Introductions Thread

[AlexD]

Hi Guys
Stunning forum,congrats to the creator of this site.

My name is Alex Dunn from Ruimsig in Johannesburg.I currently market the Seas range of drivers amongst other things,hifi and hometheatre related.I heard about this forum,thanks to Abe(alphabet).As I mentioned to him,I am first an audio enthusiast and then a businessman when it comes to audio,especially.
I've been involved in building speakers for the past 15 years,had my stint with car audio about 10 years ago.
I hope to organize a DIY audio festiville in the near future.I think we are a special breed of people and it would be great to get together and share our ideas and experiences.

[Hennie]

Welcome Alex. Good to see you active in the DIY market. Me and Timber_MG also discussed the possibility of getting a DIY club or DIY meetings going.

[Timber_MG]

DIY Audio fest sounds like a plan. I have a potential venue in Pretoria for something that could accomodate maybe 50 people with a main listening venue suitable for cinematic material (including large sheet and mount for the projector) and a sweet spot with 20+ odd people and a couple of smaller ones that I have been discussing with hennie for initially smaller forum type meetings. First arrival times after floor-bounce are on the order of magnitude >>20ms and the speakers will need real cohones (meaning clean high output and very clean time-domain behaviour within the first 10-20 ms). Too dead for serious music listening though, but 1/2 smaller rooms might be used for bookshelfs and their ilk.

note: Be warned though, you will be up against Constant Directivity large format studiomonitor type loudspeakers in a large dead-ish venue if hennie and I get to finish our planned project beforehand, unlikely to do most DIY projects many favours.  :twisted:

The Vifas and Scans of the world are facing some stiff compentition from the american cheapies atm it seems. Scan no longer rule the low distortion nor the stored energy roost anymore, so some interresting things are happening in teh scene.  Check out some of the projects on http://htguide.com for an interesting perspective on the current state of high-end DIY.

[AlexD]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the welcome.I think the festiville would be great especially if we can secure a relatively good acoustic enviroment that is secure at a low cost.According to my stats,i.e. based on the people that have registered with me,more than 80% of the guys were from Pretoria,so it's safe to say that Pretoria is the "DIY-Capital" of S.A.
Anyway,we should meet some time to maybe get the ball rolling.

Cheers

[Timber_MG]

Sounds interresting. I will pass out an informal invite when I get around to do the tweeter shootout on the forum which you may of course gladly forward to your client base. What sorta numbers are you looking at? Perhaps one could carry on discussing this in the other thread or open up a new one.

I think one shouldn't underplay the importance of a venue. I am more than prepared to pay R20-30 for a venue if it can accomodate the equipment involved acoustically and security wise, probably more still if it involves some food/drink (I mean what does a single meal at a restaurant cost you). The venue I had in mind is an under-inhabited large private home with a potential hostess. I think it would be a move in the right direction if one were to get away from the hotel setup initially (dunno what the possibilities are)

The possibilities of a blind comparisson might cause for a bit of a stir, especially if it were to involve non-DIY speakers as well (and I mean surprizes going both ways). Perhaps have a competition for the listener with the most consistent evaluation of the speakers, aka the golden ear award?

A private venue would allow one to do things like set up the speakers the afternoon before the event, offer a measurement service for teh DIYers (I am thinking of constructiong a measurement turntable to allow power response measurements) and what not. If it is large enough one might attract a speaker (of the bipedal varietry).

Another big issue is whether it should be a festival of the community or whether it should be a commercially sponsored event. The difference in this is not subtle, but getting the commercial guys onboard might be a good plan if their marketing desires don't become too pervasive. I would not really favour a situation where the commercial element gains directly from a marketing platform though (when balanced out against the effort of the community)

What do you guys think (abe, feel free to chop and paste)

[AlexD]

When are you having the tweeter shootout?Would love to attend.I fully agree with the large private home setup as that could help to contain costs.I have about 45 clients registered and would gladly put forward the possibility of the audio festiville to them.As previously mentioned,80% of these guys reside in Pretoria so i am assuming we could get a decent response in terms of numbers.i think around 30-40 guys(and girls,if any) could make for a jolly event.
In terms of commercial sponsorship,well I think I am caught between a rock and a hard place here so my comment might be biased.I think careful selection of a reputable dealer would be good however certain conditions would need to be imposed.i have personally found that there is a huge difference between DIYer's like ourselves and guys who sell imported equipment in terms of being objective.I have found very few dealers who have an intricate knowledge of audio as we do.(I'm no boffin,but!!!!!!!!)
Anyway,these are just my views

[Timber_MG]

Well,  I am currently preparing a mold which which I am to mould the transmission line for the 4" mid using a condom no less (one's got to be creative in this country of ours for manufacturing with limited means)

If you have any suggestions for a dome (er tweeter) we could have a look, but the intended setup is meant to allow to swap tweeters electronically (sub-bass-ribbon-small faceplate dome-mid-waveguide) and with this config we are already running two ultradrives full-out. Problem is I don't want to put a 4" faceplate dome tweeter in between the ribbon and the mid and the sides are limited by the desire to have a low-diffraction baffle. Robotic arms to swap tweeters into place anyone?

Most audio dealers in this country don't even know their own product line and many wouldn't know how the sound of a wet fart in a paper bag compares to something of theirs.

[Vaughan]

Hi there,

Just registered.   I never knew this site even existed. I usually post at Home Theater Forum and AVS forum. I'm from Cape Town. Any Capetonians about ? Heh.

I'm an enthusiast, first and foremost and I also happen to work in the field. I look forward to talking to you guys.

Cheers.

--Sincerely,

[Timber_MG]

Hi Vaughn and welcome to the forum.

Perhaps you could share with the forum how you are active in the industry?

The forum needs more members and it is good to see people hopping aboard.

Martin

[Vaughan]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

I work at a high-end audio shop called Signals Audio Video in Willowbridge, Bellville. You might have heard of it ?

--Sincerely,

[Timber_MG]

I am based in Pretoria, so I had to use google. Looking at your specials there seems to be a reasonably strong emphasis on electronics and cabling? At least I haven't yet smelt the thing that rhymes with nose about the shop yet like another company, so you pass (warning, humour).

Reply to your other Question on p1 of this thread and in the other thread.

[Byrd]

Hey Guys

My name is Ross. I am NEARING 30 and am a software developer based in Durban. Been building audio since the early 90's. Mainly nasty speakers back then due to lack of cash but also some amps. I once worked at a "High End" retailer here in Durban for a short time so had a bit of time to get some ear training. I was introduced to this forum tonight / this morning by Alex Dunn.

My most recent builds have been a set of Leach Low TIM Amps.

I am also in the process of building a few other things and they are all at various levels of completion. Pics of some of this stuff can be seen @ http://byrd.fotopic.net

- A PGA2311 / OPA 2227 based preamp. (Operational - still requires case)
- A set of "Infinity Dynamic" 6.5" Carbon Fibre Based Bookshelf Speakers (Complete)
- An LM3886 based power amp (Operational - still required case)
- 10 Channels of a new version of the Leach Low TIM amp designed by the Dane Jens Rasmussen (1 stereo set is Operational in Durban and one set in Capetown, Still need to assemble the rest)
- A Seas Kit - The Thor's. (The components for this were acquired mid / late last year and I purchased the necessary wood just before December shutdown. So for there has been no further progress with these. The version I will be building is not quite the Thor as it is a much larger T/L based on the theory of Martin King)

Other equipment.
Rotel RSP-960 Processor
Marantz CD-42 CD Player
My Main Music Source - PC with EMU 1212m Sound Card.
My Main HT Source - PC NForce 2 Chipset with Analof Out into the Rotel. Video is S-Video Out of PC into Sony DRC Television.
Tannoy FX 5.1 Sub Sat System
Wharfedale Modus Bookshelves & Centre
Jamo D590's (Like the old 707's)

It is great to see that there are a few other souls in to this sort of thing and I hope to meet a few people from Durban to get a small community started. It is always interesting to see what others have done.

[kay]

Hi! Welcome to the forum

[AlexD]

Hi Ross
Glad to see yo could make it, :mrgreen: Welcome!Hope to see you ast the DiYAUDIOFEST.I've follwed your thread on diyaudio for a while now as I am also a fan of t-line speakers.keep up the good work
Cheers

[Byrd]

Thanks Alex. Mmmm for some reason there seems to be an old liekie playing in my head "It's a long long way to Pretoria, Pretoria Pretoria ...." . Will see what I can do but don't hold too much hope for business trips up that way any time soon. If I am able to make it though there is no chance the Thor's are going on the plane with me. The most would be one of those Leach amps.

I think the Durban guys should have their own fest .... All 2 of us  8-)