Bose, wizard of sound, dies at 83
WASHINGTON: Amar Gopal Bose, who brought concert hall-quality audio into the living room, died Friday in Massachusetts. He was 83.
A fan of classical music, Bose was disappointed with an expensive stereo system he bought when he was an MIT engineering student in the 1950s. Thus began his quest for perfect acoustics.
He developed speakers based on the premise that 80% of the audio in a concert hall reaches listeners indirectly — bouncing off walls and ceilings. Later creations included the Wave music system and noise-cancelling headphones.
From humble beginnings, he rose to found Bose Corporation in 1964. In 2011, he was valued by Forbes at $1 billion. The same year, he gifted MIT majority stake in the privately-owned company, which fetches the institute an annual cash return.