Dear What’s Best community,
I am absolutely thrilled to announce my start at team Taiko in Oldenzaal today.
After a short engagement at Taiko approximately 4 years ago in the context of a Sabbatical (senior passengers on the Taiko Train might remember), I just could not refuse Emile’s offer to take on a vacant position.
My history with Taiko goes back even further though.
I remember vividly the first public demo of the SGM2015 at a show in Bonn in 2016, where I pestered Edward with questions for my own server built, similar to the CAPS Pipeline that was popular back then. I also remember the international
unveiling event in Munich the same year, where I was lucky to be on the guest list.
Not long after I could call one of the first produced units my own, as Steve would put it “you can’t unring a bell”. Luckily I have kept contact with Emile ever since.
A few words about my background:
I am from Cologne, Germany, in my mid 30s, but an audiophile for over 20 years already. In this time, I have gathered extensive experience at home with many approaches, horns, cones, omnis, dipoles, SETs, PP, Class A, Class AB, Class D, Class T. Luckily (or unluckily?) I don’t seem to have a strong preference for one concept over others, rather I enjoy change and the different perspectives on music it can bring. The only real constants in my system were the SGM2015 and my Extreme I ordered subsequently. Naturally I have put my name down for an Olympus I/O, I intend to use its analog output directly into the battery powered input stage of my ASR Emitter.
Professionally I have an education in finance and engineering, but have worked all my career in IT consulting for the insurance industry across Europe. To be able to combine the things I learned there with my hobby still seems almost too good to be true, I am very much looking forward to this new chapter, working together with Emile, Ed, Christiaan and the whole team in the background.
At Taiko I will take the position of General Manager, giving Emile more freedom so he can focus more on research and development. I certainly will also be more active on WBF going forward, not only since I am celebrating my 10y WBF anniversary soon.
I am very excited to be back on board!
Chris