In memoriam Roger Modjeski

[MeloManiac]

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/rest-piece-roger-modjeski

 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/music-reference-rm-200-mkii-power-amplifier

 

[rhing]

When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had the privilege of meeting Roger when he moved his operation from Santa Barbara to El Cerrito to start up a school to teach others about audio electronics. Roger was highly opinionated and eccentric.

 

He was a true genius with designing and building audio electronics, and he was generous in lending me some of his creations. He taught me about A/B testing and showed my friends and me how his amps were both musical and iconoclastic in terms of their design. 
 

He was in the process of releasing a fantastic sounding OTL tube amp and a budget-friendly tube preamp. He auditioned a pair of electrostatic speakers with a pair of subs that sounded open and lively with his RM-200 Mk II power amp. He also regularly attended San Francisco Audio Society and Burning Amp DIY Audio events, and shared his opinions about boutique components, exotic cables and point-to-point wiring vs. printed circuits. 
 

I will miss him. 

[Cameron L Stewart]

I met Rodger Modjeski at the 1992 Stereophile show, while visiting David Manley's booth.  This was back when Rodger and David were still feuding about the quality of the KT-90 as well as the merits of the 12AX7 versus 6DJ8 as audio signal tubes.  I was witness to the first conversation they had, after their 1991 "feud" had appeared in print.

 

Rodger struck me as being very down to earth, well manered and sociable.  At heart, he was a teacher as well as an audio designer.  He was always willing to share his design expertise with others.

 

He offered me to be in one of his early audio classes back then, at Santa Barabara.  Sadly, I never took him up on it.

 

Rodger was a true gentlemen in this business. Now he is gone.

 

Cameron L Stewart

Edited June 14, 2020 by Cameron L Stewart
Correct the year entry for the Stereophile show. when I met Rodger

[OO1]

RIP -

[seti]

7 hours ago, Jeffrey D. Medwin said:

A fairly high number of audio manufacturers seem to die of cancer.  I often wonder if, doing all that soldering over their lifetimes,, and breathing said toxic fumes, takes its toll on their mortality ??

 

 

 

No if you live long enough you get cancer. I've talked to many docs and they all say the same. If you live long enough it is what gets us.

 

 

[Shakeydeal]

My very first tube amp was an original RM9 purchased in 1999. I soon bought another one as a spare. In 2006 I sold the last one but later bought it back from the guy I sold it to. Years later, I fondly remembered it as one of the best amps I had owned. So recently I stumbled on a Mark II that was at the MR factory in Napa. Roger had refurbished it last year before he passed. I immediately bought it and received it a couple of weeks ago. It was just like welcoming an old friend into your home. I am very happy I have it. 

 

I only spoke to Roger one time when I lost an output transformer on my first RM9. He was very helpful and found one he had laying around. This would have been around 2001-2002. Long after the amp had gone out of production. He sent it out and I got the amp repaired locally.

 

RIP Roger.

 

Shakey