Aaronv.net is a website I set up as a home for my many audio and electronics projects. It was established in January 2008. Starting in 2010 I added photo galleries from a newly acquired photography hobby as well. I later downsized my photography equipment after marrying and starting a family in 2014.

In spite of the rumors, and manifest evidence from this website, AaronV is not (yet) insane.

I first encountered the world of modern DIY audio in 2004. I obtained an Electrical Engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines in 2002, but an economic slowdown torpedoed my efforts to obatain a relevant job. In between working several temporary positions, I first encountered Elliott Sound Products, a respected DIY audio project site run by Australian entreuprenuer Rod Elliott. One whiff of the ear candy and I was hooked.

I've been building audio and related creations ever since. In 2007 I started working for a consulting engineering firm in the power systems industry. So, by day I play with big wires, designing or studying infrastructure for electrical power distribution; by night, I dive into the small wires. Not so often now as in the beginning, but something is always brewing.

Oh, I've always had an interest, and more importantly, I've always wanted equipment that I could never afford to buy at retail. High-quality do-it-yourself projects are not cheap, but the total cost is offset by the labor of love and skill-building that goes into it.

Also, I'm about 70% deaf in my left ear, and have been since early childhood (if not birth). I hear only a very limited range of mid-bass frequencies with attenuation. No pathological cause was ever found for it, and interestingly, I have normal stereo perception in an open room, so my brain is compensating somehow. The difference is pretty stark when I wear headphones, since the isolation between left and right is enforced in that listening mode. Somewhere along the line, I'm sure that contributed to my interest in the world of sound.

Equally important, I tend to enjoy theory only if I can see and analyze a practical application. Audio provides a strong footing for understanding why, and how, analog electronic components operate in the real world.

First, credit where credit is due: I was introduced to a new Friend at a very young age, and without His guidance, I would have gone off the rails a long time before now. His Name, without qualification, is my only reliable resource on earth. I know Him as my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Want to know more? I recommend two resources. First, my Friend has a biography, available at the link in several languages. The Gospel of John is a great place to start. And second, more resources are available at InTheBeloved.org.

Second, you can get more clues from my personal bio. I was born and raised in the beautiful state of Colorado, USA. Colorado has rolling plains, rugged mountains, and an amazing number of recreational opportunities.

My father is a career electronics technician and observed my interest in all things electrical at an early age. He made sure I understood the proper way to apply a soldering iron and imparted a basic respect for high-voltage electricity. He had done a bit of his own DIY audio back in the early 1970s, including the construction of a Popular Science article for replicating the then-new Bose 901 speaker system and a matching shaping-equalizer. Those speakers are still in use in a room of my folks' house. I later built a complementary amplifier for the kit.

Another family friend was also an electronics technician, and would continually pass fun new toys for me to play with. One time there was a giant 12V battery from an alarm system (had a dead cell, still output a healthy ten volts after that was bypassed); then there were a few miscellaneous tools from his personal collection that he didn't need anymore; another time it was scraps of a large fiber-optic light guide.

In short, my background is diverse, but always had a strong electrical emphasis.