1967
John and Helen Meyer first meet while John is working at a custom hi-fi shop in Berkeley. Their first date is listening to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” after closing time on a high-end system.
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1967 – 2017: Celebrating 50 Years of the Summer of Love
This year marks the 50th anniversary of 1967’s Summer of Love, when San Francisco was the epicenter of the counter-culture. It was the year that John and Helen Meyer went on a date at a Berkeley hi-fi shop to hear The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and it was also the year that John and Helen laid the groundwork for developing Meyer Sound. To celebrate their love and the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, John and Helen will be spending 2017 visiting key customers and hosting exclusive curated events in Berkeley and around the world.
The celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love and John and Helen Meyer’s Sonic Love Story continues with our Meyer Sound #TieDyedTicket Facebook Contest! We are offering the chance for five very special winners to receive an all-expense paid visit to Berkeley, CA, for two, to discover the magic of Meyer Sound.
Congratulations to Our Winners!
John gifts Helen Meyer hand-painted Amies to celebrate their 50th anniversary
John and Helen with the custom “Summer of Love” hand-painted Amies
John and Helen recreate the historic Wall of Sound to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love
John, Helen, and the Meyer Sound team at ISE
John and Helen join a panel during Meyer Sound’s ISE Customer Event
John Meyer gives the keynote at AES Mexico Annual Conference entitled “Fact or Science Fiction?”
John and Helen Meyer at sound:check Xpo in Mexico City celebrating 20 years of Meyer Sound Mexico
Helen Meyer gives a Summer of Love presentation at the NYC LINA Demo event
John Meyer holds “Ask John Meyer” Q+A at the NYC LINA Demo event
John and Helen pose with Broadway sound designers Andrew Keister (2nd from left) and Nicholas Pope (right) after the NYC LINA Demo event
John and Helen Meyer pose with some of “The Great Comet” sound design team during a post-show tech talk at the Imperial Theatre (Left to Right: Beth Lake, Sam Lerner, John Meyer, Helen Meyer, Nicholas Pope)
John and Helen Meyer say hello to Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC)’s artistic director Wynton Marsalis before the LINA NYC Demo Event at the JALC’s Rose Theater
Helen Meyer joins John Meyer and director of Cal Performances Matias Tarnopolsky (left) at the Gala at the Greek, where she served as co-chair
John and Helen Meyer host Wavy Gravy for his 81st Birthday Benefit at Pearson Theatre (Bottom Left to Right: Wavy Gravy, Jahanara Romney)
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2017 Tour Dates
February 6–8 • Amsterdam • Integrated Systems Europe
February 9 • Copenhagen • Metallica Show at the Royal Arena
April 23–25 • Mexico City • sound:check
May 6 • Miami • New World Symphony Performance and AES Panel
May 10–11 • New York City • LINA Demo and VIP Customer Event
June 13–14 • Orlando • InfoComm
June 16–17 • Monterey • Monterey International Pop Festival 50th Celebration
July 1–16 • Montreux • Montreux Jazz Festival
October 24 • London • VIP Customer Event
October 30 • Moscow • LINA Demo and VIP Customer Event
November 1 • Dubai • VIP Customer Event
November 3 • Singapore • LINA Demo and VIP Customer Event
1967
John is asked by Steve Miller to design a custom system for his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival.
1968
John and Helen attend a Donovan concert where the sound quality is extremely disappointing. John is determined to build much better systems.
1969
John and Helen travel to India where they marry in a private ceremony before traveling overland through the country.
1970
John creates a quadraphonic Glyph loudspeaker system for the Pepperland nightclub in San Rafael, California. The Meyers’ first son, Perrin, is born in Richmond, California.
1971
John designs the first JM Series loudspeakers while working with McCune Sound Service in San Francisco.
1972
John works with Owsley “Bear” Stanley to create acoustic solutions for the Grateful Dead’s famed “wall of sound."
1973
John starts work at the Institute des Haut E’tudes Musical in Switzerland and continues through the middle of 1975.
1974
Meyers’ first daughter, Tara, born in Switzerland.
1976
John begins work for GESI, continuing in 1977. He designs the sound system for the Embarcadero BART station.
1977
John works on direct-to-disk recording for Crystal Clear Records, continuing into 1978.
1979
John and Helen establish Meyer Sound Laboratories in San Leandro, California.
1979
Meyer Sound develops the UM-1 UltraMonitor for Jefferson Starship.
1979
The company develops a prototype of the 650 subwoofer for special screenings of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.”
1980
Abe Jacob, the “godfather” of contemporary theatre sound design, brings Meyer Sound to Broadway with UPA, a modified version of the UltraMonitor that revolutionized theatrical audio.
1981
Meyer Sound enters European Market with Autograph in London, beginning a long association with owner and sound designer Andrew Bruce. The Autograph connection also begins a relationship with sound designer Jonathan Deans.
1983
Meyer Sound moves to its present location in Berkeley, California.
1984
The first Source Independent Measurement (SIM) System is introduced, along with CP-10 parametric equalizer.
1985
John Meyer is presented with the AES Fellowship Award for his outstanding contributions to the field of audio engineering and technology.
1986
Meyer Sound provides a system for Luciano Pavarotti’s concert in Beijing.
1986
Meyer Sound partners with Claude Nobs’ Montreux Jazz Festival to become the exclusive brand used for the festival’s loudspeaker systems.
1987
Meyer Sound introduces SIM System 1, the first dedicated multi-channel FFT measurement system.
1988
Meyer Sound develops pioneering microphone equalization technique, first used for Lily Tomlin’s “Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” at San Francisco’s Curran Theater.
1989
Noted recording engineer Roger Nichols inspires the company to develop the HD-1 reference loudspeaker, used for mixing the Rickie Lee Jones album “Flying Cowboys.”
1989
The Grateful Dead continue to provide sound innovation—here with Dead’s sound engineer Dan Healey, Don Pearson of UltraSound and John Meyer.
Photo: Susana Millman
1990s
Famed New York sound designer Tony Meola incorporates Meyer Sound systems into more than 40 Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
1991
Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart continues partnership with Meyer Sound, extending beyond the Grateful Dead to include solo touring and work with the Buddhist Gyoto Monks.
1992
Meyer Sound receives the prestigious R&D 100 Award for SIM II.
1994
Beginning with their first concert at Rome’s ancient Baths of Caracalla in 1990, The Three Tenors’ concerts are equipped with Meyer Sound systems.
1995
MSL-4 becomes the industry’s first large-scale self-powered reinforcement loudspeaker.
1997
SB-1, first used for a domed stadium tour throughout Japan, becomes the industry’s first high-power parabolic loudspeaker.
1998
PSW-6 completes preliminary testing to become a revolutionary self-powered subwoofer, exhibiting unprecedented directional control of frequencies below 150 Hz.
1999
Helen Meyer is awarded Citation from AES for her contributions to the audio industry.
2001
Meyer Sound system deployed for Three Tenors concert at the Forbidden City in Beijing.
2001
The first generation of Meyer Sound’s acoustical prediction tool, MAPP Online, is introduced.
2001
Meyer Sound develops the MM-4 miniature loudspeaker for sound artist Bill Fontana’s discreet installations at tramway stations in Lyon, France.
2002
Meyer Sound holds an M3D System demonstration event in Mexico City, introducing the M Series line array loudspeaker systems. Meyers’ first grandchild, Milo, is born.
2003
Meyers’ second grandchild, Elodie, is born.
2004
John Meyer receives the first Parnelli Innovator Award for “his genius, perseverance and dedication to quality.”
2004
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Meyer Sound debuts its state-of-the art Pearson Theatre, an on-site venue for training, research and demonstrations.
2004
Meyer Sound joins the first Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) tradeshow, held in Geneva, Switzerland. ISE has since moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Meyer Sound has joined every year.
2005
Meyer Sound acquires LCS, makers of sophisticated multichannel digital audio mixing and processing products, and electronic acoustic enhancement.
2005
The original Galileo loudspeaker management system is introduced as the perfect complement to Meyer Sound’s self-powered loudspeakers.
2006
Meyer Sound installs first Constellation system into Cal Performances' Zellerbach Hall at U.C. Berkeley.
2007
John Meyer is presented with the prestigious Silver Medal Award from AES for his outstanding achievements.
2007
Sound Designer Jonathan Deans visits the Berkeley factory and continues his long-time partnership with Meyer Sound.
2007
The MM-4XP self-powered miniature loudspeaker launches IntelligentDC self-powered systems.
2007
Meyer Sound chosen as official sound equipment supplier for the new Cirque du Soleil show KOOZA™, continuing a decades-long fruitful relationship with Cirque Du Soleil.
Photo: Olivier Samson Arcand
2007
Rod Stewart takes Meyer Sound MILO and M'elodie on tour.
2008
Meyers’ third grandchild, Dmitri, is born.
2008
Meyer Sound enters the dedicated cinema loudspeaker market, demonstrating an Acheron 100 screen loudspeaker prototype to post-production professionals before launching a full line of screen loudspeakers, surrounds and cinema subwoofers the following year.
2008
UPJunior UltraCompact VariO Loudspeaker receives the AES TEC Award.
2009
Meyer Sound Announces D-Mitri, a Next-Generation Digital Audio Platform.
2010
CAL steerable column array loudspeakers introduced, offering unprecedented control, audio fidelity and low-profile aesthetics.
2011
Helen Meyer is named recipient of InfoComm’s Women in AV Award.
2011
Meyers’ fourth grandchild, Nadia, is born.
2012
LEO Family launches to provide maximum power with a small footprint and virtually no distortion.
2013
Famed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe recorded in the Pearson Theatre using a proprietary recording technique developed by John Meyer.
2014
John Meyer receives InfoComm International Adele De Berri Pioneers of AV Award on the tradeshow’s 75th anniversary.
2014
John Meyer is inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame at the 2014 NAMM Show.
2014
SoundBox, San Francisco Symphony’s bold new music venue, opens with a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system.
Photo: Stefan Cohen
2015
Latin music superstar Marc Anthony takes LEO Family on tour in the USA, launching a strong touring partnership with Meyer Sound.
Photo: Carlos Escobar
2015
Using LEO, Ed Sheeran becomes the first solo artist to sell out five shows at London's Wembley Stadium and Dublin's Croke Park Stadium.
Photo: Ralph Larmann
2015
The Grateful Dead bids "Fare Thee Well" at Levi's Stadium with Meyer Sound LEO.
Photo: Jay Blakesberg
2015
Dave Matthews Band Celebrates 25 years, 20 of those with Meyer Sound.
2015
Metallica and Meyer Sound LEO inaugurate Quebec City’s Videotron Centre with in-the-round TM Array.
Photo: Carlos Escobar
2016
Meyer Sound introduces Galileo GALAXY at InfoComm in Las Vegas.
2016
With LEO Family, Celine Dion provides intimate connection despite vast large-scale venues in her tour of French-speaking countries.
Photo: Ralph Larmann
2017
The sonic love story continues as John Meyer presents Helen with a pair of custom-painted Amie speakers to kick off a year-long celebration of their 50th anniversary of meeting in the Summer of Love.