We regret to belatedly announce the passing of Andy Oberbillig, an influential car audio designer and pioneer in pre-fabricated speaker enclosures.
Oberbillig passed in April at the age of 61 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
He ran one of the first pre-fabricated subwoofer enclosure companies, OBCON, and was one of the first to use plexiglass in sub boxes so that users could see their enclosed subwoofer.
He later ran Artistic Display, which designed in-store displays for Magnolia HiFi, Car Toys and others. He was a talented designer who loved audio. One of his creations was a device that allowed salesmen to A-B compare two different video projectors, according to close friend Dan McMillan of In Phase Marketing, WA.
“Andy and I first met back in 93′, 94′. He was instrumental in early box building…There wasn’t anyone building pre- fabricated enclosures. Of course, Andy was a character. He did a great Jim Carey impersonation…was a great family man.” McMillan added, “We did the Car Toys tent sales. No one played music at the sale. Just stacks of stuff on a table. So Andy built me a display…I was a JL Audio rep, and I used a Rockford amp (JL didn’t have amps at the time). I could take the display that played music and also demo the products. The next year everybody else had displays that played music. He helped a lot of manufacturers.”
Gregg Thomas, most recently at Alpine and a former Car Toys executive, said, “Andy was a true craftsman and one of most passionate car audio enthusiasts I ever met. It didn’t matter if it was a new sub enclosure he created at his company OBCON, furniture for a local barbershop, store designs for Magnolia Hi Fi or in-store displays at Car Toys stores. All of Andy’s work was impeccable and always exceeded expectations. He was meticulous with his designs, hit every deadline and all with a smile and positive attitude no matter how steep the challenge. His work, reputation, passion and honesty will be missed by many in the Northwest. A true legend in our industry. ”
Oberbillig’s friend Jeff Jones of Go Fast Solutions said, “Andy was a great guy with deep technical skill. A real engineer’s mindset. The car audio community in the Pacific Northwest in the 90’s was loaded with innovative people and companies. Whenever I had the chance to talk to Andy I learned something new. He will be missed.”
A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday July 27th at noon at Historic 1625 Tacoma Place, 1625 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, WA.
RIP, Andy.