New member: Ivo from Aequo Audio

[Ivo]

Dear all,

I am Ivo Sparidaens from Eindhoven, the Netherlands and like to introduce myself to you. I have been lurking around here from time to time and now the time has come to also start contributing to this forum. Being the founder and chief designer of Aequo Audio, Aequo Aerealis and Diluvite Nanotech Composites, I will focus on threads that might most benefit of such contributions touching the area's these companies focus on. That will in practise be mainly those threads concerning Audio technology (including speaker design, materials, drivers, and other things concerning loudspeakers, with a special attention to hybrid and full active loudspeakers. That doesn't mean I don't like other 'whatsbest'-categories such as found in food, wine and cars, or that I don't have a humble two cents to say about other audio electronics. But, time is scarce for an entrepreneur in a fast growing company (or in fact three of those), so expect me to only also scarcely read and post at What's Best Forum...

A bit more about me: I am 40 years old, was born in and currently live in Eindhoven (known as BrainPort from the high tech stuff such as ASML, Philips (Medical) etc.) and have a background in (study) automotive engineering, competing in racing, then study and specialising professionally full time in tribology (the science of friction, with special attention to dynamics, flow, vibrations, materials etc), with more than a decade of experience optimising production plants, before starting Aequo Audio. I now currently spend most of my time in R&D in loudspeaker design, driver engineering, nanotech material engineering and more tech things affiliated to high end audio. Aequo audio as a company started as an R&D project in 2012, with its first commercial available product (Ensis loudspeakers) in 2016. Currently we are best known for our hybrid or full active Stilla loudspeakers, but many more products are lined up to be added to the portfolio, of which most will be positioned in upper tier territories (from Stilla and up). We do almost all our own R&D, design and production in-house.

Under the Diluvite Nanotech Composites brand, we focus on mainly turn-key projects on chassis of audio electronics or projects realising 3D components in need of next-level anti-vibrational qualities. Under the Aequo Aerealis brand we market a cable product line and do R&D on assiciated high end products with certain new high-tech material technology here as well.

That's it for now. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for having me here.

 

[RCanelas]

Welcome Ivo!

These are remarkable initiatives, looking forward to hear more soon.

 

[Sharok]

Dear all,

I am Ivo Sparidaens from Eindhoven, the Netherlands and like to introduce myself to you. I have been lurking around here from time to time and now the time has come to also start contributing to this forum. Being the founder and chief designer of Aequo Audio, Aequo Aerealis and Diluvite Nanotech Composites, I will focus on threads that might most benefit of such contributions touching the area's these companies focus on. That will in practise be mainly those threads concerning Audio technology (including speaker design, materials, drivers, and other things concerning loudspeakers, with a special attention to hybrid and full active loudspeakers. That doesn't mean I don't like other 'whatsbest'-categories such as found in food, wine and cars, or that I don't have a humble two cents to say about other audio electronics. But, time is scarce for an entrepreneur in a fast growing company (or in fact three of those), so expect me to only also scarcely read and post at What's Best Forum...

A bit more about me: I am 40 years old, was born in and currently live in Eindhoven (known as BrainPort from the high tech stuff such as ASML, Philips (Medical) etc.) and have a background in (study) automotive engineering, competing in racing, then study and specialising professionally full time in tribology (the science of friction, with special attention to dynamics, flow, vibrations, materials etc), with more than a decade of experience optimising production plants, before starting Aequo Audio. I now currently spend most of my time in R&D in loudspeaker design, driver engineering, nanotech material engineering and more tech things affiliated to high end audio. Aequo audio as a company started as an R&D project in 2012, with its first commercial available product (Ensis loudspeakers) in 2016. Currently we are best known for our hybrid or full active Stilla loudspeakers, but many more products are lined up to be added to the portfolio, of which most will be positioned in upper tier territories (from Stilla and up). We do almost all our own R&D, design and production in-house.

Under the Diluvite Nanotech Composites brand, we focus on mainly turn-key projects on chassis of audio electronics or projects realising 3D components in need of next-level anti-vibrational qualities. Under the Aequo Aerealis brand we market a cable product line and do R&D on assiciated high end products with certain new high-tech material technology here as well.

That's it for now. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for having me here.

Hello Ivo and welcome,

Do you have any plans to release Diluvium Speakers?

 

[Ivo]

Thanks Ricardo!

Sharok: Haha, a nice question and delicate question for me right away Well, I am here also to give information to fellow forum members, even in some cases if before official press-releases and such. Let's this be the first kind of that type.

Diluvium has been an ongoing on/off the radar project. It is basically the prototype-to-prototype-to-prototype project than never has reached a status of anything beyond that of a "concept car" or several of those actually, but which has a very central role within our speaker R&D program, and in which I and my team put in each new version/prototype/concept all our latest and finest tech to the test, without any hold-backs, or compromise of costs, make-ability etc.

I can share that if we would bring out the current 'Diluvium prototype concept car' as a commercially available product it would cost around 250k (euro/dollar) per pair, but that would still pend on certain components in it that are not yet suitable for series production (such as certain nanotech driver membranes).

That doesn't mean there are indeed concrete plans to release it as a commercially available product at some point. and probably not soon after finishing the nanotech driver membrane projects. And although its final price is still unclear, I can actually disclose its already quite final towards its end-specs and looks.

When we are exactly ready for market with the Diluvium is yet to be seen, but there will be some other products arriving more shortly, that all have strongly design pedigree, materials and components derived from our Diluvite efforts.

BUT:

First in line are single10-inch 3-way Adamantis (pure passive) and Ensium (replacement of Ensis, with ARPEC)

Soon after I expect our 4-way with double 10 inch woofers, all new-drivers and featuring nanotech membranes called Eximium will come out (while this also is pending many of the same Diluvium project membrane outcomes), but decisions can still change as more fully-developed products are in line for our near future production planning.

 

[Sharok]

Thanks Ricardo!

Sharok: Haha, a nice question and delicate question for me right away Well, I am here also to give information to fellow forum members, even in some cases if before official press-releases and such. Let's this be the first kind of that type.

Diluvium has been an ongoing on/off the radar project. It is basically the prototype-to-prototype-to-prototype project than never has reached a status of anything beyond that of a "concept car" or several of those actually, but which has a very central role within our speaker R&D program, and in which I and my team put in each new version/prototype/concept all our latest and finest tech to the test, without any hold-backs, or compromise of costs, make-ability etc.

I can share that if we would bring out the current 'Diluvium prototype concept car' as a commercially available product it would cost around 250k (euro/dollar) per pair, but that would still pend on certain components in it that are not yet suitable for series production (such as certain nanotech driver membranes).

That doesn't mean there are indeed concrete plans to release it as a commercially available product at some point. and probably not soon after finishing the nanotech driver membrane projects. And although its final price is still unclear, I can actually disclose its already quite final towards its end-specs and looks.

When we are exactly ready for market with the Diluvium is yet to be seen, but there will be some other products arriving more shortly, that all have strongly design pedigree, materials and components derived from our Diluvite efforts.

BUT:

First in line are single10-inch 3-way Adamantis (pure passive) and Ensium (replacement of Ensis, with ARPEC)

Soon after I expect our 4-way with double 10 inch woofers, all new-drivers and featuring nanotech membranes called Eximium will come out (while this also is pending many of the same Diluvium project membrane outcomes), but decisions can still change as more fully-developed products are in line for our near future production planning.

Many thanks for your reply
You changed the design quite a bit. But still your new design is a true beauty.

 

[christoph]

Welcome to the What's Best Forums, Ivo

Wow, what an entry
I will have to take my time to read your posts properly later.

Cheers,
Christoph

 

[Ron Resnick]

Welkom, Ivo!

Mijn vrouw kom uit op Den Haag.

 

[Ivo]

Many thanks for your reply
You changed the design quite a bit. But still your new design is a true beauty.

Big changes indeed. There is somewhat a 'designer's progress' to be recognised from Ensis to Stilla to current. First using an almost side orientated 10 inch bass unit, than two opposing 45 degree placed/firing bass units and finally all bass units being front firing and time-perfect positioned ( actually all 'acoustic phase/time centres' of drivers being at the same distance to the listener, kind of in a very big radius).

Form follows function will always be at the core of my design work and are at the basis of my primary design goals.

As you perhaps already noticed, that earlier Diluvium prototype you mention had a lot of similarities to to Ensis type of structure. Just bigger, fancier and with double the driver count. The new/current 'design style' represents for me, and about me, something perhaps more mature in my development as a loudspeaker designer and can be seen as the representative signature for the coming years. I am glad the new design has your liking. Thanks!

As of new Aequo products of this new recognisable style: when the time comes to commercially introduce the first ones (Adamantis and Ensium), Gleeds will make sure that it will get its proper and immediate introduction to WBF. I will hang around on WBF mainly to speak about general/technical stuff.

 

[Ivo]

Christoph and Ron, thanks for the warm welcome!

P.S. Groetjes aan je vrouw, Ron!