DIYHiFi.org

http://www.ece.gatech.edu/media/news/re ... hp?id=5255

I was blindsided by this.

When I began building my own audio equipment, his Wide Bandwidth Preamp was the first piece I constructed. He was an enthusiastic educator, and wanted to share his knowledge with anyone who was interested.

My condolences to his family.

I'd like to thank him for changing my life for the better. A very sad day.

My first homebrew audio project was a clone of the Audio Research SP-3 phono stage. The second thing I built was what we all called "the Leach amp". I think it was in 1976 in Audio magazine. A group of us went in together and purchased empty PCBs from the source in the magazine. We all scrounged parts when and where we could. Besides Bongiorno's Ampzilla, it was the only great sounding solid-state amp of its time.

I later learned what an important role passive components made when I pulled out the mil-spec (should have been top-notch, right?) capacitor that was in a low-pass filter at the amp's input. Transformed the sound from "ah, pretty good" to "holy mackerel, that's amazing". I sold it to a friend who still uses it today over 40 years after it was built.

Anyway it was a great amp, designed by a great designer. I learned a lot from him and he helped me get started on this path. RIP, Marshall and thanks for everything.