Loudspeakers 101 for Non-technical Professionals is designed for sales, purchasing, or general management who are non-technical, but need to acquire more knowledge of the terminology and function of loudspeakers. Topics include the basic principles of sound, how a speaker works, the parts of a loudspeaker and their function, electrical, acoustical and specification terminology. The class will include demonstration of many of these items as well. Each participant will receive a booklet that will include the material covered plus a more in-depth presentation of each topic.

Dan Digre has been President and General Manager of MISCO/Minneapolis Speaker Company since 1990. Dan began in the loudspeaker industry at age 6 cleaning the catsup and cob webs out of drive- in theater speakers and by the time he was 16 was reconing just about everything. He has a BA in Music Education, Composition, and Vocal Performance from Augustana College, Sioux Falls and an MBA from St. Thomas University, St. Paul. Over the past 20 years at MISCO, he has been responsible for overseeing product design and development of new transducers ranging in size from 1.5” to 15” for a wide variety of loudspeaker applications including signaling, gaming, voice communications, military and avionics, and home and car stereo. Dan also teaches the fundamentals of loudspeakers both at MISCO and to Twin Cities’ area students.

Klippel GmbH will be demonstrating their R&D and QC systems. The KLIPPEL R&D SYSTEM is a universal measurement system for all kind of parameters and acoustical measurements of suspension parts, transducers (e.g. woofers) and complete electro-acoustical systems (loudspeakers). As a development tool it complements other design tools (FEA, BEA) and supports the comparison of predicted and measured results. The KLIPPEL QC SYSTEM is dedicated to 100% loudspeaker testing at the end of the production line. High-speed performance and flexible software allows integration into fully automated production lines as well as manual testing. An intuitive user interface and smart limit setting algorithms shorten training and setup periods. META-HEARING-TECHNOLOGY offers a highly sensitive detection of Rub&Buzz defects by actively isolating the defects from regular distortion of motor and suspension.

KSC Industries will be showing the Digmoda Series Plate Amplifiers with D-Pro Digital Signal Audio Processor. The D-Pro is a 96 KHz, 24 bit digital audio processing solution for use in loudspeaker correction. D-Pro Windows Software makes speaker correction, setting up crossovers, and equalization easy by allowing the import of a speaker response measurement file that is plotted on a graph and visually and dynamically equalized in real time by manipulating selected biquad filters using Visual-Handles dragged with a mouse. File types include Clio, LMS, MLSSA, Liberty Praxis, SoundCheck or any other requested format. The DSP configurations can then be stored in non-volatile flash memory, or saved to, or loaded from files on the user’s PC hard-drive.

There is still time to join these and other exhibitors. Sign up for a tabletop booth!

Attendees - if you have not yet registered for the symposium, don't delay - download the form and sign up today!

Our quality theme continues with our 'Members Only' dinner at Yolie's Brazilian Steakhouse. Yolie's will serve an endless supply of succulent Brazilian style meats at the table, together with all the traditional side dishes. And don't forget the legendary caipirinhas! Join us for an evening of fun, food and friends. Sign up on the attendee registration form.

There are only a handful or rooms left in the ALMA block at the Orleans, so if you have not made your reservation yet, don't delay. The Orleans hotel cannot guarantee the discounted rate once these rooms are gone.

To reserve a room at the Orleans Hotel, please call 1800 675 3267 (Mon-Fri 7.00am-11.00pm, Sat-Sun 9.00am-5.00pm PST). Identify yourself as an attendee of the ALMA Symposium in order to receive the special group rate of $100 on Jan 5, $120 on Jan 6, and $80 on Jan 7. You will be required to pay a deposit of the first nights room and tax at time of booking. All rooms must be booked by Dec 5, 2006 to secure the ALMA rate. Cancellations incur no fee up to 72 hours before arrival. Within 72 hours of arrival, the first night deposit is forfeited.

Don't forget to visit the CES show while you are in Las Vegas!