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).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Walton_Stinson%2C_co-founder_and_CEO_of_Listen_Up%2C_one_of_the_top_10_consumer_electronics_specialty_dealers_in_the_USA%2C_and_chairman_of_ProSource.jpg/220px-Walton_Stinson%2C_co-founder_and_CEO_of_Listen_Up%2C_one_of_the_top_10_consumer_electronics_specialty_dealers_in_the_USA%2C_and_chairman_of_ProSource.jpg)
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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Walt_Stinson_Founder_of_ListenUp%2C_1983.jpg/220px-Walt_Stinson_Founder_of_ListenUp%2C_1983.jpg)
In the words of Greg Milner, author of Perfecting Sound Forever, An Aural History of Recorded Music: “People like Stinson were the grassroots end of a publicity and marketing juggernaut that, in the space of a few years, transformed the CD from an expensive curiosity into the dominant music media.” [6]
Stinson incorporated dramatic stunts into his advocacy for CDs, highlighting their durability and reliability. During a gathering at the Gates Planetarium in Denver, he demonstrated this by smearing peanut butter and jelly on a CD, scribing it with a knife, then rinsing it in water and showing its flawless playback. [7]
In 2010, Home Entertainment Source (HES) merged with ProGroup[8] to form ProSource, the largest consumer electronics buying group in North America, with over $5.5 Billion in sales.[9] In 2021, Stinson was elected chairman of ProSource.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Top 100 CE Retailers". Twice Magazine.
- ^ "2009 CE Hall Of Famers Inducted". Twice Magazine. 26 October 2009.
- ^ "CD Pioneer Knew Sound of the Real Thing". The Denver Post. 14 November 2009.
- ^ "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. 26 March 1983.
- ^ Milner, Greg (2009). Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music. Faber and Faber, Inc., New York. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-571-21165-4.
- ^ Milner, Greg (2009). Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music. Faber and Faber, Inc., New York. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-571-21165-4.
- ^ "PRO Group Joins Forces With BrandSource". Twice Magazine. 6 January 2011.
- ^ "ProSource Powers Up For 2019". Twice Magazine. 6 March 2019.
- ^ "ProSource Announces Changes in Leadership to the Board of Directors". ProSource. 14 December 2021.