David Scheirman: Based on what you saw of the 'marketplace' while with EAW, what can speaker system manufacturers do to take better advantage of sound mixers' and field engineers' viewpoint(s)? As we all know, if you have five sound guys (or gals) together with the same rig, you will get five different opinions as to how it should sound? :-)

Ken: Well, in my day, I had one of the most amazing solutions to that problem. Kenton was able to distill, from the feedback of the real users, what they were asking for. Most people we worked with didn't even understand what it was they were looking for rather they knew what they didn't like.

Ken (continued): It's an art and Kenton is an amazing person in his ability to do this. The fact that Kenton was such a nice guy and everyone could relate to him really helped. I think that what David has done at JBL and what Jeff Cox has done at L'Acoustics is connect those companies with their user base both to evangelize what has been developed and to spearhead the development of what the customers are looking for.

Arthur: What project that you were involved in at EAW did you enjoy most, and why?

Ken: Actually, the development of the APP program and the website was probably the most rewarding to me. Both projects were originally done pretty much by me alone. In terms of product, I was always more about the concept and critiquing the development rather than the execution.

Ken: Most of the time, due to Kenton's zeal for proliferating product, my role was trying to hold back too many new products. Not as much fun :o) I think what my greatest legacy at EAW was in building such an amazing team. The fact that we could create an environment that could attract so many brilliant people in all facets from so many different companies throughout the industry was what I did so well. And that is what EAW's success was based on.

Chris Kathman: What is APP?

Ken: Acoustical Performance Partnership. It was when we started the original EAW BBS and distributed extensive product data on discs. It set a new standard for technical reference in the industry and it was the primary factor in EAW moving from primarily touring products into the large-scale installation market.

David Scheirman: Frank Loyko told me once it stood for "Associated Plywood Pallets", back when you were investing heavily in automated wood-cutting machinery. No truth in that?

Ken: No but EAW actually stands for Extra Added Weight, and the KF Series was so named to get Kenton to do it because he was busy at the time doing new mid-bass horns, and we thought by calling the product the KF series, he would put more time into it. And we were right!

Ken (continued) : The original working name for EAW was WWW: Watertown Woofer Works. Too bad we didn't trademark WWW in 1978.