Former Marantz brand ambassador, Ken Ishiwata died on 25th November 2019, at the age of 72, after suffering from an illness.
Described as being “probably the single most influential personality in today’s high-end audio industry” on the Marantz website, Ishiwata has been a pioneering figure in the hi-fi industry for over 40 years.
Ishiwata spent the majority of his career with Marantz before leaving the company in May this year after 41 years of working with the company. He originally joined as a technical coordinator but then spent the past 23 years as the brand ambassador.
In an interview published on Marantz website, Ishiwata explains how his passion for music and hi-fi design began at the age of 10 when he made his first amplifier after borrowing a 7C model Marantz amplifier from a school friend’s father and investigating every detail of it and making a copy.
Before joining Marantz in 1978, Ishiwata worked for Pioneer from 1968. He worked for several other tech brands as well before becoming a fashion photographer in 1975.
Ishiwata received the Outstanding Contribution award at this year’s What Hi-Fi? Awards which took place at the beginning of October.
Through a Twitter post, Marantz said: “It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our long-time collaborator and friend, Ken Ishiwata, last week. He will always be remembered for his love of music, the outstanding demonstrations he gave, and his passion to create the most musical audio components.”