My other hobby, Skydiving!  

Hi, I'm Monte (the maniac) Kay.   The maniac nickname is my "stage name" for lack of a better term on a demonstration skydiving team.   This originally came from my tendency to jump very small very fast high performance parachutes.  These days newer materials and designs have pushed the limits of this beyond where I want to go so I'm really no longer the "maniac" although some would argue the title still fits for various other reasons.

I've been around audio since childhood.  I've been messing around with speakers forever but first encountered books on Thiele/Small parameters around 1979 while going to school at Texas A&M University.   This finally made at least some sense of how to go about making something sound decent!  These days it doesn't seem so important, in fact the parameters offer little or no real insight into the level of performance a particular driver will be able to reach.   Within reason these can be manipulated whereas poor linear or non-linear distortion performance might not.  Most of the industry still consider the T/S parameters the, "Bible" but unfortunately they are at best grossly inadequate.  

I graduated Texas A&M in May 82' with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering Technology.  After spending some time working in the family owned TV repair shop and a couple other jobs I ended up in the Semiconductor Equipment Industry in August, 1984 and I have remained in this industry ever since.  I spend more time outside the US than inside but I have fun and it pays well.  

Never married, no time, and too much of a kid!   What wife would put up with a set of battle ship gray Altec A7 "Voice of the Theatre" in the master bedroom???  

I'm a friend and fan of Siegfried Linkwitz who has taught me a lot!  About everything you need to know about open baffle speakers can be found on his site at www.linkwitzlab.com.  

I am the younger, smarter, more handsome, and more humble brother of Audio Artistry president Marshall Kay.   Marshall also teaches me a lot.  He and Siegfried know this stuff really well, I just sort of struggle by making it up as I go along but they are the real knowledge base.

 E-mail address: montekay@gmail.com

Some links of interest to me...

Disclaimer:  The hot sauces in the listed web sites above are not ordinary hot sauces.  These are capsicum extracts!  These can be much hotter than any pepper!!!  Follow the warnings and be careful.  Try these at your own risk!!!