About VASC
In this image are another employee and the bloke leaning on a Soundcraft mixer is Pat Dornan, senior electronics tech, who with partners Pat Worsley and David Lee, bought the company in 1980. The frighteningly hairy Tom Lunderville, seated, established the company in 19720, so must bear the bulk of the blame for all this.
In spite of a complete lack of business acumen (a theme that still permeates the entire repair industry) Vancouver Audio Clinic survived longer than almost all the other companies in the catalogue. Vancouver Audio has had many owners over the ensuing years, each convinced that they knew better than the previous fool. David Lee owned it at least three times, so while his business skills cursed him with yet another $500 car, he also won wins a 'Gold star' for bravery.
If you are reading this page to find out more about Vancouver Audio Speaker Clinic, and the way we do business, you might enjoy our philosophy page, illustrating that unfashionable clothes and hairstyles for technicians are not a new phenomena.
If you have read this far and actually enjoyed reading this, please seek professional counselling. It’s worth every penny.
Our Staff.
Cam, the chef
We are not quite sure what dimension Cam comes from as he popped out of the woodwork to help us out of the blue. We have a faint suspicion that his past fighting inter dimensional super villains may be an asset to the company later but for now we are unsure. It actually rather frightens us. Cam loves good friends, music and games.
In Memoriam:
David Lee, Proprietor and Visionary. Dearly Missed, David passed away in 2012.
David Lee, master speaker repair technician, humanist, and a kind soul was three weeks away from selling VASC back to Tom Lunderville out of revenge for selling him the darnn place in 1980. In true Vancouver Audio humour it was to happen on April the 1st, and he was especially looking forward to firing Tibor only for Tom to rehire him. On March the 11th 2012 David came home from dinner with friends in high spirits, and suffered a massive heart attack in front of his family in the living room. The paramedics attempted to revive him three times, and on the third failed. We thought for certain that VASC was done for, but the Lee family negotiated to reopen VASC and we are up and running.
When David heard that computers would soon create a "paperless society" he promptly abandoned his lucrative career in the printing industry, mortgaged his home, and bought Vancouver Audio Clinic. His business and managerial skills perfectly qualified him to be a speaker repair technician. Forty-one years spent repairing every loudspeaker imaginable, has given him an encyclopedic knowledge, thousands of delighted customers, a long series of $500 cars, and a permanent stoop. Oddly, even after more than 50,000 speaker repairs, David still genuinely enjoys his work, and, rather more disturbingly, country and western music.
Howard Doctor, Technician and aspiring Boulevardier. Dearly missed, Howard passed away In 2013.
Ten months after David left us Howard had a great job working at a very high end custom installation firm designing incredible sounding ultra compact speakers to integrate into snazzy hotel rooms. He was also on and off in China to design drivers and cabinets for PA use. Howard was far more than a repair technician, he was a loudspeaker engineer, a materials science expert, an audio reviewer and an expert on adhesives. Howard had a heart attack in his sleep and passed away peacefully in 2013. Here is his old about us page:
In 1962, he received 'The Young Scientists Approach to Magnetism' as a prize for academic progress, and it was this slim, innocuous volume that started him on the road to poverty and obscurity. He built his first speaker at age 14. Built his first decent-sounding speaker at age 16. Learned to play bass guitar, but abandoned it at the request of a torch-carrying mob of neighbours. Although his speakers sounded great, his woodworking skills were actually reported as 'a danger to life and property'. Howard spent much of the next 40 years developing drivers and speaker systems, and now consults for several manufacturers, on drive unit design and materials. Having authored over 150 articles on audio, as well as textbooks on speaker adhesives and voice coils, Howard drinks cider to forget his mercifully brief career refining nickel for Canadian coins. He enjoys fine coffee, but is always mysteriously absent when it needs to be made, and still treasures the little book that started it all.
The late and great Thomas Lunderville, Former Proprietor + Skilled Technician
Mr. Lunderville started Vancouver Audio from a hobby modifying Orange, Fender, and Marshall guitar amps to do what is now called the "modern high gain sound". The space he was sharing with another technician became not so shared due to the excessive volumes needed for proper testing. Remember this was in 1972, way before hair metal. After being fired from a sound company (which shall remain unnamed) for turning down a service call to fix a home stereo system on New Year's eve, Tom decided to start Vancouver Audio Clinic around the corner from Bill Lewis Music in Kitsilano. It was a smashing success, and in 1980 Tom decided to become an electrician and actually make some real money. He sold Vancouver Audio to a trio of partners, Pat Dornan, Pat Worsley and David Lee. Tom has a huge wealth of information about pro, musical instrument, and hi fi speakers.
All three are dearly at VASC, Howard's wicked wit and David's zany sense of humour and Tom’s commitment made VASC what it is, a great shop.