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My family always spelled music with a capital ‘M’. I wasn't too keen about that at first. Mom forced me systemically through the entire assortment of recorders and I can honestly say that I’ve had ‘em all – the soprano, alto, tenor, bass and finally the sopranino and thus deadliest of the lot. Granny then pointed me at the piano which I practiced with real passion. Later I added church organ, percussion and guitar. After a few detours into engineering, ambition piqued upon learning of the School of Audio Engineering and their soundmaster course. Here I acquired—no kidding, this was a costly endeavor—the coveted diploma in 1995 to earn my first can of beans as a mix down engineer for Bit Tonstudio and Musikverlag Berlin. This was followed by a very interesting educational few years with radio broadcast syndicator On Air Syndication for whom I worked as Senior ProTools producer. It was during this period that—Lexicon, Neve, Genelex and Wharfedale be thanks—I began lusting after good sound. The hifi virus had made contact.
 

My first serious setup was what today would go by vintage - a used Luxman integrated with an equally ancient Thorens turntable. With fatter budgets brands like NAD, Sansui, Nakamichi and Harman/kardon worked their way through my digs only to eventually leave again. That's because I eventually concluded that my ideal dream system didn’t exist. Music is a matter of mood. Depending on mood and what music speaks to me, my preferences for the hardware that plays it all back shift. I love to put together secondary and tertiary systems. If I don’t like something, I avoid religious audiophile squabbling. Whoever heals has it right. This evident truth applies to hifi too. Sometimes widebanders and triodes invite me to dissolve into their gigantic soundstages. Other times I need the visceral shove only transistor muscle amps deliver.


Peaceful coexistence of different sonic world views is my goal both for the living room and as fairaudio contributor. My hope is to communicate how a given component strikes me, how it makes me feel and how its sound in the bigger context of musical tastes, listening space and mastering choices. If I manage that, I’ll be content. In my time off I delve into literature, good food, superb cocktails and abuse my recently acquired cajón to my neighbor’s utter and total dismay. My home page is www.jochenreinecke.de...
redaktion @ fairaudio.de

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