AVSA 'Behind the scenes'

[Graham R]

Taking lead from the 'AVSA History' I thought it would be interesting and informative if the members of AVSA could entertain us with some 'Behind the scene' details on how and where reviews are carried out. If I recall correctly a new office and/or sound room were constructed not too long ago?

[BigWoodenSpoon]

Cool idea, and maybe some pics of the testing rooms ?

[joel]

Studio designed by Pro Acoustic Consortium and built by Sonor Audio.

Just phone and if I'm there you are welcome to come on over, although as equipment moves in and out of the studio often I cant guarantee what will be in the studio.

Do quite a lot of stereo reviews at home but with little one it's not too easy to have people around any more.

Room is roughly 4.8 x 4.2 m with ceilings a little over 3m high. it is careted with Belgotex orange under cushion used instead of normal under felt. this means absorption is a little better. Part of the rear wall has shelves with Lp's in them that acts a s a diffusor (room tightened up when these were put in) and I have bass traps to linearise LF.

[ODUODU]

Could we possibly have a group picture of the AVSA staff and the offices? (Sound rooms, Deon & Joel's office?)

I have allways wondered what it looks like.

Where is the actual printing done?

C'mon guys, you're living the dream, let us see some of it!!!!

Ockie

[Andrew]

Could we possibly have a group picture of the AVSA staff and the offices? (Sound rooms, Deon & Joel's office?)

I have allways wondered what it looks like.

Where is the actual printing done?

C'mon guys, you're living the dream, let us see some of it!!!!

Ockie

Hmm, it's not as romantic as it may seem. We used to have separate offices, but now we're in yukky open plan. I think we took photos of the sound room when it was first 'opened'. Will check with Joel. It can look quite chaotic at times, depending on how much new review equipment has arrived.

[BigWoodenSpoon]

but now we're in yukky open plan.

Can't slip your shot of Jack anymore ? 

[Andrew]

Can't slip your shot of Jack anymore ? 

Pah! Some days I would be quite at home chugging on the bottle in full view.

[joel]

Hi Ockie

While I certainly enjoy my work, writing for a magazine at the end of the day is just another job.

It has it's plus points and its negative ones.

I review around 100 products a year, and this means that a couple of hundred components (speakers, components, sub/sat systems etc) have to be carefully unpacked, hooked up , reviewed and carefully re packed.

Try lugging huge power amps around by yourself, or setting up lots of heavy speakers.
It's safe to say that my chiropractor loves my work.

Playing with great toys does make up for the hardships, although sometimes (like 2 or so weeks ago when my back gave out again and I was stuck on the floor untill I found the energy to pull myself up) I dream of having a normal 9-5 type job where the heaviest thing I'd have to lift would be a piece of paper.

The best part of the job isnt actually the equipment, it's the people I've gotten to meet and become friendly with. These special people include manufacturers, distributors, and a few readers too.
 

[joel]

I'll try find the pics of the soundroom, but they were probably lost the last time Windows bluescreened me and my wife had to reload my pc.

[dschoem]

Some details on rooms I use for the reviews published in AVSA.

My home listening room is relatively compact, and narrow, but dedicated to audio. It's about 6m long and 4 m wide, and has slightly irregular shape to combat standing waves. I basically run two systems, one 'small' and one 'large' to be able to contextualise the equipment I get for review a little better. Floor is carpeted, there are CD racks and LP racks all over the place, and the ceiling is conventional ceiling board, but with big bales of insulation to allow for better absorption. Ivan Lin's bass traps help with bass control, too. More details on actual kit can be found on the contents page of AVSA.

The home theatre set-up is in the lounge, which has a fairly modest footprint, but a very tall double-volume ceiling that is in excess of 10 m at its highest point - so, lots of air. Also, open plan, making surround sound speaker configuration problematic, but not insurmountably so. I use sat/subs, and stand-mounted rear surrounds, with wall-mounted centre backs. I also run a LAN-based music/movie server system, which allows for reviews of Mvix-type units and servers - a trend that seems to be growing.

For really big gear (B&W's 801Ds come to mind) we use the AVSA sound room, which is more neutral environment, but very useful because it is quite spacious and can be used for stereo and home theatre reviews. We will all dig for some pics.

Talking of which, I will post some images of my room after the end-of-year spring clean - it's a working space right now, and not exactly suitable for use in Habitat or Garden and Home ...

Deon Schoeman

[Schalk]

Must say I love that fireplace you've got in that double volume area Deon. Some "port" that stack  makes

Stack---(that's chimney for the non-naval types)

[dschoem]

Yup - and keeps the winter at bay pretty well, too ... Those Scandinavians know something about heating, considering their temperatures in winter!