2ndRick's Made in N. America Tour - 2014

[2ndRick]

As many of you know, I have been very passionate about learning about and promoting manufcturers from the a/v industry who have kept their production in the US and Canada.

The idea for this tour is to travel around the US and Canada and visit some of these manufacturers.
I want to get the hands' on tour, take pics, interview the company executives as well as some of the people who make these items.

I want to head out and go visit more of these companies in the coming year.

I will post more information in this thread as the plans begin to come together.

[def90]

Boulder amps are made here in Boulder.. I've never bothered to ride my bike over and check them out though for some reason.

sent from a soup can and some string..

[2ndRick]

Chad,
I have already chatted online with Rich at Boulder, they are on the list. I will let you know when that leg of the trip will be. PS Audio is also in Boulder, and Liberty's HQ is in Colorado Springs (although I am not sure what is actually *made* there)

So far, I have gotten some interest as far as a place to publish some of these articles.
It's a consumer a/v magazine instead of a trade mag, so in theory the exposure would be greater.

As for the funding to help me with the costs, I have raised a whopping $25 toward this on my Go Fund Me campaign.
http://www.gofundme.com/5jvjfs

[avophile]

Is ReQuest on the list?

[2ndRick]

If ReQuest is making their products in the US, I would love to include them.

[2ndRick]

Rick Santiago at Indy Audio Labs (makers of Acurus & Aragon) has also extended me an invite to their facility. He's also looking into the option of getting a tour from one of their suppliers in Louisville who makes some of the parts for them.

I want to find those stories as well. I am glad to cover some 'assembled in the USA' type stories, but I would also love to the stories of the companies who make the parts that are used.

[Glackowitz]

We have Global Cache and Tara Labs in our area. Not sure on how much of the Tara labs is made here.

4 hours north is Triad Speakers

[Kelly]

Have you tried getting the manufacturers on board with this idea? Perhaps they would be willing to underwrite the costs as part of their advertising dollars.

It could be a great way for the manufacturers to garner some very good attention.

[The8thst]

I'd suggest RTI as a candidate since they are local, but they don't EVER let their dealers step foot in their facility. No training. No support. No willcall. No nothing. They really know how to make their dealers feel like part of the team :mrgreen:

[Audiophiliac]

I mentioned this elsewhere, but if you can nail down an appointment with Sean Casey of Zu Audio in Ogden, UT, do it. He is brilliant....and not in a snobbish audiophile way. He is more of a hyper-active anti-audiophile audio geek. Let us know what your schedule is so maybe if we are close, we can join you in your adventures!

[2ndRick]

We have Global Cache and Tara Labs in our area. Not sure on how much of the Tara labs is made here.

4 hours north is Triad Speakers

I am already in email talks with Larry Pexton to come back out to Portland to visit Triad. I went through their facility about 13 years ago before they moved to the other side of the industrial park.

I will reach out to Tara Labs. I remember their stuff was all assembled in the US when I was a dealer back in the 90s, but I do not know if their raw cable and connectors are US made or imported.
I have not spoken to anyone from Tara Labs in 14 years.

Speaking of high end connectors, I have some feelers out to get a tour at Switchcraft in Chicago.
They make different levels of connectors for RCA, XLR, BNC, etc right in Chicago.

[2ndRick]

I mentioned this elsewhere, but if you can nail down an appointment with Sean Casey of Zu Audio in Ogden, UT, do it. He is brilliant....and not in a snobbish audiophile way. He is more of a hyper-active anti-audiophile audio geek. Let us know what your schedule is so maybe if we are close, we can join you in your adventures!

Didn't you just write about Zu for your blog or one of the magazines? I remember reading about them very recently.
I will definitely be in SLC area of Utah to hit up spots like Vantage Controls, Lite Touch, and others.

As for the idea of having others join up and tour with me, that has always been on the table.
ESPECIALLY if someone has a good DSLR and/or HD camcorder like the Cisco Flip and doesn't mind helping out with the photog and videography tasks.

Long time IPer and friend Patrick Webb was supposed to be joining me on that Peerless AV tour this Summer, but his new job started the same day as we were scheduled to take the tour. I just went in and took pics with my crappy cameraphone. It turned out fine, but I want to take it to a higher level for the new tour stops.

[2ndRick]

I'd suggest RTI as a candidate since they are local, but they don't EVER let their dealers step foot in their facility. No training. No support. No willcall. No nothing. They really know how to make their dealers feel like part of the team :mrgreen:

Wow. Now I feel very special.
I spent a whole day at RTI back in the day. :)

Granted, this was a LONG time ago. The Lexicon 700T was still in production, and the Sonance Nav K2 keypad was still in engineering. I got a preview of the KP and the software from Mitch.

[2ndRick]

Have you tried getting the manufacturers on board with this idea? Perhaps they would be willing to underwrite the costs as part of their advertising dollars.

It could be a great way for the manufacturers to garner some very good attention.

I am counting on donations from the companies as well as friends and well-wishers through the crowd-funding site GoFundMe.com

Here is the address for the campaign.

http://www.gofundme.com/5jvjfs

I created levels for $25 for anyone who wishes to pitch in and sponsor some gas or a part of a hotel or whatever.
The VIP levels at $100 and up come with different perks attached. I expected these would mostly be filled from the companies themselves, and maybe some of the reps and distributors who promote these brands.

[vwpower44]

Just add power in FL, and iDocx in Upper Michigan.

[2ndRick]

I just heard back from Screen Innovations (SI Screens) in Austin Texas.
I am officially invited to tour their facility for this project.

[2ndRick]

Penny Sitler at Draper has also replied.

It looks like I will be touring Draper in Spiceland, Indiana on the same trip as Indy Audio Labs in Indianapolis.

[vwpower44]

Just Add Power and iDocx.

[2ndRick]

Just Add Power and iDocx.

I have contact info for Ed, but I have to admit that I am not familiar with iDocX. Please message me some details.

[2ndRick]

I recorded a podcast with Johnny Mota where we discussed IntegrationPros forums as well as the Made in N America Tour.

Johnny's podcast is called the 'AV Insider' and it's hosted on the RavePubs site.

http://www.ravepubs.com/av-insider-episode-11/

[Soundsgood]

When you come to Ann Arbor for your Leon tour you are welcome to stay with me.