Meet Morne Seyffert…
My passion for audio started as a young boy listening to my Dad’s vinyl records on his old Sansui hi-fi way back then. Then time came to get my own hi-fi and I got a Aiwa as a present, and life was good.
But after I hopped into my first car, the bug went over to car audio. My Stepfather did woodwork, so he showed me how to make boxes for speakers — from there I did my own custom installations as well as for my friends. Even won the odd show here and there!
Many years later I started getting into Home Theater and started (as most of us) with a Sony Mgongo from Hifi Corp. Until you realise it’s nothing compared to real kit. So I subscribed to the old AVSA magazine and started to drool over kit guys had posted in it. At that point I was working with my Stepfather in his carpentry company, so I started building my own speakers. Went through quit a few different sets of DIY as well also pre-loved sets I could find for bargains; money did not grow on trees for us!
Eventually things unfortunately reached a point where I could not afford the kit and gear I wanted, so I took a break and focused on our company. I became partner in Carpentry King cc, the company I would in later years come to own.
My love for audio got re-ignited later when i saw a local brand rise up in South Africa, so I got involved again with building and sales. But this did not last long as our paths and focus did not align, so I started my own company called Home Cinema King, where we focus on custom cinema installs and sales. Having a carpentry company and love for home theatre, this comes naturally for me. I also do stereo setups from mild to wild.
I then saw a gap in the local market for a YouTube channel that didn’t really exist in South Africa at that point in time, so I started one under the same name (https://youtube.com/@homecinemaking397?si=zbt1XZiNJ5oSrdJF).
My thinking was that I was getting the products in, in any event, so why not film the unboxing and testing of the products, while also some installations. We are now close to 6000 subscriptions, and while still small, this is the biggest in South Africa. What i wanted to do differently was to show the gear from an enthusiast’s point of view, ignore the specs and rather focus on the sound and how it makes me feel.
So that is me in a nutshell, and I’m juggling these three companies and trying to grow them every day. We recently purchased a new big property to expand all these companies and also introduce another. This will take time and money, so baby steps! But my goal is to have a one stop shop for everything from building to automation and stereo/cinema.
Audio I still see as a hobby, and all the money I make from sales goes back into audio to further my channel and also grow my ‘audio empire’, as I like to call it.
Morne Seyffert
Home Cinema King
082 452-3630
morne@homecinemaking.co.za
As an added bonus, AV News is going to post a select number of Morne’s YouTube videos right here – and here’s the first. Enjoy!
