John Bowers (loudspeaker builder)

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For other persons named John Bowers , see John Bowers (disambiguation).

John Bowers (1923 – 1986), born in Worthing, UK was in special operations during World War II contacting allied resistance in occupied Europe by radio transmissions. Posted in Germany in the Royal Corps of Signals, he met Roy Wilkins. They discovered a common interest in radio and decided between them that when the war was over, they would set up a shop to supply components for amateur radio enthusiasts.

After the war, Bowers and Wilkins opened an electronics retail store in Worthing under the name Bowers And Wilkins. The business soon expanded to include television as well as radio. Rentals became a large part of the business and a service department was established to support this extra business, run by a new recruit, Peter Hayward. Almost from the start Bowers and Wilkins became involved in the supply of public address equipment to schools and churches throughout Sussex, with the result that John Bowers began to devote more and more of his time to the study, design and assembly of loudspeakers. Bowers' designs soon gained a reputation for quality, and before long a small production line was established in workshops behind the shop.

A certain Ms. Knight was very pleased with the speakers Bowers made for her, and granted him £10,000 in her will. This allowed Bowers to professionalize his speaker building activities. Together with Peter Hayward he founded Bowers & Wilkins Electronics in 1966, later to become Bowers and Wilkins Loudspeakers Ltd.

In his approach to perfect reproduction John Bowers combined feedback from recording engineers with extensive R&D and engineering. Within the company he founded a dedicated research department in 1976. His approach lead to the revolutionary 1979 Bowers & Wilkins 801 studio monitor that became a long term reference in the music recording industry.

Near his life's end, John Bowers released the John Bowers Active 1 loudspeaker under his own brand name.

In 1986, John Bowers passed away.