HA! It is very funny that this should be your first question. I have been getting the "aren’t you kind-of young?" question for all of my professional life. That’s O.K. it doesn’t really bother me anymore. Let me tell you a little bit more about my accomplishments in order to answer your question.

Before starting Pear Cable I worked for four years at a medium sized fuel cell company as the head of Research and Development. While I was working for the fuel cell company, I managed a team of scientists, engineers, and technicians in a laboratory environment. A large percentage of my research went into materials development and into understanding electron and ion movement through those materials. It was during that time that a number of the ideas for the ANJOU interconnects were generated. In addition to my management duties, I also filed four separate patent applications for fuel cell inventions.

Before Pear Cable I was involved in a couple of other high-technology projects. This included the development of an electromagnetically driven high-temperature viscometer that is still being sold today. I was educated as a mechanical engineer and have a Bachelor’s Degree of Science from Tufts University.

Aside from being an audio person, I have a passion for both automobiles and sailing. In fact, when I visited Italy last summer on vacation, my only prerequisite was a visit to the Maserati factory. One of the highlights of the trip was the drive back from Modena to Lucca (where I was staying). Instead of taking the autostrade, I took the mountain road. It was one of the most fantastic drives of my life. Sailing is the other distraction that I have been involved in all of my life. I have sailed across the Atlantic Ocean twice (although not to Italy unfortunately) and I am looking forward to a race to Bermuda this summer.

In general, I consider myself to be a passionate person. I think this is what causes many people to become involved in hi-fi audio. When I first started really listening to music as a teenager, I found myself wanting to be enveloped by the music. At the time, the only way that I could do this was to simply turn the volume up. The best stereo that I had was the one that I installed in my first car. So, for a period of time, I would simply play everything loudly in order to really experience the music.

It wasn’t until college, that I was able to take the money that I had earned from a summer job and start piecing together my first "hi-fi" system. For the first time I began to realize what I was really craving all that time that I had simply been playing music loudly. Reproducing music as accurately as money would allow started to become my passion. This is about the time when I started to get involved in DIY audio. I could not afford the best speakers and cables, so I began to attempt to make them.

My first foray into serious music research came when I did some work with a team for a major manufacturer of pianos and brass instruments. We built a hemi-anechoic chamber for the research and studied the effects of humidity and temperature on pianos as well as the effect of cryogenic treatment of brass instruments. Most people don’t realize how much the environment affects even the best pianos in the world. In any case, we were able to quantify the effects on both the pianos and the brass instruments for the manufacturer. And for the record, cryogenic treatment of a trumpet can affect the sound!

Pear Cable really has its beginnings back when I was experimenting with DIY cables. I spent a lot of hours listening to the effects of different materials and geometries that I was able to produce with a limited budget. I had some really great results, and I was constantly amazed at what a huge difference the cables were making in my budget "hi-fi" system. At the end of the day though, I was never completely satisfied with the results.

While I was working in the fuel cell industry, I came up with some unique ideas for both cable materials and geometries. When you spend your days thinking about electron and ion transfer, you gain a new perspective on things. Eventually, I combined the new ideas from my fuel cell research with my previous experience as a DIYer and was able to develop what came to be known as the ANJOU interconnects.

The first pairs of cables had to, of course, be mocked up by hand. When I was finally satisfied with the sound quality of the cables, the decision was made to proceed to machine made cables for the final product. Unfortunately, the design that was developed was so unique, that we were unable to find a cable manufacturer that could fabricate the cables. This forced us to develop custom designed and built machinery to build the product. When everything was said and done, the final product was incredible.

Unfortunately, I have a fairly cynical view of the cable industry in general. The fact remains, that cables can make a tremendous difference in an audio system. The problem is that too many manufacturers are selling products that do not live up to their claims. It can be extremely difficult for consumers to get an objective test of cables. Listening to cables in an unfamiliar system with a salesman telling you how they sound in a hi-fi shop can leave a false impression of the role that the cables are actually playing.

Cables are all about subtleties. However, these subtleties are precisely what makes sound come to life. The difference between hearing pure harmonic tones and slightly skewed or missing harmonics is night and day. A little goes a long way in hi-fi audio. I am constantly amazed at the impact (good and bad) that cables have on audio systems. Even with a low-end system, the differences are incredible. Having the time to listen to cables in your own system will help the average consumer make a good decision.

Cable pricing can be confusing. At Pear Cable, our prices are based primarily on production and development costs. We use the finest materials available in our cables, which do contribute significantly to the cost. Just like in any other industry we also have developmental costs including engineering and production of prototypes etc. Finally we must include the cost of the machinery to build the cables. We must make estimates as to the number of cables likely to be built using the machinery and amortize the costs. Adjustments in the suggested retail price of our cables based on the perceived performance plays only a very small role at Pear Cable.

I think what is confusing to many people is how rapidly the price of high-fidelity cables goes up. The relatively low production numbers and specialized materials and construction techniques of these cables make the costs go up very quickly. Only the customer can decide if the additional cost is worth it to them. Obviously it is a game of diminishing returns with almost exponential price increases. However, if every last detail in the music is important to the listener, the price can be justified. Again, it is often the final bit of accuracy that makes a system come to life.

I absolutely hate "snake-oil". This is why I tend to be cynical of the cable industry in general. In my mind, there are two types of cable manufacturers; those that begin with engineering and science, and those that do not. Both can (and do) build successful cables, but I believe that those who begin with engineering and science are much more likely to succeed. The reality is that cables do make a difference in your system. It is O.K. if a manufacturer cannot explain why, but it is "snake-oil" if they try to invent reasons that have no basis in reality. What really bothers me, is when I read technical explanations produced by cable manufacturers that are factually incorrect. This puts up a big red flag for me.

We have gone out of our way on our website to try to point out some of the problems with other audio cable designs. While some people do not appreciate this no-nonsense approach, I see it as the right thing to do. I think it is worse to let bad cable manufacturers try to sell "snake-oil" than it is to be vocal about some of the problems with competing cable designs.

We pride ourselves at Pear Cable on being "snake-oil" free.

The hi-fi cables industry is still relatively young. I think there will continue to be advancements in cable design and theory that will hopefully lead to a more objective view of the role of the audio cable in a system. We hope to be part of that process at Pear Cable.