My Association with Edgar Villchur (aka the 10% Advice)
Edgar Villchur (1917-2011) was an American acoustics pioneer best known for his work on hi-fidelity loudspeakers and hearing-aids. His contribution to hi-fidelity loudspeakers is so important that his speakers have been placed on permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution since 1993 . Without a relevant degree in the field of acoustics, as he told me, he managed to co-found an acoustics company after world war II, ran it for about 15 years, and sold his share for a huge profit. He then opened the Foundation for Hearing Aid Research, in Woodstock, and started working from a home laboratory to improve hearing aid technology. I first met Villchur in the spring of 1985. That time he was trying to recruit volunteers for his project in developing compression hearing aids. I was referred to him by my audiologist at Einstein for biweekly sessions. By the first few meetings, we became well acquainted such that before each session we used to talk about our families, backgrounds, his res