Introducing Tim Shelton... Enclosure Master Extraordinaire

Aether Audio · « **on:** 25 Dec 2007, 01:16 am »

Friends,

We would like to introduce you to our new partner and Master Enclosure Engineer... Tim Shelton.

Tim Shelton

We'd like to welcome him to the SP Tech family and thank him for having faith enough in us to join the team. It is an honor to have someone so gifted join us in our efforts to bring you the finest speakers possible.

Tim came to us quite by a "fluke" of circumstances and it is as close to a "miracle" as one could hope for. He was our paint salesman that represented the local M.L. Campbell paint http://www.mlcampbell.com/ distributor. Tim is such a master finisher that part of his job was to teach training seminars in finishing procedures. Manufacturers using products sold by the distributor would send their finishing personell to Tim's classes in order to learn how to use them. The upshot is that you don't get any better than Tim.

Prior to this Tim was involved in making very high end guitars along side a master luthier on the east coast. I don't remember the name of the luthier but apparently he is very well known among guitar players. Maybe Tim will chime in later on and fill us in.

Many years before this Tim started out much as I did - his first projects as a young man were actually building his own loudspeakers!

Back in the day he was even measuring Theile-Small parameters of the drivers he was using. Along the way he has learned pretty much all things computer and even now is helping with 3-D modeling our enclosure designs. In many ways he and I were "cut from the same cloth." Well, except he went on into woodworking wherein I stayed in the design theory end of things.

So... the new SP Tech team is now poised to "kick some serious booty." Be prepared to see a new SP Tech in 2008 as Tim, Jason, Karsten & I will be working hard to bring you the best speakers humanly possibly. When you get a chance, please take a moment to welcome Tim to AudiCircle too. I'm sure he will be a great addition here as well.

Take care,
-Bob

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 01:38 am »

Welcome, Tim! Bob was raving about your skills in a phone conversation we had a month ago, and he thinks the world of your craftsmanship, so I'm expecting some really impressive work

I will be forwarding a photo to Bob soon depicting a finish I'm thinking about getting on a pair of Timepieces, and I guess you will be the one taking point on that.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 01:45 am »

Good luck Tim in your new position....I think your gonna be pretty busy....thats good...makes the days go by faster.

Happy Holidays.....

Chris

ted_b · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 02:04 am »

Welcome Tim!! BTW, are those my Revs you are standing by?

Merry Christmas

Frank S. · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 02:43 am »

Great news Bob

. Welcome Tim. Merry Christmas to all!

bhobba · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 08:57 am »

Welcome Tim. As Bobs speakers get the attention they deserve I am sure you will be very busy, very busy indeed.

Thanks
Bill

Double Ugly · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 01:23 pm »

Welcome to the SP Tech family, Tim!

I can vouch for Bob and Jason's excitement at having you join the team; both gushed when describing your skills and abilities.

Merry Christmas!

-Jim

reefrus · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 02:49 pm »

Welcome Tim, Bob needs all the good help he can get. I can see 2008 will be a busy year for the SP Tech.

SP Cabmaker · « **Reply #8 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 09:17 pm »

Hi everyone,

Merry Christmas to you all. First I would like to say I am happy to be a part of the SP Tech family. Bob, Jason and everyone else at SP Tech are great people. I look forward to working with them to make the SP Tech mission a reality. I believe the combination of Bob's ingenius designs and my ability to apply cutting edge fabrication and production techniques to those designs, will enable SP Tech to deliver a product of outstanding quality and performance. Even though I am quite busy trying to get orders filled, I will try to check in from time to time to answer any questions you may have. Well, it's Christmas day and I have to get back to the family. Again........MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

RodMCV · « **Reply #9 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 09:41 pm »

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Welcome to the SP Tech Family, Tim.

Bob has spoken very highly about your talent and craftsmanship.
This is a wonderful time for Bob's company to find an integral and productive partner;
ensuring a continued creative development to the future of SP Tech.

Rod

dart6 · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Dec 2007, 10:46 pm »

Welcome aboard Tim this is excellent news for all and sundry and a merry christmas and happy new year :wink:to all

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 12:04 am »

This is a great development and bodes well for the immediate future of SP Tech.

Merry Christmas to all.

Russell

Double Ugly · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 04:11 am »

Quote from: Russell Dawkins on 26 Dec 2007, 12:04 am

This is a great development and bodes well for the immediate future of SP Tech.

Let's hope it bodes well for the company's long-term success, too.

phoenix_rising · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 09:40 am »

Great news, my Mini's have not been made yet so I look forward to seeing your workmanship.

Double,

SP have the technology and the products. Now it is a marketing exercise. If I were Bob I would be getting testimonials from anyone and everyone that purchased speakers from him and put everyone up on the website. You can take all those testimonials and reviews and show them to the magazines and they will likely review the speakers as well. He should start cutting deals with people like AVS Forum they can do a review and they have a very wide readership. And so it goes on. It is all about getting reviews and getting the word out. You can have the best product in the world but if no one knows about it, you are not going to sell many.

So my advice to Bob would be, you have created the products. Hand over production to others, work solidly on sales and marketing. At least 30-40% of your time should be devoted to this area. I am in a different field but I understand marketing because I build computer systems for marketing companies. I also ran a direct marketing company which for 7 years straight had a compound growth rate of 100% or greater and no bank would loan me one cent during this period. There is obviously a lot more to handling high growth than just sales/marketing but that is where it begins and ends. It is no surprise that the brands that advertise the most normally sell the most, as more people are aware of them. What most businesses do not understand is how to take advantage of advertising, because they do not know how to track its effectiveness. When you know how much you are making from any given piece of advertising it makes business simple, you just keep advertising until it becomes unprofitable, things become unprofitable after which you analyse why and take appropriate action. Normally it means changing the advertising, changing pricing, changing the offer etc etc. You can also control your growth by the frequency of your advertising etc.

Phoenix

Double Ugly · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 02:21 pm »

Hi phoenix,

I agree with much of your post, and it's a subject Bob and I have discussed a lot through the years. Even so, I believe the ability to produce superior looking products is an area in which SP Tech stands to gain.

IMHO, regardless of how well a speaker performs or how much of a bargain it represents, it's easier to market if it looks good, too.

I would also suggest that if production isn't prepared to meet the demand, excellent marketing can actually be a negative. I expect Mr. Shelton's presence will help in that regard, too.

mcullinan · « **Reply #15 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 02:38 pm »

Hi Tim,
Congratulations... and welcome aboard. As a ship I imagine Bob on a pirate ship yelling Ye Scalliwags! a lot... Why? I have no idea. Maybe an eye patch too.
Anyways... Enjoy the holidays!
Mike

jfreeman373 · « **Reply #16 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 04:08 pm »

Quote from: mcullinan on 26 Dec 2007, 02:38 pm

Hi Tim,
Congratulations... and welcome aboard. As a ship I imagine Bob on a pirate ship yelling Ye Scalliwags! a lot... Why? I have no idea. Maybe an eye patch too.
Anyways... Enjoy the holidays!
Mike

That cracks me up.

2bigears · « **Reply #17 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 04:36 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 25 Dec 2007, 02:04 am

Welcome Tim!! BTW, are those my Revs you are standing by?

sorry ted-b,those are my Revs buddy they on their way up to the great white north...... just kidding.they could be yours????

ted_b · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 08:07 pm »

Quote from: mcullinan on 26 Dec 2007, 02:38 pm

Hi Tim,
Congratulations... and welcome aboard. As a ship I imagine Bob on a pirate ship yelling Ye Scalliwags! a lot... Why? I have no idea. Maybe an eye patch too.
Anyways... Enjoy the holidays!
Mike

Cracks me up too. SP Tech now stands for "Sound Pirates", "Speaker Pirates"? Arrrrr.

2bigears · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Dec 2007, 09:32 pm »

ted_p ,those are your Revs!!!! Yousa gona get them tomorrow.Too cool.Did you get external x-overs???? Show some pics of your system when she's up and runnin'.