Jorge Knirsch tells us a bit about how things have
developed since the opening of his company By Knirsch:
- About 20 years ago, I, as an electronic engineer,
became very excited about the field of electric circuits and
electronics, an area which had always excited me. It was then that I
decided to make electronics my hobby. I decided to set out and develop
a sound system of such quality that the listener, when they closed
their eyes, would have difficulty in discerning whether the sound was
being reproduced or was being played live! A very modest project,
don’t you think? But I was super-excited about this idea! And I took
it to heart. That was how I got my start in audio. In November of
1980, I began to develop a system of
tri-amplification.
In the beginning my focus was on basic electronics. I built various
pieces of equipment and played around a lot with them. I also built
speaker boxes from England (KEF). I made the box from cedar wood and
imported the speakers. During this time I had a lot of fun changing
the value of the electronic components found in the circuits of the
equipment. I wanted to make adjustments that would take me closer to
my goal and obtain the distinct sound I was looking for. I knew
exactly what to change to make the bass, mids and trebles sound better
and adjust them in the way I thought best. But it was funny because at
that time our audio-lovers group couldn’t come to an agreement about
the results that we heard because of the subjectivity of our
evaluation which was still immature and lacking experience. For
example, when one thought that we should adjust the
trebles,
others thought there was a problem with the high mids...and no one
could argue that he was more correct! It was at this time that we all
felt a great need to attend as many live musical shows as possible;
and quickly!! Of course, during these many years we have passed
through many phases, learning to evaluate the sound with more
objectivity, and as such, improving our evaluations. Since that time,
I continue to experiment with the same objective always in mind: to
have a sound system that appears to be playing music live! In 1996,
when the Brazilian magazine “Áudio and Vídeo Club” was launched, I was
invited to write in a space called the Hobbyist. From that point on, I
have written numerous articles on different basic themes about audio.
The fact that I became a writer of articles has led me to intensify
even more the research that I do. I have discovered that I love to do
research! It takes me to another world and I forget everything else!
And audio, without a doubt, is an area of study that is very broad. As
time has passed I have discovered that audio in itself is much broader
than electronics. I really perceived this when at one point I found
that I had reached a plateau with my sound. It didn’t matter what I
changed; there seemed to be no significant changes to the sound
quality. It was then that I understood that there were other factors,
outside of the electronic parts of my system, that were acting as the
weak links in the chain and that were limiting my advancements. Of
these factors, the ones I deemed most significant were the acoustics,
the electrical power grid,
the grounding, and vibrations. When I began my studies on electrical
power grids, I noted that certain electrical distortions called grid
harmonics were audible through the speakers. As a result, I began to
research various electronic filters in the hope of getting rid of
these electrical energy harmonics. Consequently I discovered that the
majority of electric filters introduce collateral effects such as
turning the trebles more metallic or “fattening” the mid-bass. After
some years of studying, I was able to build an electronic circuit that
took out the unwanted harmonics without any of these side effects! As
you can see in the section of our site, Brands and Patents (Marcas e
Patentes), this equipment was patented. From there, I developed a
device that together with a system of protection against lightening
strikes and energy spikes became our famous energy conditioner,
powerline. Thankfully, powerline is a great success in the
audio market; even outside of
Brazil! And in the same exciting and natural way, our
other products from By Knirsch began to appear, all of them
coming from lots of research based on technological knowledge that
always excites me more and more and opens a path for me to conquer my
initial goal of making a sound system that is as close to sounding
“live” as possible!
Jorge Knirsch was Born in São Caetano do Sul, in the
Brazilian state of São Paulo, in 1949. He graduated in Electrical
Engineering, in 1974, from the Mauá School of Engineering. He is an
associate of CREA and a member of AES (Áudio Engineering Society). He
worked for the German company Siemens for 26 years in the area of Low
Voltage Electrical Energy for Industry. When he retired, in 2001, he
opened his new company, By Knirsch Audio and Video Limited.
Since 1980 he has been researching the influence of electrical energy
on recording and reproduction of recorded music. He is the holder of
three patents registered at INPI, in the area of electronic filtering
of harmonics and electrical protection. He was also a contributor to
the magazine Áudio & Vídeo, from 1996 to 2003, where he published many
articles focused on electrical energy and audio. All of these articles
can be found on his site: www.byknirsch.com.br.
Today, after extensively studying acoustics,
his energies are focused on studying the Balanced Listening Room.
PS. Jorge Knirsch continues his research in the area of
audio,
acoustics, eletrical energy and
publishes his articles on his site, and gives classes on electrical
energy and acoustics.
Cheers,
Jorge Knirsch
www.byknirsch.com.br
