Walton Stinson
Walton Stinson (born July 2, 1948) is an American sound engineer, business executive, and entrepreneur. He is co-founder and CEO of ListenUp, a privately held Colorado-based company that in 2019 was the 10th largest consumer electronics specialty dealer in the US.[1] Stinson was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame in 2009,[2][3] along with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Irwin M. Jacobs, former Chairman of Qualcomm, and Richard E. Wiley, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
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In 1982, Stinson helped introduce digital audio to the United States. He served as a delegate to the Compact Disc Group. Along with his partner, Steven Weiner, he traveled to Japan in October 1982[4] to obtain the first batch of compact discs and convinced Sony and Nippon Columbia (Denon) to provide him with the first available players. At a promotional event for CDs in Denver on March 13, 1983, at Rainbow Music Hall,[5] he fooled an audience of 1,000 into believing they were listening to a live band, Grub Stake, when he segued the live performance into a digital recording of the band mid-performance to demonstrate the “live quality” of digital reproduction.
In 2010, Home Entertainment Source (HES) merged with ProGroup[6] to form ProSource, the largest consumer electronics buying group in North America, with over $5.5 Billion in sales.[7] In 2021, Stinson was elected chairman of ProSource.[8]
References
- "Top 100 CE Retailers". Twice Magazine.
- "2009 CE Hall Of Famers Inducted". Twice Magazine.
- "CD Pioneer Knew Sound of the Real Thing". The Denver Post.
- "Three Amateurs Inducted into Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame". The National Association for Amateur Radio.
- "1,000 Hear CD at Demo in Denver". Google Books. Billboard Magazine.
- "PRO Group Joins Forces With BrandSource". Twice Magazine.
- "ProSource Powers Up For 2019". Twice Magazine.
- "ProSource Announces Changes in Leadership to the Board of Directors". ProSource.