 Posts
transformer and put it in and it worked!”
Thus, the humbucking coil was born, and solved a

major problem for microphone users. According to
SPEAKAV 2
an early EV catalog, the V-1 velocity microphone
Posts
“can be used within 18 inches of a power supply or
within two inches of an AC line. No other velocity
mic in its price field has this feature at the present
time.” It was a major step forward for the industry,
and for EV.
Burroughs and Kahn continued their efforts to

improve both the product and the manufacturing
techniques and in 1935 they developed a method
for stretching dynamic mic diaphragms before
assembly.
The manufacturing economies that resulted caused

a dramatic drop in mic prices, providing another
competitive advantage for EV. The company had
shown that it was, indeed, in the business of
manufacturing first-quality microphones.
By 1938, Kahn’s company had produced several

hand-held dynamic mic designs. The Model 600 was
described in EV product literature as offering “Blast-
proof high fidelity, close talking… ideal for sports
announcing, mobile PA, aircraft, police and general
PA and communication work.”
Business grew steadily while Kahn and Burroughs

spent much of their time traveling – “converting
people to our marvelous microphones throughout
the country.” This growing success continued
through the years of World War II, a time during
which the company made a vast number of
advancements in microphone and transducer
design.
After WWII and the subsequent the successes the

company’s products allowed U.S. military forces,
Kahn and Burroughs’ company only continued to
grow.
Now, in 2005, the fledgling enterprise that began in

the basement of the Century Tire and Rubber
Company is a fully realized leader in pro audio
equipment design and manufacturing.
Electro-Voice Timeline: 1927 – 2001
1927: Al Kahn and Lou Burroughs found Radio

Engineers in the basement of the Century Tire &
Rubber Company, South Bend, Indiana. Company
focus is radio retail, service and repair. Within a
year, it is the largest radio service shop in the city.
Lou Burroughs (second from left) and Al Kahn

(center) with the crew of Century Tire & Rubber in
1927.
1929: Suffering greatly from the economic

depression that began with the stock market crash
in October, 1929, attention turned to the business
of providing audio systems.
1930: The company develops a portable public

address system for legendary Notre Dame football
coach Knute Rockne, allowing him to communicate
with four practice fields from a tower. He dubs this
system his “Electric Voice” which was adapted as the
company’s new name: Electro-Voice. Also around
this time, Burroughs leaves the company.
Knute Rockne and his “electric voice” pictured in the

South Bend Tribune.
1930: Overcoming the biggest obstacle in the

portable PA system business – acquiring quality
microphones – Electro-Voice sets up a microphone
manufacturing operation, turning out units at the
rate of one per week.
1934: Kahn develops the first microphone

humbucking coil. This innovation helped nullify
stray electromagnetic (AC) interference. Kahn
unearthed a watt meter design from the 1890s and
adapted the concept to cancel hum in mics created
by stray 60 Hz fields. The coil was first included in
the EV V-1 velocity microphone.
The EV V-1 Velocity microphone, which employed the

first humbucking coil.
1935: Kahn develops a method of stretching

dynamic mic diaphragms before assembly,
resulting in a manufacturing economy that caused a

dramatic drop in price.
1936: EV now employs 20 people, and Burroughs

returns as chief engineer.
1938: The company offers several handheld

dynamic microphone models. Kahn and Burroughs
travel extensively to promote EV microphones as
well as to collect market research for future
designs. Burroughs continued his extensive travel
through the remainder of his career, with his trips
dubbed “Dr. Burroughs Medicine Show.”
Lou Burroughs in the midst of one of his memorable

(and many) presentations.
1942: At the outset of World War II, radio

communications in combat situations had an
estimated success rate of 20 percent. Microphones
picked up more battle noise than human voice. EV
designed a mic using a 180-degree phase shift to
cancel background noise and engineered it to be
attached to the helmet and rest on the lips. Dubbed
the T-45, this mic raised the success rate to at least
90 percent.
The T-45 “lip microphone” developed for the military.
1942-45: Noise-cancelling mic production required

by the military increases production at EV. Number
of employees soars to 500, daily production peaks
at 2,500, with total production close to 1 million.
1945: Burroughs receives a special citation from the

U.S. war department for the T-45 microphone. Kahn
is told by a Marine Corps officer that the historic
landing at Guadalcanal was held up several weeks
until troops could be equipped with the mic in
order to reduce casualties.
1946: EV transfers operation to facilities in

Buchanan, Michigan, later expanded several times.
The company remained at the facility for almost 60
years.
EV manufacturing in Buchanan, Michigan.
1946: Burroughs develops Acoustalloy, a synthetic

plastic applied to the aluminum diaphragms used in
dynamic mics at the time, resulting in improved
sound quality. Rather than disclose the nature of
Acoustalloy in a patent, the synthetic formula was
retained as a trade secret.
1946: EV establishes one of the first anechoic

chambers outside of a research laboratory at the
Buchanan facility.
1948: Photograph cartridges are added to the

product line.
Late 1940s: Kahn is directly involved with the

beginnings of Heathkit in Benton Harbor, Michigan,
donating a train car of surplus electronic parts that
become the foundation of the O1 oscilloscope,
Heathkit’s first electronic project.
1950: EV begins manufacture of home hi-fi

loudspeakers, quickly becoming one of the largest
suppliers in the U.S.
Congratulations are in order for the first model of a

new hi-fi loudspeaker coming off the EV assembly
line, circa 1956.
1953: Introduction of Variable-D microphone

technology, which reduces proximity effect.
1959: A 30-inch woofer, the model 30W, is

introduced by EV, used in the Patrician Series of
home hi-fi speakers.
EV logo and branding from the 1950s through the

early 1980s.
Late 1950s – 1970s: EV microphones are a staple of

space flight, beginning with early Mercury and
Gemini missions through Skylab space station. Both
mics and speakers served Skylab during its six-year
orbit, performing without failure despite a lost heat
shield.
Early 1960s: The EV 643 “monster mic” is

introduced. Six feet long, it is highly successful in
picking up distant sounds and becomes a standard
at presidential press conferences, political
conventions and athletic events where conventional
mics can’t handle the distance problem.
The EV 643, a shotgun mic measuring 6 feet long.
1963: EV receives an Academy Awards “Oscar” for

the development of the model 642 Cardiline,
another long-range mic. The award, in part, read
“To Electro-Voice for a highly directional dynamic
line microphone… capable of picking up sound in
situations where a microphone cannot be placed
close to the sound source and where unwanted
sounds are to be discriminated against.”
1965: Electro-Voice builds and opens two new

production plants Tennessee, one in Sevierville and
the other in Newport.
1966: A new anechoic chamber, one of the largest

in the U.S., is built at the Buchanan facility.
The anechoic chamber at EV in Buchanan built in the

mid-1960s.
1967: With gross annual sales approaching $20

million, EV is acquired by Gulton Industries.
1968: The RE20 microphone is introduced, quickly

becoming a standard in studio and broadcast
applications, and later, it is utilized in sound
reinforcement for low-frequency applications such
as kick drum, where its Variable D technology
rejects excessive bass boost.
The EV RE20, a unique microphone that serves many

roles.
1968: After retiring from Electro-Voice, Kahn

establishes Ten-Tec, a manufacturer of ham radio
equipment, in a new building erected across the
street from EV’s Sevierville plant.
Early 1970s: EV pioneers the use of holographic

interferometry (laser technology) to study the
motion of mic diaphragms. Initial efforts in this
regard are done with the University of Michigan,

with EV later bringing the laser testing process in-
house.
Utilizing laser technology in new product

development.
1972: The company is the first to include Thiele-

Small parameters on woofer specification sheets,
for user determination of enclosure characteristics
and frequency response.
1973: EV develops “constant directivity” (CD) horn

technology for dramatically improved high-
frequency performance and control. Also, EV is the
first to publish full sets of third-octave polar
responses for horns.
1974: EV introduces the 100S Entertainer, a molded

plastic portable loudspeaker system that proves
immensely popular.
1974: Lou Burroughs’ textbook, “Microphones:

Design and Application” is published, and still
serves as a valuable reference source to this day.
The Burroughs book is available on Amazon.com.
Late 1970s: EV/Gulton acquire TAPCO, a company

founded by Greg Mackie and specializing in the
development of innovative pro audio electronic
products, mixers in particular. TAPCO products
become a mainstay of the EV line, both individually
and within packaged portable PA systems such as
the Entertainer.
The EV/TAPCO 100M powered mixer at the heart of

every Entertainer system.
1980: The company’s patent count surpasses 160.
1985: EastVAMP, a high-accuracy graphic technique

for determining loudspeaker coverage, is made
available to customers.
1986: EV introduces a neodymium-based (N/DYM)

magnet structure in microphone design, resulting in
extended frequency response and increased power
output. The concept is quickly duplicated by other
manufacturers and later finds its way into
compression drivers.
N/DYM mics, the first to utilize neodymium magnet

structures.
1986: Mark IV Industries acquires Gulton Industries,

which now includes EV, Altec Lansing, University
Sound, Cetec Vega and other leading
manufacturers. These companies are formed into
the Mark IV Audio Group.
1987: EV introduces Manifold Technology – the use

of multiple drivers on single horns – found in the
company’s MT-4 concert loudspeakers. The
innovation helps the company enter the concert
touring market.
Product design engineer Dave Carlson introducing

the MT-4 concert loudspeaker system.
1988: EV opens a new 28,000-square-foot research

and development facility located in downtown
Buchanan. The facilities accommodates CAD,
holography, laser-based analysis, Fast Fourier
testing (FFT), time-energy-frequency testing and

more.
1990: Electronically controlled DeltaMax

loudspeaker systems introduced.
1990: EV and Altec Lansing jointly release

AcoustaCADD room modeling software, a popular
system design tool until overtaken by competitive
versions.
Screenshot of AcoustaCADD, early measurement

software produced jointly by EV and Altec Lansing.
1992: MH Series horns are introduced,

incorporating both constant directivity and
Manifold Technology.
1997: Mark IV Audio, which now includes leading

manufacturers such as Klark Teknik, DDA and
Midas in addition to EV, is purchased by Greenwich
Street Capital Partners, a New York investment
fund.
1997: The X-Array concert loudspeaker series is

introduced, outfitted with new Ring Mode
Decoupling (RMD) technology. The series makes its
debut on the Rolling Stones “Bridges To Babylon”
stadium tour. RMD becomes a staple of EV high-end
loudspeakers for live and installed applications.
EV X-Array on tour with AC/DC.
1999-2001: EV is merged with Telex

Communications, another Greenwich Partners
company. R&D, finance, accounting, sales and
marketing operations are transferred to Telex
headquarters in Burnsville, Minnesota.
Manufacturing continues in Buchanan, with a staff
of approximately 170 people.
2006: EV and Telex are acquired by Robert Bosch

GmbH (Bosch), and remain headquartered at the
Burnsville facility. The EV manufacturing facility in
Buchanan closes.
Present (2015): EV continues to serve the live sound

and fixed installation markets with a product line of
loudspeakers, microphones and electronics. A focus
on portable loudspeakers has led to a leadership
position in that market, while the next generation X-
Line Advance family of line array loudspeakers have
been unveiled.
Related articles:
The State Of EV In 1953, By Founder Al Kahn
Interview: Jim Long On 40-Plus Years With EV
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A Historical Look At Electro-Voice | Pro Audio Encyclopedia 2/5/20, 10(18 PM

TRENDING: Stan Miller, Engineer/Innovator – Continuing To E... SEARCH

HOME ABOUT AUDIO COMPONENTS AUDIO TECHNOLOGY

A Historical Look At Electro-Voice Comments on

Kahn: “Lou Burroughs and I began an association

Microphones were originally manufactured only for CHRIS

sale to others had become the more important part

Kahn: “The Great Depression was a wonderful time. DAVID

In 1934, EV made a technological breakthrough that

As he described it, “A little light bulb went oﬀ above GUEST

transformer and put it in and it worked!”

Thus, the humbucking coil was born, and solved a

Burroughs and Kahn continued their eﬀorts to

The manufacturing economies that resulted caused

By 1938, Kahn’s company had produced several

Business grew steadily while Kahn and Burroughs

After WWII and the subsequent the successes the

Now, in 2005, the ﬂedgling enterprise that began in

Electro-Voice Timeline: 1927 – 2001

1927: Al Kahn and Lou Burroughs found Radio

Lou Burroughs (second from left) and Al Kahn

1929: Suﬀering greatly from the economic

1930: The company develops a portable public

Knute Rockne and his “electric voice” pictured in the

1930: Overcoming the biggest obstacle in the

1934: Kahn develops the ﬁrst microphone

The EV V-1 Velocity microphone, which employed the

1935: Kahn develops a method of stretching

resulting in a manufacturing economy that caused a

1936: EV now employs 20 people, and Burroughs

1938: The company oﬀers several handheld

Lou Burroughs in the midst of one of his memorable

1942: At the outset of World War II, radio

The T-45 “lip microphone” developed for the military.

1942-45: Noise-cancelling mic production required

1945: Burroughs receives a special citation from the

1946: EV transfers operation to facilities in

EV manufacturing in Buchanan, Michigan.

1946: Burroughs develops Acoustalloy, a synthetic

retained as a trade secret.

1946: EV establishes one of the ﬁrst anechoic

1948: Photograph cartridges are added to the

Late 1940s: Kahn is directly involved with the

1950: EV begins manufacture of home hi-ﬁ

Congratulations are in order for the ﬁrst model of a

1953: Introduction of Variable-D microphone

1959: A 30-inch woofer, the model 30W, is

EV logo and branding from the 1950s through the

Late 1950s – 1970s: EV microphones are a staple of

Early 1960s: The EV 643 “monster mic” is

The EV 643, a shotgun mic measuring 6 feet long.

1963: EV receives an Academy Awards “Oscar” for

1965: Electro-Voice builds and opens two new

1966: A new anechoic chamber, one of the largest

The anechoic chamber at EV in Buchanan built in the

1967: With gross annual sales approaching $20

1968: The RE20 microphone is introduced, quickly

The EV RE20, a unique microphone that serves many

1968: After retiring from Electro-Voice, Kahn

Early 1970s: EV pioneers the use of holographic

regard are done with the University of Michigan,

Utilizing laser technology in new product