Humble beginnings, Genuine dreams

Pre 1983 (playing to learn)

Matthew Simmons born 18th Jan 1971 in Christchurch the 4th of five Children
1974 or 1975 - His earliest memory relating to sound reproduction is running back and forth from speaker to speaker in his family's lounge trying to 'catch' the sound emanating from both speakers at once!
1979 his father gives him a HeathKit radio (AJ 21) to build which he spends many weeks working on with support from a family friend.
1980-83 Matthew fills his days, taking speakers apart and experimenting with all types of old speakers and valve radios, TV's etc. He successfully blew up his father's valve amplifier by connecting over 50 old TV speakers to it at once!

1983 - 89 (the business begins)

Matthew Simmons officially started what was to evolve into Arvus Group International when he was a 12-year-old boy, using his father's converted photography 'dark room' as a workshop.
Back then his business' activity was repairing speakers. He would pick them up after school on his bike from businesses throughout Christchurch and work on them in the evenings and weekends.
During his school years he also built dozens of crazy speaker enclosures many of which he sold to his Teachers and other customers.
Musically Matthew learnt to play and peform on the Cello, Flute, Tenor Horn, percussion and the Harp.
Even in this early stage it was obvious he had an innate gift for understanding how sound was behaving in various materials and shapes, he said it was as if he could see sound. Matthew also seemed to have a gift for attracting help from others.
In 1987 (he was 16yrs old) Matthew contracted a near fatal virus and spent many months in hospital. During his 2-year convalescence Matthew read countless biographies of artists, inventors, world leaders etc, which greatly inspired him to find his 'own path'. He also managed to continue repairing the odd speaker to pay for his book and compact disc consumption.
During 1989, the last year of his schooling, Matthew managed to build up his little business to be servicing 40 firms and was already making and selling custom designed hi-fi speakers using heavily modified 'off-the shelf' drivers.

1990 - 1993 (University - Julie)

Matthew decided to leave home and study Music Composition at Otago University. Matthew also produced many original pieces of electronic music.
He rented various studios around Dunedin and continued to repair and build speakers
While studying Music Composition at Otago University he attempted to launch a unique loudspeaker product made from PVC pipes. He sold most of his possessions including hundreds of compact discs, and books, speakers, bike etc. to finance the venture.
He made a trip from the bottom to the top of New Zealand with 2 pairs of his new speakers in the boot of his Triumph 2000 and visited dozens of Hi-Fi shops on the way to get interest in his new product. He failed spectacularly.
Matthew had to get a job at the local record shop to pay off his year of accumulated bills.
In July 1991 (while working in the Record Store) Matthew picked up a car magazine and read about the featured Audi Avus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Avus_quattro Matthew was so inspired by its design that he made a commitment to make one for himself. With youthful abandon, he makes up a banner with all the pictures and writes on it "Made by Matthew Simmons November 2010." 19 years in the future! Over the years he collected ideas, people and thoughts on this design. Although he has missed his launch date the project is becoming a reality and has evolved to become the revolutionary
Carvus – Car 2.0 project. www.arvusgroup.com/carvus.html
11th July 1992, Matthew met his wife and business partner to be Julie at a University Dance – they got engaged 6 days later.
Julie and Matthew leave Dunedin in 1994 to start a life in Christchurch

1994 – 98 (Taking business seriously)

Back in Christchurch, Matthew and Julie decided to really expand their repair business. A full business plan and branding exercise was implemented with the help of his big brother Mark. A brochure was sent to more than a 140 firms in New Zealand that were related to the audio and electronics industry.
By the end of that year Matthew was repairing up to a hundred loudspeakers a month. Contract help was brought in when required.
New Years Eve 1994 Matthew and Julie get married.
Matthew repaired or oversaw the repair of thousands of speakers from the cheap Asian speakers to PA speakers, Horns, Woofers, and dozens of name brands.
Authorized speaker service agent for many brands including Tannoy, Rogers, Triad, Sunfire, Genesis, Theil, Image, Wharfedale, and Shahinian.
It was over this period that Matthew was formulating his own theories on loudspeakers and investing heavily in countless prototypes.
July 1996 Matthew and two of his engineers assemble one hundred and seventeen 5" drivers that are identical except for the cone material. Over an intense three day period a methodical "listening only" based test is conducted with startling results for the three men. Even though the final chosen cone was vastly superior in the listening tests it was not the one they had chosen based on the formal response tests – This result became the starting point of what would evolve to become a significant investment into "psycho-acoustics"
Because of the range of the other brands he serviced, Matthew discovered many similar weaknesses in design and theory that most of these brands used.
While Julie is pregnant, Matthew and Julie setup a small business making Year Planners for Students. Matthew sold advertising space and designed it while Julie organised the contact list and ran the financial side. They did this profitable little project for three years. See a scan here
1996 - Matthew and Julie celebrate birth of their daughter Franca.
1997 – Matthew decides to start a new brand of speakers so he can sell "one off models" made from odd speakers. Looking at his Audi Avus banner, (which hung above his studio desk, and still does) he is inspired by the Avus name and the font used. He added the "R" and the Arvus brand began
1997 – Julie has a passion for learning and education – late one night Matthew and Julie realized that their respective passions for Language and Sound may actually intersect in the near future – they coin this possible union "Linguasonics". Linguasonics is now a reality and both Julie and Matthew are working with a number of universities around the globe on a special research project that will have far reaching effect on the understanding of sound perception and language. www.linguasonics.com due online later in 2011
1997 - Matthew and Julie celebrate birth of their son Xavier.
1997 – Matthew is approached by a local successful businessmen and engineer to help him bring an innovative Loudspeaker design to reality. The Sphear Environ™. With both men working together and combining experience the product is completed almost 5 years later. A tor de force of engineering and with a sound much larger than its size the Environ is an amazing accomplishment – sadly it was just too costly to make – Only 20 pairs were sold – see images here
1997 – QS-5 – 240 Pairs sold in 11 months, first production Arvus speaker. This product funded much early R&D in loudspeakers. Click here for Pics
In 1998 they branched-out even further and OemSpec™ Audio was established. Within 6 months OemSpec™ was supplying custom-engineered drivers (raw speakers), which were designed and assembled in Christchurch, to 9 small Speaker Manufacturers. Most based in NZ and the UK.
OemSpec supplying speakers to Image Loudspeakers and Levon Acoustics both based in Auckland – New Zealand.
Within a few months the OemSpec™, business was growing much faster than predicted and it was realized, after crunching through the numbers, that it was going to become a logistic nightmare. Deciding not to invest in automation and assembly tooling OemSpec™ was gradually wound down over a period of months.
In that same period Matthew and Julie had a big re-evaluation of what they wanted from their business and lifestyle. From this intense 'think tank' they decided the following would underpin their future:
- They did not want any bank debt. They would aim to fund their business growth from sales, at least in the early stages.

They did not want their business to be 100% dependent on any single market, customer or supplier.
They did not want a factory that required many employees or large fixed overheads.
They wanted to have fun along the way and thus attract similar minded
people from all over the world.

They sold off their customers to other speaker repair firms.

1999 -2002 (starting to think and act globally)

1999 was the year that Arvus Loudspeakers really came alive.
www.worldsbestspeakers.com went online.
In the ensuing four years almost 400 pairs of Arvus speakers were sold, via the Internet and through referrals, in over 20 countries worldwide. This was all done with no reviews or magazine advertising and the sales were not via a retailer.
All the raw speakers (woofers and tweeters) were either custom designed and manufactured offshore or hand made in their small Christchurch based workshop.
2000 - Matthew and Julie celebrate birth of their son Gabriel.
In 2001 Arvus Loudspeakers presented itself to the Public for the first time at the 'Big Boys Toys' show in Auckland. Here they demonstrated the grandeur of the Proscenium and the power of their insane 250Kg, 2M high BladderBuster subwoofer. Their stand was voted the Best newcomer at the show.
2001 - Matthew did post-production and editing on 2 tracks for an album by Balligomingo, released worldwide on Windham Hill – BMG
2002 – Matthew was contracted to do development consultancy work for Fusion Car Audio on to improve the performance of their Subwoofers and Component Loudspeakers

2003 (strategy, cinema, partnerships)

Matthew and Julie share core strengths in networking, establishing trust in relationships and are both habitual learners.
In 2003 they made a conscious decision to work towards advancing their business into new areas using these qualities.
The first of what would become the five divisions of the Arvus Group™ was Arvus Research™. Using their core team of engineers and already expanding international business networks, they landed some simple yet pivotal R&D work.
Mid 2003, Arvus Research™ was contacted by a large US based organization to do an acoustic development contract. After a few short weeks the organization retracted the contract, as they no longer required a solution to their problem, however Matthew decided to keep the development going as this new field of Infrasound acoustics intrigued him. The R&D has now matured and a new venture has been established in the Viticulture arena.
Late 2003 Arvus was asked to develop a unique sound system for a Dark Ride Amusement ride the Emperors tomb. Part of the solution was the invention of a speaker with Variable impedance.
Arvus receives its first GPRS Grant from Technology New Zealand; this is the beginning of what has become an important strategic alliance with the New Zealand Government.
Matthew and Julie decided that they did not want to pursue the DVD/Home theatre market, but could see that Cinema would need a marketable point of difference from Home Theatre in the near future. From this decision was born the move for Arvus to develop the Hypacoustic™ Cinema brand.
First cinema contract completed in November 2003 for Regent Ashburton.
Garth Murray contacts Matthew to purchase a subwoofer and after that meeting decides to builds his first speakers. They used Arvus drivers. Garth and Matthew immediately build a relationship based on synergy and mutual respect. In the ensuing 8 Years Theophany establishes brand, international sales, and builds a large factory to cope with growth. All their speakers still use Arvus drivers. www.theophanyloudspeakers.com

2004 - 2007 (Bigger projects, more strategy)

Arvus supplies Audio for a Twin-Plex Cinema audio for the founder of Electric Lady Studios (Jimi Hendrix – Stevie Wonder)
While driving a fellow engineer to a Cinema Project, Matthew has the idea of a whole new form of traction for automobiles. When back in the office he frantically makes as many notes & sketches as possible and then shelves the files for a few years. This is the moment when merely building a copy of the Audio Avus evolved into the Carvus Project.
Arvus flagship product the Horizon is completed – over the following 5 years over 50 pairs are sold
Arvus becomes a member of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce
Arvus chooses to become a Distributor for BelCanto Design.
Second GPRS grant from Technology New Zealand

2005

Arvus builds the worlds first onboard Karaoke amusement ride Vehicle, for the Wiggles Big Red Car ride in Dreamworld – Gold Coast – Each of the 5 cars has travelled over 2 million kilometres with no problems with the audio.
Arvus Group has over 40 firms and experts within their network working onvarious projects.

2006

September – Hypascreen™ development started
November – First Hypacoustic™ Cinema completed – Marton – New Zealand.

www.worldsbestspeakers.com - taken offline – This decision was made as the Arvus Group was evolving and a new web presence would be required. Planned date for new websites - August 2008.

2007

Early established relationship with two US based multi-nationals as an external source of cost and time efficient R&D. Many successful contracts completed.
Julie decides to further push the Arvus Groups' knowledge base into the understanding of sound/psychology /language and how they influence each other.
Feb - Julie starts University papers in Child Communication Disorders
By the end of the year four Cinemas have converted to Hypacoustic™ in Australia.
The USD140,000.00 Prerenaissance loudspeaker project started. This product is designed to showcase all Arvus innovative and advanced loudspeaker technology.
New Zealand Government supports Arvus' Aviacoustic™ technology development with TAP Grant.
Arvus Group becomes a major sponsor of the New Zealand Solar Car Challenge – Solarfern. www.solarfern.com

2008 (More connections and expansion of business scope)

Jan – Matthew and Julie attend Global Strategies workshop taught by Ken Morse – Managing Director MIT Entrepreneurship Center, Boston - USA
Jan – Matthew travels to Hollywood to finalise Hypacoustic™ installation in one of Kodak's screening rooms.
Feb – R&D project for large multi-national based in L. A.
Feb – NZ Research Grant for Aviacoustics started. This is a year long project.
June – Hypascreen™ launched.
Four MBA students from University of Auckland Business school conduct a research paper on Hypacoustic™.
August – Prerenaissance launched to coincide with Silver Jubilee and new the Arvus Group New Zealand websites launched.
August – Russian distributor for Hypacoustic™ established.
August – www.arvusgroup.com online.
August – www.hypacoustic.com online.
August – www.hypascreen.ru online.
August – www.hypascreen.com online.
August – www.arvusloudspeakers.com online.
August – www.aviacoustics.com online.
September – www.hypacoustic.ru online.
October - 3 MBA students from University of Auckland Business school spend 1 week in Greece to on a Research Project to help Arvus Group further develop key business relationships for expanding their EU business.
Matthew opens the notes and sketches he made four years prior on the automobile idea. Matthew and Julie decide to do strategic plan for the now called Carvus project and explore the feasibility of this long term project. They start to search for the 6 key engineers that will help with the project.
December - Matthew Simmons travels to India for 12 days to increase the speed of Hypacoustic cinema opportunity there.

2009

January Carvus project starts, with key goals and timelines set.
January – First Hypacoustic Cinema system sent to Russia
February - Julie decides to further push the Arvus Groups' knowledge base into the understanding of sound/psychology/language and how they influence eachother so Julie starts University papers in Linguistics.
April – Technology New Zealand Grant for Aviacoustics completed.
May – Hypacoustic is asked to supply a Demo System for the British Film Institute at the National Film Theatre in London.
May – First Carvus meeting, all involved in project get together. There is a buzz of energy between all involved and key design elements are discussed.
June - Arvus Group is forced to take the 2nd largest Legal firm in New Zealand to court – After 15 months of stressful legal process – Arvus Group wins the following year.
July – Arvus Group featured in New Zealand government book about R&D. Link "Idea to Impact"
Julie and Matthew travel to London to demonstrate the Hypacoustic system at the British Film Institute.
November – Arvus OEM asked to urgently to supply custom speakers for Dolby USA – A mutual relationship is established.
December - Matthew visits Hong Kong CineAsia to establish business prospects for Hypacoustic in China and the great Asia region

2010

January - Arvus wins contract to produce the music for the Motion Title for Chinese Cinema chain Lumiere Pavillions, this is now viewed by tens of thousands of Chinese cinema patrons every month
Arvus OEM asked to design and supply custom speakers for Dolby Australia.
As Arvus is becoming more established internationally both in Clients and Outsourcing, Julie and Matthew choose adjust their lifestyle and business structure to allow their business to be run from almost anywhere on the globe where there is an internet connection, just incase they have to relocate at short notice.
They thus decide to implement the following:
- To rent both their Home and Business premesis – on short term leases.
- To use realtime online back-up for all work that is stored in three continents simultainiously.
- To invest in custom designed dataflow infrastructure more suited to their unique business model.
- To start introducing their 3 children on-line E-Learning options so that they could continue their education regardless of schooling options available.
- To work actively to establish new relationships with other manufacturing, engineering and design companies in Asia and Europe.
- To use multiple sources for the same function of supply and logistics to incase there is a significant external event that affects their business.
- To 'de-junk' their belongings to allow fast relocation if required.
March - Hypacoustic was unaminously accepted into the International Cinema Technology Association
April – Arvus Group developes strategic developement partnership with Onkyo Corporation in Japan.
April – Hypacoustic wins contract for 20 Cinema Audio systems in China.
June – Arvus starts new division – Arvus DSP (Digital Signal Processing) and immediately begins development of the worlds first multi-channel AES/EBU to HDMI Audio interface.
Theophany Loudspeakers continues to grow and wins National Business Award for medium sized busuiness
July – 4 Hypacoustic systems for Nova Cinemas in Melboure Australia Completed – images here.
August – Arvus DSP - AES/EBU to HDMI interface completed - first 30 units installed in China, India, Australia and New Zealand, plus www.aes-hdmi.com online
August – Hypacoustic 3 plex in Grafton complete. One large 1200 seat Cinema and two 180 Seat cinemas.
September 4th at 4.34am Christchurch has a 7.1 Earthquake – Matthew, Julie and their 3 Children expereince this in their home and thus decide to temporarily leave Christchurch for 2 weeks.
October - Development starts on 14 Channel Hypacoustic System.
November – 3 Multi-Plex sites for Lumiere Pavillions in China complete. Changshu, Nanjing and Huai'An.
December – Matthew visits India to spend two weeks with Chennai based IT firm RealImage and demo Hypacoustic to various Cinema Chains.
December – 26th "Boxing day" even though there have been over 2000 aftershocks since September 4th – A significant aftershock on this day causes further damage to many properties in Christchurch.

2011

Januray 20th – Another significant aftershock – Julie and Matthew decide that in the long term that they will leave Christchurch, but do not yet know where to. Febuary – Matthew and Julie decide to further expand their loudspeaker supply business and plan to launch Arvus OEM in April 2011 – work on this starts imediately.
Febuary 22nd – An extremely violent and shallow 6.3 Earthquake strikes at 12.21pm. It's recorded as having the fastest rate of ground acceleration of any recorded earthquake - 2.2g's. Matthew, Julie and their youngest son are having lunch when it happens the table lifts in the air over 1.5metres. All the family are OK, but their son Xavier is in the Central Business district at the time and cannot be contacted for 4 hours after the quake. Over 180 people are killed in the Quake. Julie and Matthew decide to permanatley leave Christchurch.
Matthew, Julie and their Children, sleep on the floor at Matthew's Sisters unaffected home, while packing up their home. They decide to keep only some of their belongings – get in their car and drive to find a new home and make a new start at life in the North Island for the short term.
March - Homeless living in Motels, Julie and Matthew are invited to be Judges for the MBA presentaions at Auckland University Business School – which they agree to. On the way back from Auckland they decide to make a new home in the small but very modern lakeside town of Taupo.
Within one week, they have found a home/business premesis and the children are in new schools. Although the business interrupted for a couple of months continuation is ok.
www.oemloudspeakers.com goes online March 25th
Updated Websites planned for late April 2011