William Hecht, Founder of United Speaker Systems and Inventor of the Soft Dome Tweeter, Recognized for Lifelong Dedication to Audio Technology Innovation
JACKSONVILLE, FL — Jan 30, 2006 — For fifty years, William Hecht, the founder of Phase Technology has been building speakers and audio components that have been the first choice of audiophiles, home theater enthusiasts and some of home audio’s most well-known manufacturers. Tonight, he is being inducted into Dealerscope Magazine’s Hall of Fame in recognition of his influence over the audio entertainment industry and for the products his company has developed for over past five decades. His direction has helped shape the way we listen to movies and music at home, from year one as United Speaker Systems (Phase Technology’s parent company) when he built the first speakers for Avery Fisher, through today as the all-new dARTS Digital Audio Reference Theater System emerges to critical acclaim.
Mr. Hecht receives the honor with great appreciation for Dealerscope’s editors, who recognized the milestones he has achieved through Phase Technology and United Speaker Systems. “I am truly touched and honored to receive this recognition,” stated Hecht. “It’s been a long journey since I started United Speaker Systems–long but very rewarding. As we celebrate fifty years of speaker design and engineering, I’m very proud of what we have accomplished. Thank you Dealerscope for allowing me to start 2006 on such a happy note.”
Hecht has created over 550 different speaker systems for more than 40 audio/video companies starting with the XP-1 bookshelf loudspeaker for pioneer Avery Fisher. Following that model’s success, he quickly became one of the industry’s primary original equipment manufacturers and began to develop a long list of merited products and technologies. His best known patent is on the soft dome tweeter, a high-frequency driver that has been used by nearly every major speaker manufacturer since its creation. In addition, he holds patents on the manufacturing process for solid flat-piston drivers, the self-damping woofer voice coil, silicone-injected driver for resonance damping, and the basket-less woofer/midrange driver mounting system.
Today, Hecht works alongside his son, Ken, at the Phase Technology’s factory in Jacksonville, Florida. The facility is vertically aligned and produces virtually every subassembly that goes into Phase Technology’s products, including drivers, voice coils, crossovers, and speaker cabinets in a state-of-the-art woodshop.
For Mr. Hecht, the cornerstones of his approach to speaker design include contemporary research, practical design philosophy, self-sufficiency in manufacturing, and an attitude of engineering in the service of fine music reproduction.
About Phase Technology
Phase Technology Corporation (toll-free at 888-PHASE TK; website at www.phasetech.com) is one of the few fully-vertically integrated American speaker manufacturers. The company started as United Speaker Systems in 1955 as an original equipment manufacturer and still designs and produces its own sub-assemblies in-house. Phase Technology’s speaker lines incorporate many proprietary innovations like the soft-dome tweeter, the industry’s standard invented by Bill Hecht, founder of Phase Technology. Other patents cover the self-damping woofer voice coil, the manufacturing process for flat-piston midrange drivers and woofers, silicone-injected drivers for resonance damping, and the positive-clamping mounting system for the premier in-wall Model CI-110/II. The company also developed the Unicell Zero-Diffraction treatment that reduces acoustic reflections off cabinet and grille surfaces. Phase Technology manufactures its wood cabinets by hand and performs quality control tests at every step of the fabrication process.
Building on five decades of design and engineering innovation in the manufacture of high quality, yet affordable speakers, Phase Technology supports its products with a 10-year warranty on speakers, while amplifiers are backed by a 3-year warranty. Phase Technology’s digital home theater, audiophile, outdoor, in-wall/in-ceiling custom installation speakers, as well as powered and in-wall subwoofers are constructed at the company’s Jacksonville, Florida facility.
