my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Hare Theatre Audio Equipment

Author Topic: Hare Theatre Audio Equipment Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 05-09-2016 08:42 AM                     I'm looking for information about the Hare company, circa mid 1950's, that manufactured theatre audio equipment. Were they an independent company, or a division of some other? What products did they manufacture? I have been told that they manufactured speakers for Cinerama Corporation among other things. I can find no information online about them, so any info would be appreciated.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-09-2016 08:20 PM                        I never saw a Cinerama speaker that was other than an A4-x or a variant. Don't know about Hare.  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 05-12-2016 02:51 PM                     What little I know about this topic is the result of some research I did several years ago after an audiophile friend of mine acquired a "DGC HARE" tube amplifier. All he knew about it was that it originally "came out of an old theater", which, of course greatly aroused my curiosity. Like you, I found scant info online. But I was able to discover a few things. Some of what follows is from memory, and some is from some notes I took back then which I found still buried deep in my computer. The DGC HARE audio company was founded some time in the late 40's or early 50's by a Dr Donald Hare. I believe "DGC" were his initials. They were a small firm that practically hand-built high quality vacuum tube amplifiers, but as I recall I could not find any mention at all that they ever manufactured loudspeakers; so maybe they did, or maybe they didn't..... At some point, DGC HARE Co got a contract to manufacture the (vacuum tube) amplifiers for some of the first CINERAMA theater installs. DGC later claimed to have developed the first transistorized theater amplifier systems, also for Cinerama. Dr Hare was a personal friend of Charles Litton, founder of Litton Industries, and they later became business partners. Some time in the late 1950's Dr Hare sold his audio interests to Sangamo Electric. He then went on to become founder of The Grass Valley Group industries, manufacturers of a variety of television & radio broadcast equipment. Grass Valley is still around today. For a while it was owned by Thompson Industries, another broadcast equipment manufacturer, who later sold it to some big corporate conglomerate, which owns it today. ADDITIONAL INFO: You can see a You Tube video of a GDC HARE 6416 tube amplifier HERE The old notes in my computer contained several links to several newspaper articles about Dr Hare, which include mentions of his getting a contract with CINERAMA, and of his later work with Litton & founding of Grass Valley. The articles themselves are quite lengthy, so I'm not going to post all the text here. But the URL's are still good and you can read them yourself: Dr Hare Link 1 (Has a picture of Dr Hare, who in reality, is actually hairless) Dr Hare Link 2 (Mostly about GVG, but mentions the Cinerama connection) I'm not sure if Dr Hare is still alive, if so, he'd be quite old, so I'm guessing he's passed on by now. . . . but you know that old saying- - "Hare today, gone tomorrow!"( Sorry- I just couldn't help myself!)  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 05-12-2016 03:17 PM                     Thank you Jim. I asked about this because I acquired a Hare Perspecta Sound Integrator (decoder), new old stock, in it's original shipping boxes, with the Railway Express stickers indicating that it was shipped from Cinerama headquarters in Long Island NY to Stanley Warner Theatre offices in Camden NJ. I was told that it was re-capped and calibrated about 8 years ago by John Anastasio, tested out, and then placed back in the boxes and never used again. I haven't decided yet whether or not I am going to keep it or sell it, but I can't image being able to ship it. I would not trust those 61 year old boxes to modern shippers.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-12-2016 10:29 PM                        Grass Valley made the Cinerama transistorized amplifiers.  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 05-12-2016 11:05 PM                        Small world! A former business partner of mine worked at Grass Valley Group in the 1970s. I had not really known its history. The articles posted were a great introduction to its history. Their video equipment was the standard for television. Harold  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-13-2016 06:41 AM                        Andy Marglin at Kelmar would know. He installed many Cinerama systems in the 50s and 60s.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-13-2016 08:47 PM                     Thanks for posting those Jim! Interesting stuff. Mark  |  IP: Logged Robert Koch Film Handler Posts: 93 From: Williams Ca USA Registered: Apr 2006 posted 06-13-2016 12:58 PM                     I had an experience or two with the great one,his description of himself,not mine. I brought one of his amplifiers to Grass Valley for him to repair for a Cinwerama house i was taking care of. The whole visit consisted of a monologue of how brilliant he was. a very tiresome man in my opinion. Later on,a very fine and brilliant man of my aqquaintance, W.Herbert Hartman, then chief engineer of KCRA Sacto decided to join Dr Hare at Grass valley. Big mistake. Herb then formed his own company:Research Derivitives" and it was very successful. I guess,from all this, you have figured tha I was no fan of Dr. Hare e  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.