Got to visit the factory in Simi Valley

[hispls 23]

Well, my business partner was on a mission to bank some frequent flier miles off some cheap cross country air-fare. He mentioned Vegas, Grand Canyon, (YAWN) then Los Angeles. I told him if we could get up to Simi Valley to count me in!

Long story short, Grand Canyon was a big arse hole in the ground, Vegas was pretty cool...helps that my partner does a ton of traveling and gets the VIP treatment at hotels... But actually visiting Zed Audio and meeting with Stephen in person was tremendous. Picture Santa's workshop without so many migets.

JK But actually pretty cool. Mostly we just talked about politics and having some laughs, but as always when we talk, I learned some good tech stuff and got some hints about some of the other non audio related projects he is working on. Also he said he is working on a lower price/power lineup of amps as well as a line with tiny footprint. (Oh yeah, I bought a little souvenier of course Sadly economy is soft and production cost is prohibitively high so no MEGALITH in the near future

Simi Valley is a nice town and Stephen was very generous with his time and hospitality.

My life is now officially complete and I have to say I'm not a distributor or supplier or anything. Just a regular guy who buys a few of his amps and sends him blown up stuff to repair. Kudos to Stephen and his wife for being so welcoming.

[S.DeYoung 967]

Pictures?

Very cool. I hope to be able to do the same someday.

[Ohjay 116]

Sounds like a very interesting trip.

[Randal Johnson 544]

Interesting ... That would be cool to see !!!

[edouble101 314]

Awesome trip. Thanks for sharing.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

[hispls 23]

Pictures?

Would have to kill you afterwards

JK

Actually I didn't take any. I didn't want to inadvertantly leak any super secret tech and honestly it appeared to be mostly clutter, boxes, and a sweet looking test bench that I'm not tech savy enough to half appreciate. It is just Stephen and his wife working there these days. Apparently recent healthcare mandates forced him to cut his employees a few years ago.

Really a shame since in his hay-day in the early 90's he had over 100 employees and a much bigger facility.

Edited January 29, 2012 by hispls

[emh9009 199]

Really a shame since in his hay-day in the early 90's he had over 100 employees and a much bigger facility.

Wow, that is a shame..

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Here is a leaked picture of Stephen from 1955:

[JPSWanberg 0]

I agree with Hispls about Stephen and his "factory" in Simi Valley. He refurbished a home amp for me. Incredibly talented and knowledgeable. The only factory that i have visited that was even cooler was Manley Labs in Chino.JPS

[altoncustomtech 773]

Damn, sure wish I could have thought about this when I was out in LA for work last year. It would have been much more awesome to meet Stephen and see the ZED wonderland than it was visiting the sub par shops I was able to find. If I ever go back I'll have to remember this little detail.

[Godsmack 360]

Hmmmm looks like I should find a way to visit next time I take the wife to see the family in Riverside.

J

[dragnix 0]

Pictures?

Would have to kill you afterwards

JK

Actually I didn't take any. I didn't want to inadvertantly leak any super secret tech and honestly it appeared to be mostly clutter, boxes, and a sweet looking test bench that I'm not tech savy enough to half appreciate. It is just Stephen and his wife working there these days. Apparently recent healthcare mandates forced him to cut his employees a few years ago.

Really a shame since in his hay-day in the early 90's he had over 100 employees and a much bigger facility.

Really? When I came by and asked why no one was working for him he did not say anything about that. The time I came before that and he did have people working for him, there weren't that many workers anyway.

[ricksi30 923]

Jealous for sure.