Dean Rivera designs new 2214, 2235, 2245

[Guido]

Ex JBL engineer Dean Rivera designed "new" 2214, 2235 and 2245 woofers.

http://dbdesign4u.com/about-us.html
http://dbdesign4u.com/2214ef---2235ef-woofers.html
http://dbdesign4u.com/woofers-continued.html

Looks good. Maybe one of our american members can find out more?

[honkytonkwillie]

Interesting. I'm rather new to the JBL club and don't know much background and history. I've never seen this person's name come up as one of JBL's legendary designers and engineers. But JBL has surely been home to countless many people of outstanding talent whose names we'll never know. Looking at his website a few clues emerge.

Selling himself as a designer and consultant, he lists some career highlights and industry players he's worked for. His website and business card both have a pretty bland style which hints at him being a solo act, or an Engineer. (HA!!!). And his contact info maps to a residential address. These are often traits of a guy who is more or less retired, but putting himself out there and maintaining visibility so as to take on the interesting projects and pass on the ones that he doesn't like - a position many of us would like to be in someday, I'm sure.

It's obvious what target applications the woofers are aimed at by virtue of their naming scheme. Remember, numbers can't be trademarked, so they're fair game. I'm guessing he came up with some specs and lined up an Asian manufacturing house to spit them out cheaply, as the +/- variances on the T/S parameters seem on the high side. I didn't compare the T/S parameters with the similarly named JBL pieces, but I'm guessing they're roughly approximate and made to be a drop in replacements. If he can get them picked up and sold as aftermarket replacements through Parts Express, Madisound, or some of the Pro-audio vendors he'll make a killing.

[ivica]

Ex JBL engineer Dean Rivera designed "new" 2214, 2235 and 2245 woofers.

http://dbdesign4u.com/about-us.html
http://dbdesign4u.com/2214ef---2235ef-woofers.html
http://dbdesign4u.com/woofers-continued.html

Looks good. Maybe one of our american members can find out more?

Hi Guido,

Neglecting the name of the bass drivers, I can not see too many similarities to the JBL drivers.

Regards
Ivica

[Mr. Widget]

Neglecting the name of the bass drivers, I can not see too many similarities to the JBL drivers.
+1


Widget

[speakerdave]

Look at the moving mass. They look like subwoofers to me, certainly the two larger ones.

[honkytonkwillie]

Uh... yeah. My WAG about them being drop-in replacements for the similarly-named JBL drivers? They're not even close.

Why then, I wonder: of all the numbers and names available to Christen his drivers, why did he choose what he did?

[speakerdave]

Don't think I'm going to get into a deep analysis of Dean Rivera's mind, but it seems the Bl of each piece is significantly jacked up over JBL spec, to match the increased mms, so maybe the idea is a drop in replacement that will go lower.

The most certain thing, I think, is that there is now a large body of onlookers who are waiting for someone to take the plunge and report back.

[bill8888]

Selling himself as a designer and consultant, he lists some career highlights and industry players he's worked for. His website and business card both have a pretty bland style which hints at him being a solo act, or an Engineer. (HA!!!). And his contact info maps to a residential address. These are often traits of a guy who is more or less retired, but putting himself out there and maintaining visibility so as to take on the interesting projects and pass on the ones that he doesn't like - a position many of us would like to be in someday, I'm sure.

Your post seems to question Dean Rivera's competence and credentials. I can verify that Dean was a competent and respected member of the JBL engineering staff. When I joined JBL in 1977 Dean was already there, and when I left in 1985 Dean was still there. He was originally an engineering technician going to college at night. He worked closely with every engineer and was involved with nearly every product. He was the hardest working person in engineering since he did all the grunt work (testing, measuring, assembling prototypes, procuring parts, moving heavy cabinets, building networks, etc). He eventually graduated from CSUN with a b.s. in engineering and was promoted to an engineer. I did not know Dean socially (we were not friends, just coworkers) but I would suggest that Dean has technical knowledge and skills equal to or surpassing anyone on this forum. I've had no contact with Dean in 30 years but I'm glad he did so well in his career.

[Ian Mackenzie]

Your post seems to question Dean Rivera's competence and credentials. I can verify that Dean was a competent and respected member of the JBL engineering staff. When I joined JBL in 1977 Dean was already there, and when I left in 1985 Dean was still there. He was originally an engineering technician going to college at night. He worked closely with every engineer and was involved with nearly every product. He was the hardest working person in engineering since he did all the grunt work (testing, measuring, assembling prototypes, procuring parts, moving heavy cabinets, building networks, etc). He eventually graduated from CSUN with a b.s. in engineering and was promoted to an engineer. I did not know Dean socially (we were not friends, just coworkers) but I would suggest that Dean has technical knowledge and skills equal to or surpassing anyone on this forum. I've had no contact with Dean in 30 years but I'm glad he did so well in his career.

I think the general thrust of the thread is around the associate of the model names.

As I recall P.Audio also has model associations with JBL drivers
So you left JBL in 1985 to join https://www.rocket.com/

Given the apparent success of JBL since then why did you leave?

Just looking at your profile you don't have many posts (27 to be exact) but this one is quite pointed>

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?35393-Need-crossovers-for-4313B-rebuilt-Who-s-The-Pro-on-LH&p=358800&viewfull=1#post358800

Most people here would agree Giskard/4313B has technical skills and a knowledge of JBL drivers surpassing most people on the forum but you did not call that out?

[bill8888]

I think the general thrust of the thread is around the associate of the model names.

As I recall P.Audio also has model associations with JBL drivers
So you left JBL in 1985 to join https://www.rocket.com/

Given the apparent success of JBL since then why did you leave?

Just looking at your profile you don't have many posts (27 to be exact) but this one is quite pointed>

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?35393-Need-crossovers-for-4313B-rebuilt-Who-s-The-Pro-on-LH&p=358800&viewfull=1#post358800

Most people here would agree Giskard/4313B has technical skills and a knowledge of JBL drivers surpassing most people on the forum but you did not call that out?

Wow. You actually looked up my past 27 posts to counter my defense of a former coworker? This forum is a scary place.

[honkytonkwillie]

Your post seems to question Dean Rivera's competence and credentials. I can verify that Dean was a competent and respected member of the JBL engineering staff. When I joined JBL in 1977 Dean was already there, and when I left in 1985 Dean was still there. He was originally an engineering technician going to college at night. He worked closely with every engineer and was involved with nearly every product. He was the hardest working person in engineering since he did all the grunt work (testing, measuring, assembling prototypes, procuring parts, moving heavy cabinets, building networks, etc). He eventually graduated from CSUN with a b.s. in engineering and was promoted to an engineer. I did not know Dean socially (we were not friends, just coworkers) but I would suggest that Dean has technical knowledge and skills equal to or surpassing anyone on this forum. I've had no contact with Dean in 30 years but I'm glad he did so well in his career.

That wasn't my intention, so I apologize if it presented negatively. I was trying to sleuth and guess a bit of detail on Mr. Rivera and his company in response to the OP hailing from Germany. Since I'm rather newly aflicted with the JBL-lust, his name isn't one of the two JBL names that I recognize.

While trying to poke a little fun at engineers and their stereotypical sense of (or attention to) style, it may have come across as mockery. But it's pretty clear this guy is a real business with a product and a service - very much not a startup hack, built on marketing, and existing on investor capital. With a real web site too, instead of just a Facebook product page to like, or a LinkedIn presence. Is freelance a better word? Maybe that would have been a better choice than one-man shop.

The questions remain: quality? price? availability? New products always garner a bit of excitement, but at this point we can only guess at the intended applications, and maybe the intended market segment.