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| KEN KREISEL
HISTORIC TIMELINE |
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| Ken Kreisel is a teenage audiophile and audiophile
recording engineer. Kreisel teams up with Jonas Miller who has opened one
of the world’s first ultra-high-end audio salons: Jonas Miller Sound
of Beverly Hills, California 90210 |
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1969 |
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| Making audio history: Ken Kreisel
designs and installs for Walter Becker the first M&K Subwoofer and triamped
studio monitor system for the studio mixdown of Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic
album. The subwoofers used specially designed long-throw dual 12” drivers
mounted in a unique balanced drive configuration |
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1973 |
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| Ken Kreisel and Jonas Miller launch Miller
& Kreisel Sound (M&K) founded in Beverly Hills, CA. Contrary to
popular rumors, M&K started its subwoofer & speaker production in
the prestigious high rent district of Beverly Hills on Wilshire Blvd., not
Ken’s garage |
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1974 |
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| Ken Kreisel's first Direct-To-Disc
recordings: Blu and Blu Jam |
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1976 |
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| Again making audio history, Kreisel
invents the modern day "Satellite-Subwoofer" system, The
"David and Goliath" System |
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1976 |
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| In 1977 Kreisel and M&K
debuts the world’s first Self-Powered Subwoofer! This model was called
the Servo Volkswoofer. This idea revolutionized the entire audio industry
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1977 |
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| 1978 marks the consumer audio
release of Kreisel’s innovative world-class professional studio monitor
speaker system design called the Satellite-Volkswoofer System. This system
was originally designed by Kreisel for his own use in the M&K RealTime
Direct-to-Disc recording studio. Incorporating controlled vertical directivity,
a phase-focused crossover with true driver group-delay time alignment, dual-midrange
and tweeter driver arrays and minimal baffle coloration, this system made
for one of the most dramatic and revealing listening experiences imaginable
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1978 |
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| Long before (the term) “Home
Theater” was used in a sales context, Ken Kreisel was building professional
screening rooms for directors, producers and the Hollywood elite. These
facilities were used for both work and pleasure and demanded that Kreisel
address many of the complexities facing today’s home theater industry
as far back as 1978! Kreisel’s goal was to recreate a commercial type
of theater environment in the home. This experience places Kreisel at the
forefront of Home Theater as it was first developing |
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1978 |
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| With the 70’s popularity of audiophile
recordings, Kreisel opens the FIRST exclusively direct-to-disc recording
studio. This pioneering M&K RealTime Records studio made exemplary recordings
by completely bypassing audio tape and feeding the live microphone signal
directly to the master disc cutting lathe, totally eliminating tape noise
and distortion. The disc masters then go on to stamp the individual [vinyl]
LP pressings. These limited edition historical recordings are still coveted
today by the world’s audiophiles. Kreisel’s first release from
this new studio was titled “For Duke” (RT-101) |
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1978 |
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| The 600 watt per channel German
built Neumann Disc Cutting Lathe shown here was owned by M&K and operated
and custom modified by Kreisel to achieve even greater sonic fidelity |
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1978 |
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| Kreisel engineers and releases
some of the most highly acclaimed and spectacular direct-to-disc LP's, which
are still considered by the world's audiophiles to be some of the best sounding
LP's ever recorded, 5 of which are shown here |
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1978 |
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CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| 1979 and the 80’s were exciting
times for Kreisel and M&K as Home Theater, Dolby Surround, Satellite
Speakers, Self-Powered Subwoofers, and Digital Audio became the norm for
both movie studios and home entertainment. Kreisel exhibited at professional
and consumer trade shows and continually amazed the visitors and skeptics,
winning over thousands of new fans and loyal customers |
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1979 |
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Ken Kreisel becomes one of the first customers
to buy the Sony PCM-1600 ($40,000 in 1979), the world's first Professional
Digital Audio Recorder. Here Kreisel is seen with engineers from Sony's
newly formed fledgling division called Sony Professional Digital Audio.
Kreisel worked with Sony engineers giving them feedback on the design
of their PCM-1600 prototype units during its development in the 70's.
After purchasing the PCM-1600, Kreisel set about highly modifying the
unit. These Kreisel mods were later implemented into later Sony production
models. Before the 1982 launch of CD's in Japan and while the world only
had vinyl LP's for listening, other speaker companies were professing
to be "digital ready". With the purchase of the Sony PCM-1600
for audiophile recordings and speaker development, Kreisel’s M&K
Sound probably was the only speaker company in the world that really was
truly “digital ready".
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| CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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1979 |
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CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| In keeping with the
flavor of the day, the explanations were fairly technical, and Ken Kreisel
was there at every turn to explain how everything worked. The Satellite-Sub
combination caught on not only as an audiophile's experiment but as a commercial
success |
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1980 |
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Kreisel's M&K
RealTime Records is the FIRST label to release Compact
Discs (CD’s). The first releases featured Kreisel’s digital recordings
of The Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra, recorded in Germany. |
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1982 |
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At Abbey Road Studios in London, Kreisel
produces and engineers a series of audiophile classical recordings with
the English Chamber Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra
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1985 |
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CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| Designed by Kreisel, a new innovation
in subwoofer technology: Push-Pull drivers, used in M&K’s new MX
Series. Push-Pull is achieved by mounting one driver physically backwards
in the cabinet and wiring it backwards as well, causing both driver cones
to move mechanically in the same direction. The result is acoustic cancellation
of even order harmonic distortion, cleaner, tighter and more accurate musical
bass reproduction, and significantly improved high-output linearity |
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1989 |
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In 1989, Kreisel introduced the industry's
first push-pull dual driver powered subwoofer. Known as the MX-2000, this
groundbreaking subwoofer was immediately recognized by audiophiles as
a major advance in subwoofer performance. Uniquely for its day, this subwoofer
combined speed and low distortion with awesome impact. The MX-2000's extraordinary
articulation, thanks to its push-pull dual-driver design, made it a superb
music performer that was in fact ready for the upcoming home theater revolution
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1989 |
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| The introduction of a three-tweeter phased
array, (S-100B) coupled with the unique Phase-Focused crossover, set a precedent
in the industry for accuracy, clarity, focus, and dynamic range. The three
tweeter array gives tremendous added acoustic headroom necessary for accurate
transients, while the phase focusing ensures the three tweeters and the
two 5-1/4" drivers present a single, coherent, unified musical source
to the listener |
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1989 |
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| This
rare historic picture shows M&K Vice President Chuck Back, M&K President
Ken Kreisel, Dr. Lester Field, and Jonas Miller |
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CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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1990 |
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Kreisel introduces
the industry's first compact,
high-performance subwoofer, the MX-70, featuring Kreisel's Push-Pull driver
configuration |
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1991 |
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Kreisel introduces the first
THX approved
single-cabinet subwoofer, the MX-5000 |
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1992 |
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CLICK TO ENLARGE |
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| Dolby Laboratories uses
Kreisel's M&K THX speakers to design and develop the Dolby Digital
format, originally called AC-3 |
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| S-5000 SHOWN |
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1993 |
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| Winter Consumer Electronics
Show (CES), 1995: Kreisel’s M&K speakers are selected by Dolby
Laboratories for the world premier demonstration of 5.1 AC-3 (now known
as Dolby Digital) on Laserdiscs |
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1995 |
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Kreisel introduces the M&K S-150 THX
Ultra High Performance
Ultra Low Distortion
Superior detail and imaging
Three-tweeter array for tremendous headroom
Sealed Enclosure design correctly couples with sub
THX™ Ultra Certified |
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1995 |
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Kreisel Invents the TRIPOLE
Surround
Featuring a unique 180 degree sound radiation pattern with
DIRECT FRONT and FIGURE-8 SIDE-FIRING drivers, the Tripole produces near
perfect sound illumination for side and rear surround speaker use in home
theaters! |
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Kreisel issued a patent
concerning Push-Pull Technology, Sub Servo Feedback, and distortion
reduction, one of the most important patents in speaker design |
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1996 |
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| Kreisel launches M&K PROFESSIONAL
as a separate division of M&K with an international network of dealers
and distributors catering to the world's top studios |
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1997 |
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| The world's most prominent studios,
producers, directors, engineers, sound designers and mixers use speakers
and subwoofers designed and built by Ken Kreisel to create their soundtracks,
CD's, DVD's, live musical events, and broadcasts and to insure the detail
and accuracy of their mixes: |
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1997 |
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| Kreisel invents a new type of
high performance INWALL speaker utilizing a 12 gauge steel speaker baffle
and a magnetically attached frameless mesh grille |
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1997 |
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"We selected
Miller & Kreisel speakers to create the Star Wars Episode I soundtrack
and they proved to be the most accurate and best-sounding monitors
we have ever used." |
—Rick
McCallum, Producer
Star Wars Episodes I, II, III
JAK Productions |
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1998 |
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Ken Kreisel and M&K
celebrate their
25th Anniversary! |
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1999 |
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| Kreisel’s first SELF-POWERED
studio monitors (M&K Professional MPS-2510P) and the LFE-4 Studio Bass
Management Controller |
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2000 |
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| Pro Sound News
does an in-depth interview of Ken Kreisel |
Click HERE
for the PDF 
600k |
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2000 |
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Pearl Harbor : Oscar awarded
for Best Sound Editing
Using Miller & Kreisel Professional
Speakers for Sound Editing / Design
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2001 |
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Black Hawk Down : Oscar awarded
for Best Sound Mix
Using Miller & Kreisel Professional
Speakers for Sound Editing / Design
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2001 |
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| Miller & Kreisel Sound moves
to a new 66,000 Square Foot facility in Chatsworth, California |
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2001 |
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| Miller & Kreisel
Sound is a recipient of the coveted the absolute sound Golden
Ear Award |
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2001 |
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| Five-time Academy Award winner Ben Burtt’s
system uses three M&K S-150s for the front channels, two MX-350 powered
subwoofers, and four SS-150 Tripole surround speakers. This M&K THX
system was used at Skywalker Sound to create the very first Surround EX
soundtrack and was also used for Star Wars Episode II ! |
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2002 |
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| Grammy Award winning
Producer Of The Year Walter Afanasieff uses Miller & Kreisel Powered
monitors in his Wally World Studios as more and more world-class studios
discover the sonic accuracy of M&K |
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2002 |
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| ...such as the SONY HI-DEFINITION CENTER in
Culver City, California |
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2002 |
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| ...and 5.1 ENTERTAINMENT in Hollywood, California |
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2002 |
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Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers
: Oscar awarded for Best Sound Editing
Using Miller & Kreisel Professional
Speakers for Sound Editing / Design
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2002 |
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| Ken Kreisel is inducted
into the Beverly Hills High School Hall of Fame, Class of '69 |
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2002 |
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CLICK TO ENLARGE
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Chicago : Oscar awarded for
Best Sound Mix
Using Miller & Kreisel Professional
Speakers for Sound Editing / Design
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2002 |
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Kreisel introduces the Column Surround
TRIPOLE Speaker
— an industry first — unique in that they may be placed behind
a sofa (for example) therefore becoming invisible to the rest of the room!
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2003 |
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| Originally developed to fill a need in the
Professional world (quick but extremely accurate monitoring of multichannel
/ surround sound in a "tight for space" studio "machine room"),
astute engineers started taking these (MPS-45's, now the MP-4512) home to
have surround sound available from ONE CABINET - and a product was born
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2004 |
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Lord of the Rings - Return of the King
: Oscar awarded for Best Sound Mix
Using Miller & Kreisel Professional
Speakers for Sound Editing / Design
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2004 |
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The Incredibles : Oscar awarded
for Best Sound Editing
Using Miller & Kreisel Professional
Speakers for Sound Editing / Design
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2004 |
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2005 |
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CES Show, Las Vegas - The Blu-ray Disc Association
asks Miller & Kreisel to provide assistance with the audio for the
Blu-ray demonstration. M&K set up their all-powered studio speaker
system in the 20-seat theater, including 3 x MPS-2510P's, 4 x MPS-1625P
Tripole Surrounds, and 3 x MPS-5310 Subs.
Once again, Kreisel is at the forefront embracing
new technology,having a proud history of supporting ALL
technological and artistic advances in audio
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2006 |
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2006 |
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Ken
Kreisel & the Storm Trooper.
That's Ken on the right. |
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HDTV Etc. Magazine
writes a "Sound Wars" featured editorial about Ken Kreisel and his M&K
THX speakers at Lucasfilm's Skywalker Ranch. Click HERE
for the PDF
reprint 820k
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2006 |
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Sound & Vision’s
50th Anniversary Edition lists Ken Kreisel and his invention of the Self-Powered
Subwoofer as #32 of the 50 Greatest A/V Innovations in the last 50 years
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2008 |
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Keith Arem of PCB Productions uses Ken Kreisel's
MPS-
2510PK 5.1 powered monitoring system in the production of
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, one of the highest selling
games ever. Arem & PCB have also used Kreisel’s MPS-
2510PK monitoring system for many of the other highest
selling games. |
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2009 |
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KREISEL HD 3D SOUND
coming soon...
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2010 |
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