I have the gik product in the center below. Looks like gik stopped offering these diffusers. I have some homemade stuff, and also ASC tube traps. ASC seems to have my old set-up on their website.
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Having significant problems finding and retaining qualified workers the utility I worked for partnered with a local community college offering classes for the “trades” with financial underwriting and co-op work opportunities. There seem to be several factors at play, math and science skills tend to be lacking or weak for high school students not on a college prep program, high school students were discouraged from pursuing the “trades” with no alternative provided, a generational shift towards not working with one’s hands or back, a generational shift to a computer oriented workforce/work ethic. Funny thing is when trying to fulfill positions requiring computer skills we struggled with that as well. Maybe our platform should have incorporated a gamesmanship aspect to be successful.
Currently local unions are working with potential candidates and developing the necessary skill set as well, IBEW Local 15 comes to mind.
One short term approach we implemented was targeting those who were leaving the military for a civilian life. Typically targeting those with technical skills, especially I&C, electronics, operations from the Navy and Air Force.
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Luckily I ordered our GIK products before Covid affected them. While the assembly fit n finish on ours isn’t like more expensive products it’s not so amateurish that you notice anything’s amiss without careful inspection. The workplace disruptions that Covid caused has affected many businesses, I imagine GIK’s no different. We’ve been waiting on a second set of warranty replacement windows for our home for over six months because the manufacturer had most their skilled help quit. The first set of replacement windows had the mullions between the two panes of glass installed so wonky there wasn’t a right angle to be found. Lack of quality control was atrocious for top of the line expensive windows. The car repair place we frequented for years had every single mechanic except for one quit during the peak of the last Covid wave. The shop manager blames it on “liberal Covid unemployment benefits” but it’s more complicated than that of course.
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Your point about stopping what was called “vo-tec” education is also a complicated subject made more complicated by politics and business attitudes. K-12 education is under constant pressures to improve basic literacy and math skills. There’s only so much tax money and so many hours in the school day and what resources there are tends to go where societal forces tell schools to focus. Vo-tec education now is very expensive compared to the past. Look at training repair mechanic techs. Fifty years training a mechanic was a lot simpler than it is now. Automotive and other similar technologies require very expensive electronic equipment and special tools that are constantly being replaced with something newer. There’s no money for that in school budgets. Finding and paying for instructors up to date on constantly evolving tech is also really difficult for schools. In Germany, a country with many alternative ideas vs. the USA regarding education, businesses and schools work in partnership to fuel the need for an educated workforce. US businesses and society haven’t embraced that model and we’re in workforce limbo while waiting on some evolution in the way workers are trained.
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The crash of 2008 also played a part. Many of the would be trades mentors were forced into early retirement and when things got rolling again there was no one to take their place. That left a huge hole in the skilled labor workforce.
It has taken me three years to find one replacement for two of the people who retired from my shop and I have given up on finding another person who is interested, doesn’t do drugs, does have a car, can do basic math and has a willingness to learn. The one I did find is a gem though!
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GIK had their CNC control go bad. So they stopped orders untl they get the machine fixed.
Plenty of $$, IMHO. It’s about priorities. I’d trim the the admin staff to put more teachers in classrooms.
An old study from 2014:
"Looking at data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found that the growth of non-teaching staff has greatly outpaced student growth over the past four decades.
From 1970 to 2010, the number of students grew by 8.6 percent, while the number of non-teaching personnel increased by 130 percent. Non-teachers now consume over a quarter of all education expenditures, the study found.
In addition, America now spends a greater percentage of its education funding on non-teachers than any other country in the world besides Denmark."
Anyway, to get back on track, my room treatments are from GIK and ATS. GIK’s stuff may be a notch below ATS in fit ‘n’ finish, but works just fine.
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Some of my GIK pieces had the odd issue or two but not very noticeable. The actual performance of the units as projected was tremendous. Do I wish I spent 2x for perfection? No, and no regrets.
GIK is clearly overwhelmed with demand. Their ability to provide remote technical evaluation for component selection was the x-factor for my own decision.
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On my Team we currently have three interns. It’s a relatively new program, we call it “year up”. The interns are with us a full year. We are exposing them to all sorts of tech and processes like project management. The hope is that at least one of them becomes an employee. In this round they are all college grads. I hope to open this up to Vets in the next round.
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We also have/had an intern/co-op program for university students which served both sides of the equation well. Typically engineers, chemists, accountants, and physicists. Each rotation they had a project due at the end or their term Projects were presented at an intern to conference to upper management. Those finishing up the program met with HR following the presentations and were typically made offers of employment. The intent of the projects was to eliminate any possibility of coasting. The downside of the program was our competitors picked up on it and recruited these same interns.
The trade oriented program being similar and allowing for work in Maintenance, Chemistry, RP, and Operations.
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Agreed. I’ve seen kids come into the fire service that have never started a chainsaw.
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While this surprises me, owning multiple chainsaws, are they willing and able to learn?
When hiring, I am more concerned with attitude and aptitude than specific experience.
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Yes - Fit is paramount for us as well.
I make it a habit to cycle through my various Teams daily standups or their weekly sprint reviews. I normally don’t say much since my presence is enough of a distraction for some of the junior team members (scary VP on the call). We just hired a fellow less than a month ago and in listening to their meeting it was as if he’d been with us for years. He was contributing with some fantastic ideas and was trading smack talk with others on the call in a really fun way. I was so impressed.
My point is that Fit has always been the biggest challenge for me. My Teams spend more time together then they do with their families. Bringing someone new on is extending our work family. There’s nothing worst then a bad Fit.
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Horses for courses. I respect that you decided on an approach and went in 100%, if not a bit more! I once hooked a GIK panel on the wall and the wife told me to chuck it. (I returned it.) I went 100% but none of it is visible, with the exception of the wall behind me, but that folds away in seconds and there is 40 feet of free space behind.
Curious if you have tried those GIK quadratic diffusers in a diagonally hung configuration. They claim true hemispherical diffusion is possibly versus just two planes of X and Y. Looks like the two side diffusers that might be possible in your set up?
I will give it a go when and if mine arrive. I am also thinking of spraying mine to match decor. First a sealer coat of primer then one of the matching decor colors. I am afraid latex might not work and be soaked up like a sponge by the MDF. Thus prime first. Though GIK states they are paintable.
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Nice looking setup, OP. Sounds like you got the result you were looking for. Congrats
Nah…the quads have been mostly in this configuration since they were purchased and my goals were first reflection points based on ear/tweeter height and the mirror trick from the listening position. I can’t wait to see what you do! Please post pics, Vmax. Painting them, however, sounds like a huge pain, but might be great. Did Gik give the thumbs up? Not that they need to.
They state they can be painted but none are displayed that way. I have lot’s of premium Sherwin Williams paint left over from home remodel. I will use use an airless sprayer.
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