Listening to music is a lifelong passion of Mike’s. It started with his Mom when he was just a kid, she always had music playing morning till night in the house or in the car. At age 8 he swept the floor’s and emptied the garbage at the local music store to earn enough to buy his first hifi system, a early stereo setup with detachable fold out speakers. His mom realized how much he enjoyed listening to music, so on his fourteenth birthday she bought him a Lafayette integrated amplifier and tuner with separate speakers. Over the years he developed an affinity for panel speakers and owned several from Magnapan, Acoustat, Sound Labs and Martin Logan. He would pair these speakers with various amplifiers including Krell, Levinson and Counterpoint trying to get it right. Then in 1989, while working a full-time job, Mike began helping out part time at Audio Classics until Steve mentioned he was looking for full time help in sales & shipping. From this point his hobby turned into a job and still is his hobby to this day. In addition to sales, Mike specializes in physical detailing and mechanical functions of pre-owned equipment. He also evaluates new audio products as they are introduced and performs critical listening trials to pair components that work well together. There is always music playing somewhere in his house from one of his McIntosh systems, this must run in the family.
A word from Simon:
Where did this hobby all come about? It all started when a family friend was in the transition of moving to a new place and needed a temporary place to store his so called “STEREO”. That was the moment, the trigger to this hobby was the sight of a pair of Magneplanars. It was my first encounter into high fidelity. I couldn’t believe how real George Michael sounded singing Careless Whispers. Those were the days! Through the years I’ve tested and played with my share of audio equipment from high powered amps, tube preamps, monitors, and floor standing speakers … but as satisfying as it is, the best part of this hobby is being part of the GTAA Club and sharing this hobby with unique individuals with the same interest.
My minimalist system
300B Integrated Amplifier (Custom)
EL84 Integrated Amplifer (Custom)
Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 Transport
Sonic Frontiers SFD-2MK2 DAC
ADL Stratos DAC Headphone Amplifier
HiFi Man HE6 & Grado PS-1000e Headphones
Mundorf/Accuton 30 Anniversary MA30 Monitor Speakers
Cables by Furutech, Zavfino 1877Phono, Audio Sensibility