Finally, here's a way I evaluate companies which is just as important as sound quality: level of knowledge about the product they are selling and willingness to learn about how to best integrate it with the rest of the system.
I actually asked the same question to both Doshi and Jonathan: have you had experience with a lower impedance playback head, specifically the ~80mH Photovox?
Nick replied with literally a one-word answer: "No".
Johanthan went out of his way to not only procure the same head but test it and compare it to his benchmark. He prepared Excel and PowerPoint comparisons and we've exchanged at least a dozen emails on the subject. He has even reached out to Metaxas to discuss and share findings. And I have not paid him a single cent!
Whether the component is $10k or $75k, this is the level of commitment I expect, and I simply won't work with anyone who has the ego or lack of knowledge or desire to go the extra mile. That's why I really don't care if the Doshi v4 is the best thing to ever grace an tape machine's output, I won't be entertaining it in my system.
Emile at Taiko has a similar (to Hachidori's) attitude and approach. Emile made a custom rack for my Extreme when I told him I couldn't fit it on my component rack. This, after initially recommending other brands because the Extreme was too large. I can give you similar examples about DarTZeel, Nagra, Trinnov, and probably all the components I have in my system.
This matters because when something goes wrong, you want a vendor who will work with you to find a solution that is best for your system, not point fingers or shrug his shoulders and place blame on the next component in the signal path.
