Poll: Move This Forum To The Great Plains Audio Site Or Not?

[LowOhms]

I'm relatively new to this Forum, have HUGE gaps in my vintage ALTEC driver knowledge, but what I feel is missing from this Forum now, IS modern, up-to-date information on Bills GPA drivers , crossovers, and designs.

I don't know enough of the old models, to speak with certainty, but my intuition, and gut feeling is, Bill's latest drivers will be better engineered and better performers, than any of the old stuff we typically can get our hands on.

It would be like comparing the computer system, running a 2017 automobile's engine, to the same manufacturer's auto with computer-assist engine, of thirty years ago. The latest will SMOKE the earlier version, is MY gut reaction.

The advantage I would hope for, is to see MORE of the newest, and I THINK highest performing drivers, etc., being part of the regular " bill of fare " in Forum discussions. If my intuition, on the superiority of Bill's latest design work is correct, I feel we would be doing all a greater service, by incorporating this Forum into GPA's.

On a long term basis, I would like to have a feeling that GPA has a " plan of succession" so that the GPA entity can continue to do good things, and a Forum such as this, will endure for future generations of music lovers. We don't know if such a plan is in place, but it really should be.

I think a merger might be good for Todd also, for numerous personal reasons.

I sure hope I have not inadvertently " pressed " anyone's buttons here - expressing my opinion, in any adverse way.



Low Ohms .... Jeff Medwin

[Lansing4412]

Todd, please post a link to your old forum. I need to what software it uses. I may be able to import it too.

So long as you have a backup of the forum it can be moved anywhere that supports the same software. The trick is converting from one software to another.

I have backups of forums that haven't been around for years that I could restore, if needed.

If GPA shut down tomorrow I could take the backup, and for about $120 a year move it to GoDaddy or any ISP.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[Lansing4412]

The new forums are on a much faster server with automated backup and restore. It will be more reliable and less buggy because it's dedicated to GPA and Altec fans, and not shared with other groups.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[xinu]

The new forums are on a much faster server with automated backup and restore. It will be more reliable and less buggy because it's dedicated to GPA and Altec fans, and not shared with other groups.

That is key benefit to moving over to GPA.

[Lansing4412]

The easiest and best thing is to delete the existing GPA forum built using phpBB. Then create a new GPA forum using vBulletin. Then import AUB into new GPA vBulletin system.

If AUB waits until the new GPA forum is popular, it will be difficult to merge the two, and I'm not willing to go database table to table and try to merge them. It could take days or weeks to do this.

If you want the Altec Library, Altec Forums, and GPA all in the same place, now is the time to do it.

Since all of this is being done free of charge, and you end up with better and faster forums, I'm truly shocked that there's any discussion about it all.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[horndawg]

The easiest and best thing is to delete the existing GPA forum built using phpBB. Then create a new GPA forum using vBulletin. Then import AUB into new GPA vBulletin system.

If AUB waits until the new GPA forum is popular, it will be difficult to merge the two, and I'm not willing to go database table to table and try to merge them. It could take days or weeks to do this.

I was leaning toward staying here, mainly out of fear that the move which would necessitate the change to a different software platform, could run the risk of losing part of the archived info on this site. The above proposal of redoing the GPA forum to the same platform as the current site, puts much of that fear to rest and I would now support the move over to the GPA forum. If Lansing4412 could keep the same look and feel of this board, it would IMO be the icing on the cake, as I'm not a big fan of the look of the new forum over at GPA. For some reason this site seems more legible with better demarcation between posts as well as a larger font that's easier on the eyes.

[Todd W. White]

Well, the reason for asking for the opinions of everyone here is that I, as the owner, value the opinion of ALL of our members, active or not. And, if they like it here, then we'll stay. If the majority want to move, while still ultimately my decision, those opinions will weigh heavily on it.

As for the way it looks - I dislike the turquoise at the new GPA site. A lot. And, I know Bill hates green. So, there you go.

That being said, here are my thoughts:

1. Personally, I like the "live" feel of this format. I like the fact that, as soon as I pull it up, I can see what people are talking about most, RIGHT NOW. I do NOT have time, nor do I like digging through various sub-topics. Having it all as a free-flowing discussion makes it feel more like family to me - almost like we're on a "party line" phone system, and we're all sharing and visiting and learning from one another. Also, with sub-topics, I might miss something that I could share or can learn, just because I didn't view that sub group that day. Perhaps there would be a way to have a "trending" notice of topics at the top, then show the sub groups they are in below.

2. I don't like the word, "community" - it sounds too much like everyone else out there. We're not a "community". ALTEC is a FAMILY, and that's something NO ONE ELSE, even the JBL fans, have. We're here DISCUSSING things as they relate to ALTEC, so that's why I named it. Perhaps we could keep the name if we move. I'd like that.

3. I wonder, as someone suggested, if this location could be mirrored - how is that done, and is it something that would give us the best of both worlds?

For me, this is all very sudden, and, I must admit, I feel rushed. I am reluctant to make a pressured decision. The last time I did, I ended up with a nice, well built, yet hideously overpriced vacuum cleaner that saddled me with payments for seeming decades... So, I'm not of a mind to do this overnight. Plus, I want our people here to share their thoughts and have a voice in this.

When I started Altec Lansing's (unofficial) Homepage in 1998, there was nothing like it out there. The Lansing Heritage site wasn't even up. Many others came along later. My goal was to do what is being proposed now:

To provide, free of charge, a centralized source for anything related to the "real" Altec/Altec Lansing we all know and love, her products, her people, sources for repair, and the largest and most complete library of ALTEC literature anywhere. I did pretty good getting that going when life threw me a curve ball - Mom got cancer. That slowed me way down for 6 years. Then, after she died, our Son, Nathaniel, began to have health issues. That kept me slowed down for the next 3 or so years. Then he died suddenly, when he had been getting better, at 27, leaving a wife and 3 little kids. The next year or more, all of my spare time was spent helping her and the grand kids. Then, in January of 2015, she and her boyfriend at the time were arrested and charged with murdering Nathaniel's middle child, Jason, just 9 days short of his 4th birthday. That made us emergency foster parents for their surviving children, and we ended up adopting them a year later. So, now, at our age, we're raising little kids again, so my time, again, is swallowed up. AltecBest came along a while back and has been a great help, but he has a life, too.

Having the opportunity to put everything in one place is certainly enticing. Of course the Altec Lansing (unofficial) Homepage would remain, be updated, and much of it linked to the GPA site if we move our discussion group.

Yet, I'm not sure. I know Bill and trust him implicitly. But I also know he will one day want to retire. What will happen to GPA at that point? Our dear friend, Bill Hayes, who was the Head of Acoustics at ALTEC for 30 years, retired from ALTEC and took the microphone repair business with him. He did that for the next 30 years. But he had a debilitating stroke and, with no one to take over, repair of vintage ALTEC microphones is, seemingly, in limbo, and, at best, will take years to get back up and running. If Bill retires and GPA closes down, with no prospects of continuing, new owners and new discoverers of the ALTEC and ALTEC-style products will look at it, but keep going - no one is going to invest new money in a product that isn't supported. That leaves the rest of us as "hanger's on", and, when the last of us dies, it dies too...

So it would be, I think, with the GPA website UNLESS there is a plan in place to keep it going if GPA should shut down, or simply decide to no longer fund it. Is there one for our group here? Sort of. Hostboard is large, and, as I have said before, if Steven leaves it, I think that one or more users of various forums would form a coalition to keep it going.

And, in the final analysis, maybe that's what we need to set in place before we agree to move - that there be some sort of plan in pace so that the Altec User's Board can continue to function as a separate entity, hosted by the GPA website, and that, in the unlikely event that the GPA website should ever shut down, we here could continue to operate it on the same servers, or, at least, recover all of the data and move it somewhere else.

Those are my thoughts about all of this at this time.

Opinions? Suggestions?

[Lansing4412]

Todd,

I see things very differently. Please allow me to explain why. I used to be a "JBL guy", a part of the "JBL family". Like many of you did with Altec, I got to witness corporate bureaucrats dismantle the real JBL, fire the engineering staff, and move operations out of the USA. The bureaucrats acted with a scotched earth policy. No support of any kind for vintage components, and only what federal law requires for new ones. You, however, have a part of the old Altec Lansing company: Great Plains Audio. They can provide parts and service for your beloved speaker systems. All of this rests in the hands of one person, who, for long time has needed the help of his "Altec family".

As for me, I don't care what color is used on the website, or what fonts are on the header, or how many categories are in the forums, or whether we refer to it as a family or community, because I know one thing with great certainty: If GPA doesn't survive, this forum will become a memorial to what was, and not what could have been. Parts will become scarce, prices for them will sky-rocket. I've watched this happen before, and I'm trying to stop it from happening again.

So while you debate the merits of colors, fonts, categories, and descriptors, I'll be working with Bill to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen to the Altec family/community that happened to the JBL family/community.

If you haven't already, please take the time to like the new official Great Plains Audio Facebook page. Every like counts!

Thank you and goodnight.

[DaveCan]

Life can definitely throw some serious curve-balls at times, sorry for your loses Todd.

I think whatever is decided by those that run a site and offer it for free to boot, should be appreciated and welcomed by all. Thanks for the site and all the info and offering of the forums, so that anyone even like me can learn and have a place to gain an education from those way more knowledgeable in all things audio than I could ever be.

I often wondered about when those at GPA decide to retire, thinking by the time I'm able to get something perhaps they could be no more. Is there anyone that Bill could train to pass the torch to one day? Dang why could I not have been the nephew or son of some of these guys lol. That would be a cool job and business to have compared to what I've done most of my life. Anyhow here's hoping GPA stays for many years yet to come in the audio industry, and with much success to all those involved.