Avery Fisher
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Avery Robert Fisher (March 4, 1906 – February 26, 1994) was an audio specialist who made numerous contributions to the field of sound reproduction.
[edit] Early life
Avery Fisher was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School and graduated from New York University in 1929 and subsequently worked two years in the publishing industry. During this time, Fisher, an amateur violinist, began experimenting with audio design and acoustics. By 1937, he established his first company, Philharmonic Radio. In 1945, Fisher sold the company and began his second audio company, called Fisher Radio, which marketed products of extraordinary quality and performance under the name The Fisher.
[edit] Later accomplishments
In the 1950s, Fisher invented the transistorized amplifier and the first stereo radio-phonograph. These breakthroughs brought Fisher both fame and fortune. From 1959 to 1961, his company also made important improvements in AM-FM stereo tuner design. In 1969, Fisher sold his company to the Emerson Electric Company for US $31 million, which in turn sold the company to Sanyo of Japan. Fisher was a consultant for both Emerson and Sanyo.
Fisher was a noted philanthropist during his life, sitting on the boards of the New York Philharmonic and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Fisher died at age 87 in New York City on February 26, 1994 from complications of a stroke.
Today, Avery Fisher is best known for the auditorium in the Lincoln Center cultural complex in upper Manhattan that bears his name. Avery Fisher Hall houses the New York Philharmonic, among various other cultural performances and musical ensembles. The hall was named for Fisher in 1973 after he made a US $10.5 million donation to the Philharmonic.
