Jim Fosgate, 85, often called the inventor of the car audio amplifier, passed away Friday.
He was the Founder of Rockford Fosgate and he later led the team that created Dolby Pro Logic II.
His first amplifier debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1973. under the company Fosgate Electronics. It was a 30-watt model, called the PR-7000, with a price tag of $300, considered way too expensive for most wallets at the time, according to Reference For Business.
The company eventually produced the Punch and Punch POWER lines. Jim Fosgate began to pursue other interests in the late 1970s such as surround sound. The company met financial difficulties and was purchased by venture capital firm Camelback Capital Corp., which renamed it Rockford Corporation, after the street where Fosgate was located. At the time Rockford had 25 employees with slightly under $1 million in annual sales, said Reference For Business.
Fosgate won an Emmy Award in 2003 for the development of surround sound for television.
The industry mourned Fosgate’s passing on Friday on social media, expressing deep sadness and admiration.
Long time industry member Virgil Mascarenhas said of Fosgate, “He was a visionary in the car audio industry. He understood how to tailor equalization to mobile sound sytsems before Clarion had a 5-band/booster equalizer. All of his stuff sounded great, whether it was the Pr250 or PR2100….”
Sold tons of Rockford through my store over 31 years. Good stuff. Rock solid. Cheers to the founding Father !
Sad news. I was fortunate to meet him when he did some work for RF with his Dolby Pro Logic II products. He was humble and kind, and absolutely brilliant. RIP Jim.
RIP Jim. You left too soon!!!
He practically invented the car audio industry as we know it
A total legend! I didn’t realize that he was the inventor of the car audio amplifier as we know it, learn something new every day.