Roy Cizek
Roy R. Cizek (January 29, 1943 – April 12, 1993) was an American inventor, Hi-Fi designer, and manufacturer.
Roy R. Cizek | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 29, 1943 |
| Died | April 12, 1993 |
As founder of the "Cizek Audio System" in Andover, Massachusetts, he became fairly well known in the audiophile world, especially in Italy, during the late 1970s for his company's high-quality speakers. Cizek worked for historical Hi-Fi manufacturers, such as Acoustic Research, JBL and Altec Lansing before starting his own business. Blind since the age of three, he developed a special sensitivity for music reproduction, and patented a special crossover to ensure a flat impedance curve to his speakers.
Biography
Early life
Cizek became blind as a child following a severe burn which also caused him to develop chronic leg ulcers that persisted throughout his life and never adequately healed. His severe disabilities probably contributed to the development of his fine ear for music and sounds in general. He grew up in Bloomington Indiana, where he produced his first speaker. His original speakers were handcrafted prototypes, as demonstrated by some rare photos. Photos of some prototypes According to the testimony of Ron Nadeau, a close friend who knew him at Indiana University in Bloomington, Roy was a man of great generosity, with fine skills in woodwork. He built loudspeakers for students of the University in exchange for very little money. This "philosophy" inspired his whole future production: his goal was to build low-cost quality speakers. A topic by Ronald Nadeau, Roy Cizek's close friend, on Classic Speakers
In the 1970s, he moved with his wife Fran and son Carl to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he worked as a consultant for Acoustic Research. A few years later, he founded the company that bore his name, CIZEK Audio System, in Andover.
In 1976, Roy produced his most successful product: "The Cizek Model One". American brochure of Cizek One with Roy Cizek's photo This speaker introduced the concept of flat impedance module, with only one peak at the resonance frequency, achieved by a particular crossover, and at the same time used such innovative solutions as the upward inclination of the baffle, obtained with the special stands; and the use of damping material (foam) in the baffle, in order to reduce the diffraction phenomena.
The Cizek One also had a switch that allowed its operator to choose the damping factor (Q factor) of the low frequencies between 0.6 and 1.0; this allowed operators to decide whether to listen to music with driest and braked low (Q = 0.6), or with slightly emphasized low (Q = 1.0). Famous Cizek crossover patent with flat impedance module Roy Cizek personally controlled all "Model One" production to ensure it met his standards. Being blind, he could not see the measurement, but used a special trick: he placed both the index and middle fingers so that the needle readout instrument could touch his fingers, and so the margin of tolerance was established. If the needle touched a finger, the speaker was discarded.
The article published in issue number 54 of the Italian magazine "Stereoplay" (April 1978), signed by Renato Giussani, describes the innovative features of the Roy Cizek speaker system. Review of the Cizek One on Stereoplay No 54, April 1978
Subsequently, two other speaker models were produced: The CIZEK Model 2 and Model 3, in addition to a stereo subwoofer with two woofers in a double closed box called MG 27; the latter, together with the Model 3 was the subject of an article in the magazine Stereoplay and which text is available online; in this article, it was pointed out that the Cizek system was able to reproduce sounds between 27 and 700 Hertz in a range of ± 1 dB; moreover, in the conclusions of the review, the association Model 3 + MG 27 was compared to the best existing speaker systems of that time. Review of the system Cizek Model 3 + Subwoofer MG 27 on Stereoplay No 62, January 1979 A few years later a mini-monitor was produced: the KA-1 Classic model, built entirely of solid KOA wood, a Hawaiian tree which harvesting was subsequently forbidden; KA-1 could be combined with a subwoofer, the KA-20, thus constituting the "System Classic 20", the subject of a trial that appeared in the Italian magazine "Suono" No 113 of June 1982 and was in the conclusions was stressed the high product quality level of the system, which was considered "one of the best speakers ever heard.Review abstract of the Cizek System Classic 20 on SUONO No 113, June 1982Cizek KA-1 Classic photo
Another particular speaker system that CIZEK built was the "Sound Window", a flat and square wall speaker ith rounded edges, small to medium in size.Cizek Soundwindow review on the magazine SUONO No 92, June 1980
Later years
In the 1980s Cizek sold his company to Sheldon Feinstein, who became the President of CIZEK Audio System. Feinstein died suddenly of a heart attack on his way to work and the company never recovered after this event. The new President of CIZEK was a poor organizer, preferring to personally store all the addresses and contacts of suppliers and customers. After the death of Feinstein, 30% of the company was taken over by Giancarlo Bonetti, an Italian importer of Cizek's brand in the 1970s and 1980s. Thus, for a short period Cizek Speaker Series "Classic" (KA-1, KA-20, and KA-18) were built in Italy, commissioned by the Bonetti's company "ESOTERIC", for the young Franco Serblin, HIFI designer, who in 1983 founded the Sonus Faber, a leading Italian manufacturer of loudspeakers; and in fact, many Sonus Faber speaker systems aesthetically recall the Cizek Model KA-1. Franco Serblin website, Hi-Fi designer, manufacturer and founder of Sonus Faber
Cizek continued to produce speakers in the 1980s and early 1990s with his new company, the "High Tech Aspirin by Cizek", together with his third wife, in Torrance, California. Last speaker systems produced by Roy Cizek before death These speakers were presented in, at least two editions of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Messages between the stepdaughter of Roy Cizek and some of Roy's friends
Cizek died on April 12, 1993 in Torrance, California.
The MG 27 sub-woofer system together with 2 Quad electrostatic speakers is considered a milestone and used for comparison of modern speakers at the magazine Stereophile. Review of the CD player Onkyo DX-7555 on Stereophile