Professional headbanger, authentic music lover, brew mixer, or simply put, the face behind SoundNews.net publication and YouTube channel. I’ve always been fueled by an insatiable desire to learn and understand the inner workings of audio gear, whether it’s a headphone, speaker, amplifier, or DAC sitting on the test bench. There has always been a passion for all things audio, a passion that still burns brightly to this day.
Christian Tanimoto, III, (“CEE TEE” to his friends) grew up in the Bay Area, where he prized audio in every form he could get it, from his Sony Walkman to his father’s turntable system. But it wasn’t until adulthood, during a trip to Japan, that he spotted someone wearing a really nice-looking pair of metal headphones and thought, “Why don’t I have nice headphones?”
Leonid (Leo) Ayzenshtat is an accomplished electrical engineer and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience working for companies like NASA, Lockheed Martin and CACI (Bell Labs). As the Founder and Small Business Owner of Orchard Audio, he has combined his passion for audio technology and engineering expertise to design and commercialize high-quality audio components. Leo holds both a bachelor's and master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT).
Hart Audio Cables was started out of my house in Tyler, Texas out of a frustration I was having in trying to get a hold of some custom cables I wanted for my own home setup. What I was after was either way too expensive, not my style, or just had a lead time that was a real drag. I decided to just bite the bullet and make what I wanted myself. During that process I had a friend bring up the idea of sharing what I was doing and long story short, the HAC webstore went live in the fall of 2019 while I was still working in product development in another industry. Not really knowing at the time if other people would find what I was doing useful themselves, it’s been incredible to see the response we’ve gotten so far. As a hobbyist, what we do here is what I personally want to see in the products I use with my own gear. A thoughtfulness in approach, tastefully done in the looks department, and priced where beginners or long time audiophiles can jump in without issue. Our goal is to make purchasing aftermarket headphone cables straightforward, fast and affordable by offering a modular cable system designed to make your headphone cable as versatile as possible.
I’m originally from Maryland and went to University of Maryland for undergrad. I’ve always been into creating things — whether that’s businesses, random side projects, or just cool ideas with friends. I love basketball, music, traveling, and meeting people who are passionate about what they do. I've worked across startups and private equity, and now I'm at Georgetown getting my MBA. I'm also running the ETA Club here — we throw monthly happy hours and meetups around small business ownership and entrepreneurship through acquisition. Big fan of design, building stuff from scratch, and seeing where ideas can go.
Zeos is an audio reviewer who has existed on Youtube and Reddit for over a decade, amassing over a quarter million subscribers and currently running both a dedicated IEM and general audio review channel. Any and all forms of audio products have come across his desk, and recently he started to participate in creating several collaborations, including Apos' own Magia branded headphone cable and the Eris headphone, also available on Apos. Usually covering audio shows as press, Z has listened to more equipment than most people have access to, and it is his hope to put that knowledge to good use in the future.
Crackle finish periwinkle amplifier, anyone? Or maybe knobs that only reveal control markings when you touch the amplifier? Or how about an amplifier with a built-in mini-projector? Or how about….okay, I will stop, but these are the kind of random ideas I throw out with my Apos colleagues. All ideas are accepted with grace, riffed on, built up with the experience and enthusiasm of the team. It is a lovely experience.