To Those Under 30.....

[daneo]

What got you interested in better quality sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker building etc.... Where did you get your start?
Just curious - Dane

[trevorg]

> What got you interested in better quality
> sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker
> building etc.... Where did you get your
> start?
> Just curious - Dane

Well considering im only 15 years old, i would have to say it would have been my dad. He useds to work for newcome electronics systems and i would tag along with him somtimes. Ive have seen tons of systems and many beyond belife. After seeing my first and hearing my first million dollar systeme i have been hooked. And here i am 5 years later still strong into audio. Just recently about 7 months ago i began building my own speakers instead of collecting them from the trash or garage sales. i have to say that i am lucky because i have seen many things most people have not.

[yeldarb43]

> What got you interested in better quality
> sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker
> building etc.... Where did you get your
> start?
> Just curious - Dane

I got interested in front projection technology from someone here at work. That got me into HT and reading AVS forum. In turn that led me to DIY audio. I've always wanted a nice system since my old band mixed our cd on some Yamaha NS-10s, that was the first time I had heard something approaching good sound through a speaker. However, I'm only 24 and I knew I couldn't afford to go Hi-Fi or even Mid-Fi untill I stumbled on DIY at AVS forum. That led me here. I am just getting started but already this place has been a huge help.

[cjd]

I was born into a family where I was surrounded by music - classical and jazz, and live music as well as recorded. I've been a classical musician most (all if you count humming when <2) of my life.

So.



C

[chevyman440]

> What got you interested in better quality
> sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker
> building etc.... Where did you get your
> start?
> Just curious - Dane

Car audio.... when I was 14 my friend and I got some free Pyle subwoofer and we started building boxes for them not really knowing what we were doing. Trial and error led us to making SEALED boxes among other things... haha We all had to start somewhere. Our last car was 153db and not a dedicated show car, just a daily driver. This also led to some painful injury to my left ear where I lost some hearing around 3000hz. I never had a big system again in a car.

In the quest for bigger and better plus my love for music in general I started building PA equipment. Then I started a sound company which required a lot more building

On the home front the midwest audio fest several years ago made me love single driver boxes for home use.

-Matt

[romanbednarek]

> What got you interested in better quality
> sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker
> building etc.... Where did you get your
> start?
> Just curious - Dane

I'm just slightly beyond your age limit but I think my interest in audio began at a very young age in the early 70's. My parents used to play a lot of Beatles and Jethro Tull albums through headphones to relax me as a baby and they said the certain songs really did the trick. I think that is why I now have around 1,500 CDs and speakers everywhere. Young minds are very impressionable but I sure do love this hobby!

[johnnyrichards]

> What got you interested in better quality
> sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker
> building etc.... Where did you get your
> start?
> Just curious - Dane

I am not under 30 (I am not over 30 yet either LOL will be in June).
I got into the hobby as a result of finding some woofers clearanced out at Radio Shack. The 6.5" polypropylene model 40-1011.

Added a pair of their silk dome tweets and a crossover and voila!

I did a ton of car audio, got out of it when I realized that achieving fidelity in-home is cheaper, easier, and infinitely more predictable than in-car.

My next project occured when I listened to an older pair of Infinity floorspeakers (I forget model number). I really liked the sound, but hated the pricetag. My friend worked at the audio store and told me I could buy the drivers (as replacements) and build a crossover for next to nothing. He was right, it took me several attempts to het the X-Over right, but it was worth it. Total outlay was 1/2 the retail price of the Infinitys.

That got me really going, building "clones". Friends would come over and say "OMG! I just listened to ***! I love it! Can you build it!?!?1"

After doing a little research, I usually could. Most drivers installed in commercial loudspeakers can be purchased over the counter of course.

Nowadays, Infinity uses proprietary drivers, and charge a premium to purchase them. NHT uses branded Peerless drivers, but I am pretty sure they are not proprietary. JBL uses, and always has, whatever they can buy. I am pretty sure they design around certain drivers they find at tent sales. Very poor engineering goes into JBL home audio.

Bose was easy to duplicate. I just sent them to Radioshack and had them buy 4 of their dual driver cubes. The ones when they rotate on each other, remember those? Had them pick up a pair of 6.5" polypropylene woofers for 20 bucks apiece (I had designed a 6th order bandpass for those). People loved them.

Nowadays, with a wife, a 5 year old, and a 10 month old dog, I do very little DIY.

I really want to build a set of phase/time correct speakers (like the Vandersteens). But might have to wait a few years.

Currently my system consists of a virtual clone of NHT's SuperAudio series... 3 Way fronts using Peerless 6.5" woofers (850122) and soft dome tweeter (812687), plus side firing 8" poly woofer (831709). Rears using same drivers minus the 8". Center using 5.25" woofers (850108).

[curt_c]

> My parents used
> to play a lot of Beatles and Jethro Tull
> albums through headphones to relax me as a
> baby and they said the certain songs really
> did the trick.

...uh, baby…

Songs From the Wood I can see, but Stand Up or Aqualung? Hmmm…
;^)

C

[nef]

hehe as for me I used to collect whatever speakers I found and had would connect them to whatever sterio/receiver I had. Would buy cheap ones at garage sales or find them in the trash.

I remeber this one time behind my old apartment there is this small audio/video repair shop and he was cleaning shop I guess. Threw out abunch of speakers, a friend of mine and I jumped the fence and got in the dumpster and took out speakers. Was fun, there was this 15" that worked, I mean could hear sound but im not sure it *fully* worked but you couldn't convince me that it was just trash, I built a box for it and everything. Even found one that matched another speaker I had, that I had found at a garage sale. hehe

[nick29498141]

> Well considering im only 15 years old, i
> would have to say it would have been my dad.
> He useds to work for newcome electronics
> systems and i would tag along with him
> somtimes. Ive have seen tons of systems and
> many beyond belife. After seeing my first
> and hearing my first million dollar systeme
> i have been hooked. And here i am 5 years
> later still strong into audio. Just recently
> about 7 months ago i began building my own
> speakers instead of collecting them from the
> trash or garage sales. i have to say that i
> am lucky because i have seen many things
> most people have not.

So I'm not the only 15 year old here...

Where are you located?

NK

[marks]

Well, I'm 19 and I grew up in a home where the stereo was always on. My parents are huge classical music gurus and their great Klipsch Kg4 speakers always were playing away. My mom is a musician and I am also, so I love music and I find wonderful sound reproduction to be extremely intriguing. Therefore I love good audio equipment and I have found speaker building to be an amazing art that I'm trying to become more proficient in (especially crossover design, which can be slightly confusing).
I'm in love with music and I'm becoming quite addicted to speaker building!

[nickcaper]

I started when I was about 13. I heard the guys at school driving up in there cars with loud music. When I stole my dads $100 bill to get 2 Sansui 10inch subs from Montgomery Ward I realized i had no idea what the hell to do with them when I sat then in the trunk of my moms old 83 Honda Accord. My mom found out I stole the C note and returned the speakers before i got a AZZ whippin. But the curiosity to get big sound in my car never went away. Now it flowered into home audio and video. Im actually 31 now. Funny how kids get started and dont stop till they get there satisfaction.....!

[unknownuser]

Just interested in knowing, what was your reason for restricting the question to those under 30?

> What got you interested in better quality
> sound? Better amps, turntables, DYI speaker
> building etc.... Where did you get your
> start?
> Just curious - Dane



(Originally posted by: Gray Olfart)

[Pete Schumacher ®]

> ...uh, baby…

> Songs From the Wood I can see, but Stand Up
> or Aqualung? Hmmm…
> ;^)

> C

Oh my, have you not heard Living in the Past? Plenty on that to tame a wildman.

[curt_c]

> Oh my, have you not heard Living in the
> Past? Plenty on that to tame a wildman.

Got that one on vinyl, and yes, its pretty mellow as well, comparatively speaking.
I'm a Tull guy from way back. Even took up the flute for awhile, for obvious reasons...

C

[curt_c]

> Just interested in knowing, what was your
> reason for restricting the question to those
> under 30?

Hi Brother Gray!
I think its a good thread, as I know how most of the Olfart family got involved, but these young-uns? By rights they should be listening to crap on their Ipods...
Interesting stuff, here.

Nudder

[Pete Schumacher ®]

> Got that one on vinyl, and yes, its pretty
> mellow as well, comparatively speaking.
> I'm a Tull guy from way back. Even took up
> the flute for awhile, for obvious reasons...

> C

I cut my teeth in progressive rock on Tull. I owned every album up through Heavy Horses, even have the full newspaper in Thick as a Brick and the Stand-Up fold out. What fantastic music.

I just watched the Isle of Wight performance on DVD last week. Man!!! What a performance and the sound, remastered in 5.1 . . . stunning!!

What a band.

[romanbednarek]

> Got that one on vinyl, and yes, its pretty
> mellow as well, comparatively speaking.
> I'm a Tull guy from way back. Even took up
> the flute for awhile, for obvious reasons...

> C

My dad has Aqualung, Living in the Past and Thick as a Brick on vinyl but my mom said that I really like Aqualung a lot. The funny thing is I don't have any of those albums on CD... I guess I listened to them too much as a youngster. The other thing is that I've been trying to learn Bach's version of Bouree on classical guitar for years. Maybe if I would have taken up the flute (and didn't have to play the bass and lead lines simulataneously) I might have learned it by now. The second part to Bach's version is very tricky though!

[unknownuser]

Yes, please don't get me wrong, this is a very good thread. I was just ineterested in knowing what was the reasoning behind the limitation.

> Hi Brother Gray!
> I think its a good thread, as I know how
> most of the Olfart family got involved, but
> these young-uns? By rights they should be
> listening to crap on their Ipods...
> Interesting stuff, here.

> Nudder



(Originally posted by: Gray Olfart)

[trevorg]

> So I'm not the only 15 year old here...

> Where are you located?

> NK

Columbus,Ohio