Christopher Moore was the man behind the legendary Ursa Major Space Station (SST-282) as well as several other notable innovations in digital audio. Ursa Major was bought by AKG in 1985. Chris was pretty quiet for most of the 1990s until he released a digital clone of the Space Station in 2003.
"I am happiest when I am working like an attic inventor, creating original and useful products. Design goals that I strive for include transparent sound, product coherence, simplicity of use, attractiveness, reliability, good heft, clarity of user interface and overall value to the user."
You began working at KLH in 1969. Were you grabbing a soldering iron as you sat on your mother's knee?
My interest in audio electronics began in elementary school. I would scrounge old radios and tape recorders, disassemble them and, with luck, put them back together. In my first real job as an EE, [electrical engineer] I worked for KLH — a Cambridge company active in the design of stereo equipment. As my career in audio unfolded, I met many talented and colorful characters and am proud to count some of them as lifelong friends.
You joined Lexicon early in their history [in 1973]. What persuaded you to move from the comfortable analog world of KLH to one of the first digital audio companies?
During my four years at KLH, there were shifts in upper management and innovation gave way to the design of safe products — "me-too" products. How many variations on stereo receivers could one design? Out of frustration I took a week away from my regular projects and wrote a paper filled with analysis and suggestions for the future of KLH. When it was complete, I placed a dozen copies in the mail slots of the key people with whom I wanted to share my thoughts. I felt sort of like Martin Luther nailing his new theological treatise to the cathedral door. The response was silence, save for the CFO. After four years I was eager for the next career opportunity. When I saw a product announcement for the Varispeech cassette player that used DSP [digital signal processing] to correct pitch while varying the speed, I was very interested.I was hired at the same time as Ron Noonan, who became president. Lexicon was a small company then, so adding two new hires to the seven already there was a big change.
Your company, Ursa Major, began in June 1977 and released the SST-282 Space Station in May 1978 — the same year as the Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb, but at about one quarter the cost. Why do you think it acquired such a cult following?
