By: Larry Janus 12/10/09
Public Relations and Web-Presence have taken a back seat recently to full-on design and refinement of a whole series of exciting new products at Tube Equipment Corporation, so we wholly apologize for not keeping you updated on our first AES show last October! It was great!

It was Time
After years of honing the SR-71 in our tiny lab and machine shop, we thought it was finally ready to roll down the tarmac and be judged by the professional community at the Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York City.

The reaction was a wholehearted “Thumb’s Up” from all who passed by and saw it. Although live operation was not possible (next year), we had the cover off, shamelessly, and nobody laughed. At least in front of us. I think we did ok.

Band of brothers
Let me start by explaining that Tube Equipment Corp has recently formed an informal alliance with Terry Manning of Compass Point Studios and Lucas Engineering, and Oliver Archut and Joe Hauck of TAB Funkenwerk. Lucas makes tube microphones and tube-based recording gear. Oliver and Joe’s company makes custom transformers, vital components for other mic-makers and some darn-fine mic preamps of the V-72 variety.

Lucas is introducing a mic preamp of Tube Equipment Corporation’s design and TAB Funkenwerk is providing the custom transformers. Our other products don’t really overlap much either, so Terry Manning suggested our fledgling operation could share booth space with Tab Funkenwerk and Lucas at the show. He also put a Workshop together about “Old vs New Technology in the New Millennium”, which I was invited to participate in with Terry, Oliver and Jeff Roberts from Latch Lake, a brilliant metallurgist and cool cat.

This was great because we just needed about a foot and a half of someone else’s table, and our hand-made beauty would finally be seen!

The Journey and Arrival
After booking passage to New York and visiting Kinko’s FedEx Office for Propaganda Leaflets, partner Chris Juried and myself left our balmy habitat and jetBlue’d and cabbed our way to the New Yorker Hotel, where our precious cargo awaited us.
Dialing Terry Manning on a cellphone I use twice a year, he answered and said he was in NJ and would be at the Javits Center shortly. Chris and I departed for the Javits and badged-in. We rolled in with our goods and met Terry, Oliver and Joe at the TAB booth. Table space was going to be tight, yet they were most accommodating and we did our best to promote their products alongside ours in appreciation for their utmost generosity. This was quite easy, as they really do make good stuff! It quickly became a most social event, with many folks I had communicated with on various internet forums finally taking human-form, much to our mutual delight!
In addition to Terry and Oliver, people like EveAnna Manley, Paul Wolff, David Bock, Dave Collins, JJ Blair and Bruno Putzneys were most-excellent to finally meet!

Dare to go Topless!
One of the first things I noticed is that our table was one of the few to exhibit our wares with the lid off. We were like the “topless” section of the AES. People like that. Some should probably keep their lids on, I suppose!

Best Fishes
After a frenetic first day of conventioning, the TAB/Lucas/TEC entourage hopped in dual-cabs and headed straight for Japonica, a Sushi venue on University rated “Best Sushi in Town” by Zagat. We were all hungry to be sure, but Oliver had forgone junk food all day and had driven several hundred miles to get from his rural factory to a place with big airplanes, so he was realllly hungry. As we settled into our large table, Oliver pointed to the sushi sampler plate on the menu designed for 4 people. The waiter smiled and told him it was a portion far beyond what a single human could circumnavigate. Oliver assured the gentleman that he was fully comfortable with the quantity indicated.
After some facial gestures and repeated assurances, he put in our order.

We dined and talked and had a generally wonderful time. Oliver dispatched the plate of sushi completely, and became so infamous that other friends of mine visiting Japonica merely mentioned the incident, and a full recollection from the waitstaff ensued!

Sell, Sell, Sell!
The next 2 days were Chris and I at our best, pressing the flesh and telling our story. The Workshop went great, with many salient questions from the audience and a general feeling of hopefulness for the tube and iron world in the future. -Larry

AES Workshop L-R: Terry Manning, Oliver Archut, Larry Janus, Jeff Roberts.