Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-03-02
By TRUMAN r. TEMPLE
Star Staff Writer

ANNAPOLIS, Md, Mar. q
The distressed housewife has
anew ally in the battle over
hf-fi equipment in her living
room.
Through ingenious designs,
the Ravenswood Corp. here is
seeking to upset the world of
tweeters. woofers and other
I, electronic sound gear, conceal
ling them in attractive, solidly-
: built furniture.
!, Though only a year-and-a-
half old, the company has so
much trouble keeping up with
. orders that it has pulled all its
statesmen in from the field to
/, help train new dealers. accord
ing to Leon j. Knize, president.
, Within the next five weeks it
! expects to open Is more deal
. ershipS across the country.
i Ravenswood launched its new
product after its surveys showed
many customers were rejecting
what the market offered in hi
| fl sets.
| I'VE discovered people dislike
grille cloth on the sets. They
didn't want the conpany's
name plastered egocentrically
across the front. And they did
want to use the top of the cab
met for lamps" explained the
stocky. 6-foot-6 president in an
interview.
Stress on Cabinetry
The result was a new en-
phaSiS on cabinetry and a novel
placement of speakers. Engi-
neerS faced them into the wall
behind the set, adding TRAN
gular reflectors to bounce the
sound upward. The effect was
an uncanny diffusion, making
it difficult for listeners to spot
the source of the music.
RavenSwood's study also
showed that some adults re-
,sented doing knee bends to adj
just controls. The solution:
controls face upward from in
side a drawer, and push out of
sight when not being twirled.
The lid lifts at one corner only,
so that lamps and trays are
not emperiled with each new
batch of records.
Mr.. KniZe admits he has run
into opposition from some Gus
toners. One critic told him he
missed the stereo sensation of
having piano music Jump out
at me-"
The president, a former pro-
fessional musician, has a ready
answer: Does a piano jump at
you in your living room? Did
you ever consider its music has
a reflective quality?"
y, First Chair Clarinetist
A native of Milwaukee, Mr..
Knize was educated at Michi-
gan State, Yale and the Man
haitian Conservatory of Music
Ne earned living several years
as firSt-chair clarinetist with
the Cleveland Symphony and
the New York Metropolitan
Opera orchestra.
Although his music led him
into the photograph industry
the president admits he's ar
odd sort of hi-fi fan. He own!
no sound tracks of locomotives
and is apt to put on Mailer;
4th Symphony to demonstrate
a set. At times he suggests 9
built-in antagonism to engi.
neerS.
Some typical Knizeisms:
1.-THE average hi-fi company
is asking the customer to be
an electronic nut, when he.
basically music lover"
81 am not interested in the
mating calls of mosquitoes OF
the traffic noises of downtown
Dallas. Ravenswood equipment
is for music"
"All these years Beethoven
worked to make the orchestra
into a single instrument. AnC
all of a sudden electronic en-
gineers have cut it in two, sc
stereo isn't stereo at all but
separation"
On the absence of a desk ir
his office Che uses a coffee
table,: "I've anyways felt a desk
sets the wrong atmosphere fol
conferences. 1t pleases the ex-
ecutive, not the visitor"