RIP Paul Stewart Tyler

[Colin James Wonfor]

Today I found out my friend from the 1970,s Paul as I knew him died,
Paul and I first met when he wanted his own amplifiers, we called them ProAc Magnum and these were the foundations of the world class Magnum product designed by me in the early days.
He introduced me to what would be my Inca Tech distributor in Italy Giuseppe and to John Michael of the beautiful turntable fame, both the dear friends have know gone. I will miss seeing Pauls welcoming face at show and he will be missed by thousands.

R.I.P. my dear friend and mentor I will miss seeing and chatting with you.

 

[Frank Dernie]

RIP Stewart.
CELEF and ProAc have been part of my musical enjoyment for around 40 years.
My ProAc EBS are sitting in front of me in my study as I type.
I shall be playing them a lot today.

 

[Frank Dernie]

My first experience of a "high end" system was in London in 1980 or 81, I forget.
I had gone to Imperial College to test a wind tunnel model which I was using to check out the accuracy of the wind tunnel I was installing at work.
It was not as intense a test as we were used to having there and since the correlation between wind tunnels was good I decided to take my technician out for a curry in South Kensington, my old stamping ground from 10 years earlier.
Opposite my old favourtite curry restaurant was a new HiFi shop so after we had eaten I decided to go in since the work at Imperial wasn't that pressing.

We listened to a system I have never forgotten it was a bit of a "road to Damascus" moment.
It was pre-CD obviously and their system was an Oracle turntable, I forget which arm but a Koetsu Rosewood cartridge a Beard Pre and 100 watt valve power amp into ProAc EBS speakers.
It was way more enjoyable than anything else I had heard.

It was way outside my price range then but I eventually bough a used pair of EBS speakers and now have them in my study.
One of the bass drivers needs a service though, I get the occasional buzz

 

[restorer-john]

@Colin James Wonfor , I'm very sorry to hear you have lost a dear friend.

A very famous brand- I remember some Pro-Acs from the 80s I liked back in the day. I think it was ProAc 2s. Like these.

 

[McFly]

Had years of enjoyment from my ProAcs. R.I.P. and thankyou.

 

[restorer-john]

Had years of enjoyment from my ProAcs.

Tablettes?

 

[DSJR]

The one lasting memory I have of his skills is that he could use all manner of drivers together and get a broadly similar sound from them.

 

[McFly]

Tablettes?

Studios. Never heard the tablettes, I bet they're good though.

Looks like a few of the response variants were darlings of stereophile in the 90s/00s. Haven't read of anyone disliking a ProAc tbh, even on forums.

 

[restorer-john]

Many of the absolute luminaries and pioneers of high fidelity have understandably left this world. It doesn't change their contribution, their legacy or their often incredible insight.

Sure, things move on, but I wish there was so much more acknowledgement of their work, especially where so many modern contemporaries claim "breakthroughs" when they are merely standing on the shoulders of those giants.

 

[Colin James Wonfor]

"Many of the absolute luminaries and pioneers of high fidelity have understandably left this world. It doesn't change their contribution, their legacy or their often incredible insight.

Sure, things move on, but I wish there was so much more acknowledgement of their work, especially where so many modern contemporaries claim "breakthroughs" when they are merely standing on the shoulders of those giants. "

Spot on John.

 

[thewas]

Haven't read of anyone disliking a ProAc tbh, even on forums.

The perfect company or product is an utopia, had bought a pair of ProAc Studio 130 approximately 15 years ago and they were some of the few loudspeakers I resold immediately after.

 

[AdamG]

My deepest condolences for your loss Colin! A sad day Sir!

 

[dougi]

I still own shells of 90s Tablette IIIs and recently sold my response D2s. They were both very enjoyable to listen to and to look at and own. He certainly left a legacy.

 

[Colin James Wonfor]

The Boss of Hifi Haven sent me this and this is the same jacket he wore when we first met.