Len Horowitz is one of the world’s leading authorities on Westrex/Scully and Neumann disc recording systems, which produce 90% of lacquer disc masters for vinyl reproduction. He has been involved with audio service, restoration, research and development for analog sound equipment for over 45 years, specializing in design engineering for recording heads and amps, microphone and phono preamps, and open reel tape machines. His designs can be found in nearly all Westrex cutting amplifiers today.
Len Horowitz started his audio career at Westrex in 1975 in the motion picture and disc recording equipment department. Under the mentorship of Otto Hepp, a principal engineer of the Scully lathe and lead designer of all Westrex cutterheads in the 20th century, Len acquired intimate knowledge of lacquer mastering lathes and cutting technology. Otto became the last surviving engineer at Westrex and Len acquired the Westrex record division from Otto upon his death.
After Westrex, Len became a chief engineer at Mattel and was instrumental in creating miniature record equipment for Mattel Toys. He pioneered miniature doll records, the Fisher/Price Talk To Me Player, and the EB (Encyclopedia Britannica) player. He spent 20 years in auto audio design within Becker Automotive (Oxnard, CA) and also developed the first automotive, programmable parametric equalizer.
In 1987, Len started History of Recorded Sound (HRS), a high fidelity record company. The studio provided specialty mastering for Rhino Records’ “Juke Box Classic Series,” a set of 150 78-rpm records using an original Westrex 2B cutterhead and eccentric-groove finishing to trip the automatic mechanism of jukeboxes. HRS does direct-to-disc recording on site as well as mobile recordings with the only known portable Scully lathe.
History of Recorded Sound has now become one of the remaining few studios servicing mastering lathes and cutterheads for lacquer records. Len and the engineers of HRS continue to service and restore equipment for world renown studios and are called on to consult for audio, vinyl companies, and pressing plants such as Capitol Studios, Bernie Grundman Mastering, Sound Factory, Infrasonic Studios, Erika Records, Apollo Masters, Palomino Records, Endpoint Audio, Black Belt Mastering and more.
Passionate about the next generation of record mastering and equipment servicing engineers, Len made History of Recorded Sound a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2018 to provide education for individuals who want to enrich their listening skills, mastering techniques and history of music and technology. Through seminars and private consultations, he hopes to ensure these arts are skillfully passed down.