belgian guy... joined

[harrydg]

Hey all,

I'm Rik Bobbaers from Belgium (near Leuven). i have a nasty habit of wanting to know everything that's going on if it interests me...
Education: i have a university degree in computer science and a lot of interest in everything electronics/machanics, ...
That's how i learned everything a good kitchen knife makes up
Everything related to the different kinds of batteries
Why batteries? because i wanted to learn everything about RC cars
Then i started to get interested in the electronics behind it (and power supplies and lots of other things)

so now... i was looking for a new audio system to use at home, so i surfed the web, cam across whathifi site (i get the magazine every month now). Then all of a sudden someone said: hey, we have an amp that's broken!
That was my queue to see if i could fix it, with my usual warning: i only touch it if it's the last step before the trash bin!
so now, i have an amp that's crippled (yamaha ax-470, see posts in solid-state). I thought: this is gonna be easy, probably a blown fuse or some dead caps... but no... it was something else
The interest was there, so i thought: lets get to know how it works, so i can find out how to fix it! So i started with Rod Elliot's site, read all about that, then Douglas Self's pages on distortion, and many many other sites!!!
Next thing you know, you want to build your own amp... But i'm not there by a long shot. So basicly, now i want to build the best possible amp for home use! I'd like a decent sound reproduction that i can also use for my home cinema system (that i don't have yet). So there is still a lot to do

I now know some basics of amp design, but before i spend (a lot of) money on all this, i think it's best to meet up with some people in belgium to see if i'm mentally capable of grasping everything, because you can read as much as you want, it's still very good if someone can answer/set you straight when you make a mistake in my reasoning...

So... in short, are there belgians in here (preferably dutch speaking) that don't live more than 200km away from leuven that are interested in meeting?

Sorry for the long introduction, but hey... if you don't care, you wouldn't even read this, so... thanks!

Kind regards,

Rik (aka harry)

[wintermute]

I'm not in belgium, don't speak dutch, but I can certainly relate to what you have posted Welcome to diyAudio Rik!

In the end IMO there is no substitute for actually building some stuff. You have to bite the bullet sooner or later. I've been doing this for around 28 years now, and except for right at the begining, have not had the benefit of someone else into DIY being physically present. There is a fantastic bunch of people on here, and it is amazing how helpful they are without ever being in the same room

If you can find some people locally that you can meet up with then all the better!

Tony.

[Cal Weldon]

Hello and welcome aboard.

[kevinkr]

Welcome Rik, I spent a number of years growing up in Brussels - probably one of the best experiences in my life actually. The beer, the frites, the food, the electronic shops, and trolley cars/subway that took you almost anywhere you wanted to go..(And that was mostly down town..)

My Dad actually learned Dutch as he worked out in Herrentals. (sic) Unfortunately I didn't, although my Dutch and Flemish friends did try to teach me..

[jacco vermeulen]

A Rik named Harry ?
Shouldn't that be HarryDZ, aka De Zot ?

Oh, what the hell, Welcome.