I was very sorry to read that Max Townshend passed away on New Year’s Eve. Max was one of the industry’s characters and a hugely entertaining salesman. Whenever I would go to a show where Max was also attending I would make a point to pop in and see what new, sometimes weird, sometimes wonderful thing Max was showing off. Future shows will certainly be less colourful without him. RIP Max.
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Yes just heard myself from one of his friends. Although i never met him, he is one of those hifi legends that was not afraid to experiment and get things wrong, but keep on going until he had something that made a difference. R.I.P Max
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Indeed, Max was a real character as well as an interesting innovator. I liked the fact that he was a very accessible person and always happy to discuss his products on the phone with anyone was interested or had issues. He had some ‘interesting’ views on Naim too!
Just heard the news, sadly Max has died, he was a true legend in the audio industry.Certainly during my early days building Naim he was always inspirational, his energy and his passion had to be seen to be believed .R.I.P.
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I am shocked. I knew Max had health issues but was hoping Sue and he would have long lives to enjoy.
Max is a remarkable actor of the British audio industry. His simplicity and kindness had no other equal than his knowledge. I can only remember the joy of receiving his sharing experience sometimes beyond audio concerns.
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Good gracious, I’ve just bought (but not yet fitted) a pair of the Supertweeters that he designed for QUAD ESL57s.
So sorry to hear that news.
Oh no - so sad. Max was one of my hi fi heroes. I had several chats with him at hi fi shows. He was always generous with his time and full of fascinating information. Most of all his passion for our hobby shone through. I believe many of his ideas will live on in other manufacturers equipment for years to come. He will be greatly missed.
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It was such sad news to start the year with. Max was a truly lovely guy - incredibly creative and great fun to spend time with. I will never forget how welcoming he was to me when I joined the industry, and I always enjoyed catch-up chats at shows - last time at Bristol 2020. RIP Max.
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A sad loss. A true innovator with a passion for his craft. A cliched comment but clearly able to think outside of the box! Reminiscent of the innovation and passion of Julian Vereker, Ivor Tiefenbrun and Roy Gandy.
Hopefully his work will live on!
I was extremely sad to hear this news, an absolutely brilliant engineer and a very friendly and approachable man with a tremendous twinkle in his eye. I always coveted the Rock turntable and deeply admired its engineering and sound although I never actually bought one. It was one of those products that seemed to drop in and out of production but I hope that they will put it back into production again as a Max Townshend special edition would be a lovely tribute.
I hadn’t realised until I read an obituary on Facebook that he designed the first microwave landing system at Heathrow - what a truly extraordinary genius…
My condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.
Jonathan
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I have only just read this sad news, having seen a post in the Kabin. I met Max in the early 1980s at Cranfield, where I was doing some post-grad studies. Max was demonstrating his Rock turntable, which I think he might have been developing at Cranfield. It was the best turntable I’d heard at that time, being a long way ahead of any competition. I guess it was its unique damping mechanism, the feature which Max claimed (rightly) was responsible for its exceptional performance, which limited its commercial success. But it was that innovative approach and an attention to detail, which others ignored or dismissed, that set him apart and fuelled all his subsequent developments.
May he rest in peace.
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Alan Sircom has written a heartfelt tribute to Max here - link here to the full piece:
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Another lovely piece here from David Price, on Stereonet
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