About Audio Union

Audio Union is operated by Tom Kleinbeck and is based in Springfield, Missouri, USA. Show room viewing, by appointment only.

Audio Union provides direct sales and service for CEC products in Central, North, and South America and surrounding islands. Dealer inquires are welcome.

My CD journey

My personal journey with CDs started in the late 1990’s with the purchase of a Sony CD player. Even though it was one of the best available at the time, I preferred Vinyl for a reason, it sounded better to my ears. However, it did provide a convenient way to play music when hosting a party of family and friends.

In the 2000’s I ripped my CDs to a hard disk on my computer. This was handy, but you need a good D/A converter to get good sound quality. There was the problem of getting an exact copy of the CD on the disk. There were errors in the data stream. This problem still exists today but at lower rate. CD players are sensitive to the same issues as analog turntables; vibrations and electromagnetic interference.

In 2014 I was introduced to CEC transports and D/A converters. Game over, I became the distributor for CEC in US. This to my ears was truly a remarkable line of products. There products actually performed the way the magazine reviewers claimed. My region has now grown in size to encompass all of the Americas and surrounding islands.

I still have a phono cartridge, but I sold my turntable. I found that I am happy with the quality of the sound from my personal stereo and used CDs are inexpensive and plentiful. With a good D/A converter the world of streaming services is available and I take full advantage of it.

Now the search is for CD with great recordings and mastering’s.

Here is a link discussing audio CD recording and the pitfalls which can cause data errors in the music data stream on playback. Not all CDs are alike in several ways.

Kleinbeck Engineering Services

Kleinbeck Engineering provides Acoustic measurement and shielding design for products and structures. Acoustic measurements are made with a microphone calibrated to either 87db or 115db. A calibrated sound source is used to calibrate the measurement system to insure accuracy and consistency. We have 40+ years of experience in designing products for the aerospace and military industries.

Kleinbeck Engineering provides knowledge, design, production, quality control, and testing experience of: normal and emergency environmental life support systems at all altitudes with gas/liquid filtration with and without coalescence, air cycle HVAC systems, solid state and interstitial gas storage systems, chlorate candles; mobile power generation, emergency power systems, and Uninterrupted Power Systems including energy storage systems including multi-fuel engines/turbines and high energy electromagnetic impulse survival; precious metal processing and refining; composite materials (making composite material and using composite materials); acoustic, electrical, and mechanical noise abatement/isolation; neutron photograph (using low energy neutrons); grounding and shielding systems for ultra low noise requirements; engineering software, data stream collection, data stream analysis and controls of mechanical and electrical systems including gas powered only systems (no electrical power); and tactically quite systems. These are some of my favorites and this past work directly influences the lives of millions of people every day. I would like to thank the many people I have worked with, my teachers, and mentors for helping make these achievements possible.

Production equipment includes, but not limited to: CAD/CAM/CAE software, cnc mill, cnc diode laser (cutting and engraving), and 3D DFM Printer.

Test equipment includes, but not limited to: USB DSO with programable signal generator, Earthworks M23 instrumentation microphone with calibration sound source, USB audio mixer, IR thermometer and temperature probes.

Serviced items are tested in a stereo system before shipping. New products are tested in the office system.

Office audio system

The office system, picture above.
CEC DA5, Audiophile DAC
CEC TL5 and/or TL2N, cd transport
Parasound HCA2200 or Thrax Audio Ares integrated solid state amplifier
Kleinbeck Engineering Ag (Silver) RCA Cables
Kleinbeck Engineering Ag (Silver) XLR Cables
Kleinbeck Engineering Ag (Silver) Speaker Cables
BW 604 speakers
Furutech e-TP80S Power Distributor/AC Power Filter with power switch +GC-303
Furutech GTX-DR Duplex Pure Copper Receptacle w/Rhodium Plating
Qobuz streaming service
Custom PC music server running Media Center software
Stillpoint Aperture Panels
Fabric covered foam absorption panels