Pronunciations for common audio names, or how to avoid sounding like a knucklehead

Saw this stuff over at the Asylum recently and thought it might be of interest here. I've apparently been mispronouncing these common audio names incorrectly for a long time.

Thorens:

Looks like "th" as in the word "three" and "ens" pronounced "enz" to me. Thor-enz. Evidently not. Given the Swiss origins of Thorens, it's actually pronounced Tor-entz. I'm gonna stick to my guns on this one. I'd feel strange pronouncing it that way here in the US...probably get some strange looks, too. Maybe I'll whip it out for Oktoberfest or something...

Grado:

Looks like Grahhh-dough to me. What the heck do I know? Seems it's Gray-dough. Good to know if you're ever in Brooklyn and looking for a local cartridge maker.

Henry Kloss:

I flubbed this one, too. I've been saying Kloss as in dental "floss". Turns out it's Kloss with a long "o" as in "close". No doubt a common mistake.

Garrard:

Neat turntables with a neat name if you ask me. I've always said juh-rard. I guess that's the common pronunciation here in the US, so the knucklehead thing really doesn't apply so much stateside. Seems it's different in the UK, though. It's Gare-ard, much like "garage" is pronounced there. Nice to know the pronunciation as spoken in the product's country of origin.


If anyone has any additions or corrections, I'm all ears.

 

I say...

Thorens
"Thor-enz"

Grado
"Gray-dough"

Garrard
"Guh-rard"

Henry Kloss
"Henry klaus"

Or like Neumann mircophones. Some say "noiemen", and some say "newman". I think "noiemen" is correct German, but us Americans tend to pronounce the "eu" as a "ou" sound, insted of an "oie" sound, so we say "newman" insted of "noiemen"

Or TEAC, some say "tee-akk" and some say "teak"

 

I'd like to get a pronounciation of Rega. I've always thought it was REE-GA, but somebody said REH-GA today.

 

Rega. Rhymes with Vega. As in Chevy Vega. (I can see the cloud of blue smoke arriving now! )

From what I've read, Dr. Seuss is actually pronounced Dr. Soyss.

 

Tannoy. I say "Tah-noy" but I've heard others say "Tuh-noy". No biggie, right?

 

Pro-ject
Denon
Thiel

 

It is REE-ga, but I hear a lot of people, including dealers, call it REH-ga. I used to call it that, too, until a UK rep for Rega corrected me.

 

Pro-ject pronounced Proe-jeckt
Denon pronounced Den-un
Thiel prounounced Thee-al

 

I've heard Thiel pronounced with a silent "H", including a former coworker who had that as a last name.

 

Yes, I too believe Thiel is pronounced "teal."

 

I coulda sworn I heard somebody pronounce Thiel as "Hail".

 

If it's a German word, the H would be silent...

 

Dave when I worked in music retail, I heard customer pronounce Denon - Dee-non and Den-non. I agree with you. I've always said Den-un

I have a Rega Planer 3 turntabe. When I purchased it, IIRC, the sales person pronounced it Ray-guh. I also have a Pro-Ject phono box. Same sales person, did pronounce it correctly when he sold it to me.

One of my other turntables is a Thorens. How are we pronouncing that name?

Slightly off topic, what is the correct pronounciation for the anti-virus softwar McAffe. For years I've heard both muh-calf-ee and mack-uh-fee in the computer stores. Which is it?

 

Does anyone know the proper pronunciation for Behringer?

 

Thor-enz, unless you live in a German-speaking area.

I think that's a situation where both are acceptable. Kinda like either...eether/eyether.

 

bear-injure

 

Thanks Arin. In North America, I think a lot of folks suffer from "lazy mouth" when they pronounce certain words. I've heard the turntable name pronounced Thornz before.

Kind of suspected that. However, I wonder if the McAfee company actually has an official pronounciation for the name.

 

Yeah, then you have different dialects as well. Interesting stuff, linguistics.

Give 'em a call and let us know what they say.

 

Pretty sure it's Mic-AAAH-fee (ok, slightly exaggerated, but you get the idea... ). But if you call and find out otherwise, let me know...

 

Thanks Arin...

 

No sweat, Oyama!

Anybody know the proper pronunciation for Ikemi, as in the Linn Ikemi CD player?

 

Here's one I've always wondered about: Dynaudio. Is it Dine-audio or Din-audio or Deen-audio? I've heard all 3.

 

I've always pronounced it as Thor-enz.

Mick or Mack-caffee.