News Archive ...
20-March-2006
IRDaudio Product Auditions and Sales @ High-Def Zone
Website: www.highdefzone.us
Location: Lehigh Valley Area, which is 90 minutes from NYC and 45 minutes from Philly
Contact: Balji Minhas
Email: info@highdefzone.us
Phone: (484) 358-3588
Balji is highly motivated to provide a good audition in a realistic environment. He offers both 2 channel and home theater settings.
Balji and IRDaudio have an arrangement that allows you to place your order direct with IRDaudio after your High-Def Zone audition. Product pricing, IRD's free delivery, and IRD's Charlotte NC high quality service warranty all remain unchanged.
High-Def Zone auditions can help you make your purchase decision. This is a good opportunity if you live or travel in this area.
Balji is not just an audiophile, he is also a professional working engineer. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering in 1995 and a Masters in Digital Electronics in 1999. He is currently employed by a major semiconductor company as an applications engineer (a trouble shooter and advisor). With this type of background Balji can answer technical questions that non-technical audiophiles may have during auditions.
If you're interested in our gear and you are near this area, give Balji a call.
12-November-2005
Tons of Purist Preamps & MB-100s In The House
The boat has arrived and our Charlotte NC warehouse is well stocked, yet again, with fresh Purist preamplifiers and MB-100 monoblocks. Just in time for the holidays. As always, Fed Ex delivery in the Continental U.S. is FREE.
Audiophile Preamp & PT-2 Active Crossover Update
We are a month behind on our new product release schedule and these two components are now expected to be in Charlotte, ready to ship, by first quarter 2006. We were hoping for a before Christmas release but this is not possible.
A decision was made to use a mix of surface mount and through hole components in the new audio products, a shift from the all through hole technology used in the past. Using some surface mount technology improved performance, shortened audio signal paths, and improved the PCB layout design by saving space (especially in the already crowded Audiophile).
We have been comparing and testing different SMDs (surface mount devices), looking at the parts we thought might improve our audio products, hand picking the best of each type. Once selected the new parts were added to our design, purchasing, and inventory control databases. This has taken some time and we are almost finished.
Shifting more towards SMT (surface mount technology) required a few changes in our design and production systems. We upgraded, calibrated, and tweaked out some of our factory's surface mount equipment to handle the large audio component PCBs (larger than we normally build) we also updated IRDs SMD design standard to the new IPC-7351 standard which came out earlier this year (first standards change of this type in many years). We wanted everything to be just right for the new mixed technology audio boards and it is, we are ready to move ahead.
May I add that we did all the above while the production line built and shipped more than three tons of electronic products to Buffalo Electronics in Charlotte. It has been busy here.
There are a few more things to do then it will be time to build the Audiophile and the PT-2. We will have these components available for delivery from Charlotte NC sometime during the first quarter 2006.
We are doing everything we can at IRD to produce the highest quality most reliable products possible. After more than two years of OEM work in DC-DC power products we had to get realigned to audio, update our system, rethink our original products, and get back in the grove so to speak. This update is to let you know that all is going well.
9-July-2005
Active Crossover Components To Come First
The Audiophile preamplifier with its built-in 2-way active crossover, the PT-3 active 3-way crossover, and the PT-2 active 2-way crossover have been selected for immediate development. These related components provide several different options for audiophiles moving to bi and tri-amp systems.
We've developed a noise free remote control system for the Audiophile preamplifier, this adds a new dimension to this component. After the original design is reviewed and revised the Audiophile section on this website will be updated.
The PT-3 and PT-2 designs will be reviewed and revised where necessary and their website sections will also be updated to reflect any changes.
8-July-2005
MB-250 Monoblock Remains On Hold
The MB-250 is a key component for our product line. The MB-250 will be back in the Lab right after we finish the line level component projects that we believe are in greater demand. The MB-250 should be available by 2nd quarter 2006.
8-July-2005
Sabai Preamplifier & i100 Integrated Amplifier Dropped
It was a difficult decision to make but these two semi-completed components will not make it to our product line. The original design plans for both components are no longer what we consider state-of-the-art and we believe it is wise simply to drop both projects. This is not to say we will never make an integrated amplifier, just not this one.
5-July-2005
IRDaudio is Moving to " www.IRDaudio.com "
To better serve our customers, contract design and audiophile customers, IRD's audio business will be moved to "www.IRDaudio.com" and "www. IRD-Thailand.com" will service IRD's contract design & manufacturing business.
As more and more product information is being added we believe that separating the two businesses will make navigating the sites easier for our customers. Once separated each type of customer should enjoy faster access to the information they are looking for making their experience less work and more enjoyable.
The website changes will be made in stages over the next two months. We will leave an "IRDaudio.com" link on IRD-Thaland.com's home page, for some time to come, in case any of our audiophile customers are unaware of the change.
5-July-2005
IRD Resumes Audio Product Development
We are pleased to announce that the long running OEM projects, that paused IRD's audio product line, are now finished.
This month IRD is refocusing its attention back to audio component development. We are reviewing, redefining, and rescheduling the components that we believe are in highest demand.
Our product decisions will be announced here, in our news section, before the end of this week (by July 9th). A discussion will be held at our Audio Circle forum (www.audiocircle.com), and via e-mail (TechSupport@ird-thailand.com), after the announcement to receive and consider potential customer's comments and suggestions.
September 29, 2004
IRD to Increase Production Capacity
The decision has been made to immediately increase IRDs production capacity. Our factory has been running at full capacity for eight months, new OEM opportunities have arrived, and IRD audio products have been on hold all year, we have outgrown our 1997 factory. The time has come to scale-up IRDs manufacturing operations.
We are adding additional employees, we have new automated PCB assembly and soldering equipment on the way, and we are remodeling the factory layout to be more efficient. These fairly big steps will yield noticeable results.
Since the production lines will not be stopped during the scale-up the work will stretch over a 2-3 month period. Our goal is to complete everything and be enjoying a 35-40% increase in capacity before the end of 2004.
August 31, 2004
New Audio Components on Hold
IRD has been operating at 100% capacity for seven months. Our OEM customers are having trouble keeping their shelves stocked, our business and our business partners businesses are booming. We see no sign of a slowdown at this point. IRD welcomes this much needed business (for all) and the sign of a truly improving world economy.
Several new audio products were scheduled for release by mid-year and we have not achieved that goal. We never expected the OEM work to become so overwhelming for so long. It's currently impossible to predict when the workload will slow down enough to reschedule our audio products.
As of this news posting all new (not currently released) IRD audio components are being put on hold. We are still accepting orders for released products which have not yet been effected by the current OEM rush. MB-100 monoblocks and Purist preamplifiers are in stock today at Charlotte NC (US & Canadian orders)and in Thailand (International orders) ready for immediate delivery.
I have tried to predict new component release dates before and failed. To avoid further customer letdowns the best option is not to speculate again, to just wait until we have a guaranteed time window and then make an accurate release date announcement. We will do it this way, one product at a time as we can get to them.
IRD has always been a contract design and manufacturing company servicing our long term OEM customers. It's because of our successful OEM contract business that we can afford to offer IRD audio products at such attractive pricing but it's also because of the contract business that we can experience product delays.
Last month we looked at adding resources to increase IRDs capacity and it was decided that such a large investment should not be based upon a seven month burst of business that is out of the norm. We decided to observe the increase in our contract OEM business a while longer, to see if it is just a glitch or something more permanent, before making big long term changes.
Until things improve, when we are sure a new component can be released, a notice will be posted here with the details.
Thank you for your patience and hopefully for your understanding of our current situation.
June 15, 2003
TNT-Audio Review : IRD Purist Preamplifier
Need a good preamp? Read this review -- http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/ird_llc_p_e.html
* Added * and November 2003 update for Purist rev 1.01 -- http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/ird_llcp_rev_e.html
June 14, 2003
NOTICE: norh "Le Amp" Discontinued
IRD will no longer sell its MB-100 monoblock, private labeled, as the nOrh "Le Amp".
IRD has discontinued all "private label" sales of IRD audio products. IRD will continue its custom product design and turnkey manufacturing services for OEM customers, but chooses not to share the "IRD audio" product line.
After designing and manufacturing consumer electronic products for leading American OEM companies since 1990, IRD will now focus on building the "IRD audio" brand name.