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Betetec / Aaron closed down?


Guest glakey

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Guest glakey

I notice in the For Sale section Betetec drivers for sale and the comment Betetec Ballina had closed down. I also noticed a specialised Weller Soldering Station for sale on Gumtree - from Hume L'Estrange. I hope we have not lost another Australian manufacturer........

Edited by glakey
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Guest glakey

Hume has soldering irons, scissor lift bench, speakers and a large covered tandem trailer all up on Gumtree........

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This does not surprise me at all.

They have not made any updates to their two main product lines in many years, Hyperboloid mk2 was released in 2010 and the ATS mk2 dates back to around 2000.

It was only a matter of time.

Edited by MVPjack
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The guys at Audiotrends tell me he has retired and sitting in the sun.

 

 

Good on him. 

 

My first set of decent speakers were ATS-5, I sold them onto my boss 12 years or so ago and he still uses and really enjoys them.

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Guest glakey

The guys at Audiotrends tell me he has retired and sitting in the sun.

Bit like Sonique, boys retired and shut up shop.

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The guys at Audiotrends tell me he has retired and sitting in the sun.

 

 

Bit like Sonique, boys retired and shut up shop.

 

 

wow so thats what happened with sonique as well ? made some lovely speakers. oh well cant blame them as with aarons. but it does seem a shame when what be brands wiht some history just go like that....especially being aussie ones ! :)

 

nothing on their website .... ?

 

http://www.aaronhifi.com.au/index.php

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Its a pity that these guys just close down. 

With regards to speaker builders;

 

I may miss some, but we have had

  • Duntech - moved to the States
  • Sonique closed down
  • Aaron closed down
  • Whatmough - still kicking around in some fashion

At the moment we have 

  • Lenehan
  • Osborn 
  • Ambience

I understand that the guys want to do their own thing, but when they get closer to retirement I would  have thought that they could pass all or at least some of their knowledge down to the next generation. E.g. @@scumbag is trying to build some speakers, if one of the older guys could reach out to him it would be good.

 

The same situation is playing out everywhere with quite a few guys building amps, dacs speakers etc etc. When they retire , stop a lot of knowledge just goes.

 

Wish I had an answer.

Edited by Jventer
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Guest glakey

Its a pity that these guys just close down.

With regrds to speaker builders;

I may miss some , but we have had

  • Duntech - moved to the States
  • Sonique closed down
  • Aaron closed down
  • Whatmough - still kicking around in some fashion
At the moment we have

  • Lenehan
  • Osborn
  • Ambience
I understand that the guys want to do their own thing, but when they get closer to retirement I would have thought that they could pass all or at least some of their knowledge down to the next generation. E.g. @Scvumbag is trying to build some speakers, if one of the older guys could reach out to him it would be good.

The same situation is playing out everywhere with quite a few guys building amps, dacs speakers etc etc. When they retire , stop a lot of knowledge just goes.

Wish I had an answer.

John Dunlavey returned to the States set up a few businesses, went out of business and died from memory around early 2007. His true genius was military communications gear, sonar etc, the speakers were not bad either!!

As for other manufacturers, we have VAF, SGR, Krix just to name a few extra, far from a complete list.

Regards,

George

Edited by glakey
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There sre still plenty of good Australian speaker manufacturers and designers. One could argue that the industry has never been better with several new designs and companies emerging on the market and IMO the future looks fairly good, albeit on a boutique style manufacturing basis and catering for all styles and price levels from budget to high end.

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John Dunlavey returned to the States set up a few businesses, went out of business and died from memory around early 2007. His true genius was military communications gear, sonar etc, the speakers were not bad either!!

As for othe I  manufacturers, we have VAF, SGR, Krix just to name a few extra, far from a complete list.

Regards,

George

Yes, sorry I missed a few.

 

SGR - there are some younger guys involved there, which is good. SGR has some really great runs on the board with some of their speakers and their hifi racks. I was looking forward to their Cube - am I wrong or has it been a non event? Our own Marc has sold his SGR speakers as did member JohnA. AFAIK they are not even a commercial sponsor here - where does that leave us ?

 

VAF, some great things happening there, but. The guy who started it: Mr Vafiadis, how old is he?- who is taking over?  His family? - Carefully read the posts on SNA and you would notice that the  brains behind the speakers is Simon Wilde. Yes, please keep on reading, his surname is Wilde, not Vafiadis.  I dont know much, but this may be another dead end.

Krix - great story - brilliant for Cinemas and HT systems. Truth be told, not really hifi quality. I know, I have owned many of their products. Not to slag them, but he is getting older, what is his succession plan? We dont know.

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There sre still plenty of good Australian speaker manufacturers and designers. One could argue that the industry has never been better with several new designs and companies emerging on the market and IMO the future looks fairly good, albeit on a boutique style manufacturing basis and catering for all styles and price levels from budget to high end.

I agree, the future does look good. 

It is the age old problem - if you look at what has been done in the past and try to improve you could be onto a winner

OR

you could start with totally fresh ideas and get to a winner.

What I find sad is that it appears that the guys with experience just shut up shop without transferring their knowledge.

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Subsonic

Equinox

Legend Acoustics

Richter

Karri Acoustics

Red Spade Audio

Loudspeaker Kit

Wyndham Audio

Ascension Speakers

 

etc etc still going...

 

In fact Equinox have launched a new flagship speaker called the Galaxy and it's HUMONGOUS and only 300Kg each :)

 

gal1vduca.jpg

Edited by aasza
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A good list to be sure.

 

One other manufacturer who burst on to the market but has since gone almost comatose is Redefy who was a sponsor here at one time. I always admired their designs but I have not heard or read anything about them for a long time

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 VAF, some great things happening there, but. The guy who started it: Mr Vafiadis, how old is he?- who is taking over?  His family? - Carefully read the posts on SNA and you would notice that the  brains behind the speakers is Simon Wilde. Yes, please keep on reading, his surname is Wilde, not Vafiadis.  I dont know much, but this may be another dead end.

Here's some more info about VAF, with Simon Hackett (of Internode fame) taking a financial interest. IMHO with his backing, and Simon Wilde's (ex Duntech designer) work, they have a pretty good succession plan.

http://www.impress.com.au/newsroom/simon-hackett/1962-vaf-turns-up-national-sales-volume-in-2016.html

Cheers,

SS

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Guest scumbag

A good list to be sure.

 

One other manufacturer who burst on to the market but has since gone almost comatose is Redefy who was a sponsor here at one time. I always admired their designs but I have not heard or read anything about them for a long time

Looks to be ticking along still?

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php/topic/100812-sydney-audio-club-meeting-sunday-10th-april-2016-redefy-audio/

Edited by scumbag
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Yes, sorry I missed a few.

 

SGR - there are some younger guys involved there, which is good. SGR has some really great runs on the board with some of their speakers and their hifi racks. I was looking forward to their Cube - am I wrong or has it been a non event? Our own Marc has sold his SGR speakers as did member JohnA. AFAIK they are not even a commercial sponsor here - where does that leave us ?

 

VAF, some great things happening there, but. The guy who started it: Mr Vafiadis, how old is he?- who is taking over?  His family? - Carefully read the posts on SNA and you would notice that the  brains behind the speakers is Simon Wilde. Yes, please keep on reading, his surname is Wilde, not Vafiadis.  I dont know much, but this may be another dead end.

Krix - great story - brilliant for Cinemas and HT systems. Truth be told, not really hifi quality. I know, I have owned many of their products. Not to slag them, but he is getting older, what is his succession plan? We dont know.

 

musickube.png

 

http://www.sgraudio.com/Products/digital/musickube.html

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Guest glakey

I have a pair of SGR CX3B which have served me well and very easy to move whenever I move house, however, I will move them on once I settle down in the very near future.

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Here's some more info about VAF, with Simon Hackett (of Internode fame) taking a financial interest. IMHO with his backing, and Simon Wilde's (ex Duntech designer) work, they have a pretty good succession plan.

http://www.impress.com.au/newsroom/simon-hackett/1962-vaf-turns-up-national-sales-volume-in-2016.html

Cheers,

SS

 

Just wait until you see what they have planned for the HiFi Show. All will be impressed.

VAF has entered a new era as a brand and a manufacturer, and Phil VAFiadis, is as much involved today as he ever was. Albeit with more resources and more drive.

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