July 9, 2016

Avantgarde Acoustic 25th Anniversary Factory Tour, Part 3

Article by WL Low

From the initial showroom that greeted us earlier, we now move in to the speaker production area, where all of Avantgarde speakers are made! Our factory tour guide today is Armin Kraus. Trust me, he’s a real…. funny guy.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — This is the finished goods packaging area. Where completed and tested products gets packed in to shipping cartons here

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Look at the very clean and organised work station! The Germans have their very own 5S in manufacturing practice too!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Now we move in to the speakers testing station

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — This lab computer stores all the tested speaker frequency response for future reference, in case in the unlikely hood of driver or horn warranty claim

Armin explains, these are the first pressings of various horn sizes that are used as reference for quality checks on every subsequent production horn

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Now in case you’re not listening to me, this umbrella will be knocking on your head! Armin says that we are now entering the actual speaker production line, and warns us not to touch anything just in case we hurt ourselves touching something we are not supposed to!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Look at all the work in progress speakers at the production line. Notice the Trio bass horn on the top shelf?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — More items being the WIP area

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — This are all the horns that are measured and passed the reference test. They are now stored on racks, ready for production line use

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Horns of various colors and sizes in stock

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — As we move on, we come across a set of enclosures for the Avantgarde Zero 1 XD, just at the start of the assembly line

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here, a worker manually stuffs both sides of the clamp shell design enclosure of the Avantgarde Zero 1 XD. You can see the drivers in the front shell, and the XD DSP circuit board on the back end of the enclosure

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The worker tells me he could make 7 pairs of Avantgarde Zero 1 XD a day.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — But before the drivers goes in to the enclosures, something else has to be done first!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here is the production line that glues the internal foam linings and pre-wiring work, before all the other stuffing shown earlier goes in to the speaker enclosures

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here is the rack that stores all the speaker drivers, ready to be tested!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — As most of the bass bins of Avantgarde speakers are active, here are the plate amp modules that drive the bass drivers

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — And here are where all the XD boards are stored

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — A new batch of colored horns have just being coated with glossy automotive paint and awaiting buffing & polishing

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — And here is the buffing station

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — A look at this work station confirms the stress on the job. The pack of ziggies to sooth a long day

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Internal damping foams of various density is used to lined the speaker enclosures

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The aluminium tubes that forms the body of the horn drivers

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The aluminium tubes are also lined with internal damping foam

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — An Avantgarde Trio rack is being assembled here

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — A QC note accompanies each and every horn tube

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — It’s the frequency response chart for each enclosure, ensuring matching pair characteristics

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Armin seen here doing his “Mickey Mouse” thing!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The rear end of horn tubes

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Note the speaker cable terminals

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Even the mobile tool station is a model of tidyness

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The QC-ed horn drivers with matching frequency response chart attached to make sure of pair and channel matching.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here’s another speaker production line , building another speaker model

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Horn driver fitting. All Avantgarde speakers are hand built, pair by pair

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The lower rack chassis with floor contact leveling spikes

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — These are production line trolleys where they are inserted in to the bottom of nearly finished speakers to be conveniently wheeled in to the QA test station and final packing room

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — here Armin shows the attachment cart being used to push the nearly completed speakers around the production floor, in to the QA test station for final checks before going in to the product packing room

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — A pair of nearly completed speakers awaiting to be sent to the QA test station for final inspection

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Now, that’s how it looks like being wheeled in to the QA test station

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — After the packing room, all products are sent to the shipping area

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here, Armin explains the nitty gritty of logistics in Avantgarde Acoustics

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — All the boxes are marked with shipping stickers for destination and transit points

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here is a pair of Avantgarde Trio awaiting for the courier truck to pick up

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — All Avantgarde products are shipped with TiltWatch XTR indicators stuck on boxes. TiltWatch indicator(the little circle in the middle of the UP arrow, will turn red if the boxes have being tilted by a certain degree, or dropped during shipping or transit. Do NOT accept the pair of speakers if the Tilt indicators are red!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Here is the logistics board that indicates where each pair of boxes shall go to destination

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Due to a shortage of space in the incoming store, some of the bass enclosures and other bulky parts are stored here, away from the weather elements

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — More speaker enclosures are stored here

Next, we look at the electronics design and manufacturing dept. And before we sign off, have a look at the presentation video below that shows the passion of everyone in Avantgarde Acoustic for their speaker products, courtesy of Avantgarde Acoustic.

Article by WL Low

Tags: hi-fi, hifi, avantgarde acoustic, factory tour, 25th anniversary