About The Founder & Designer
KVG Laboratories was founded by Kermit V. Gray, an audio engineer who has been designing audio equipment since the 1970s, relying on a combination of original research, proven classic design methodology and an unwillingless to compromise his work to achieve success. He learned electronics during the 1970s in the traditional methodology and philosophy. It’s not uncommon to see one of Kermit’s products still working after more than thirty years of daily use.
Over the past thirty-some years, Kermit has been quietly working behind the scenes, in his neverending quest to improve recording technology, recording techniques, playback equipment and music instruments themselves. Through his work, he has become an internationally-recognized expert in:
- The use of equalization in the studio.
- Electronic reverberation.
- Guitar speaker cabinets.
- Vocal recording.
- Guitar recording.
- Spatial imaging in recordings and loudspeaker systems.
- Quality losses in sound recording and reproduction equipment.
- Resonance and its influence on tone.
- Music instruments, and loudspeaker quality.
- The influence of acoustics on intelligibility and clarity of speech and music recording and reproduction.
- The influence of amplifier bias, circuitry operating points and distortion on amplifier tone.
- The influence of microphone characteristics and preamplifier tonality on the sound of a recording.
Kermit's background and training is extensive. He received his degree in Communication Science from the University of Missouri, Kansas City; as well as other formal training from the Institute Of High Fidelity and CBS Laboratories. He lived nearby a United States Patent Depository, and for a few years would spend the weekends combing through patents, white papers and a variety of reference works for inspiration and to validate his own primary research. He received much of his electronics training from Western Electric engineers and apprenticed under several recording and audio engineers.
For more than thirty years, Kermit has:
- Created many original audio equipment and music instrument designs, some of which are patented.
- Researched audio electronics, acoustics, psychoacoustics and music-related phenomena in his quest for ever-better sound.
- Written numerous white papers on audio and photography.
- Been interviewed on many audio topics, most recently about reverb in recordings for an upcoming issue of Bill Ricchini's blog.
- Contributed an article which was published in The Encyclopedia Of Sound.
- He has given public presentations to numerous organizations.
- Been published nationally in several publications and reference works.
- Presented an experimental loudpeaker before the Boston Audio Society in 1999.
- Reviewed other manufacturer's prototypes and products, most recently Monster Cable's "Monster Turbines" In-Ear Speakers.
- Made numerous professional recordings, one of which had the honor to be submitted for the 53rd Grammy Award for Best Engineered Classical Album.
- Produced several record albums, including The Inner Voices: "And So It Goes", Earworm: "City Woman", Twangdillo & Kitch: "Confess!" and many others.
- Designed and co-designed archival re-mastering systems, including the original re-mastering studio of the Marr Sound Archive working alongside R. L. "Mac" McDonald, Gaylord Marr, Charles Haddix and Steve Smolian.
- Engineered live concerts and events, studio music recordings, television and radio broadcast audio, motion picture sound, sound effects and dialog/spoken word recordings for a many different musicians, including Ray Hildebrand, Paul Land and Stephanie Boosada.
- Mastered numerous professional recordings for clients as diverse as Ray Hildebrand, Diversity Records, Fidelis Records, Suzanne Brown, SRA Studios and many others.
- Consulted on venue acoustics and acoustic design; his clients have included recording studios and clients as diverse as The Kansas City Symphony.
- Provided audio equipment design and repair services.
- Provided music instrument design and repair services.
- Taught professional audio, sound recording techniques and sound re-enforcement system operation.
Kermit is known for his vivdly realistic recording style that has a "reach-out-and-touch-it" feel, and his intuitive approach to amplifier and music instrument design. He has the unique ability to be able to sit down, grab parts off the shelf and assemble an amplifier while a guitarist is playing, then fine-tune the amplifier's sound until the guitarist says it's perfect. This ability comes from his more than thirty years of hands-on experience. Interestingly, Kermit doesn't use computer simulations to design his equipment, relying instead on his practical experience and classic electronic and acoustic formula, which he calculates by hand then verifies through extensive testing and listening sessions. To keep himself fresh creatively, Kermit is also well known as an artistic photographer whose work has garnered awards. He prefers the discipline of film cameras as his preferred photography medium.
As you can see, sound is Kermit’s particular passion, driving him to research its every aspect, from psychoacoustics to the underying physics. KVG Laboratories builds the products of that research.
Be sure to visit the National Academy of the Recording Arts & Sciences, also known as The Recording Academy (the folks who bring you the Grammy Awards). By the way, Kermit is a member of The Recording Academy, so a visit to their hallowed halls is well worth your time if you're interested in the music scene.