Michel Reverchon is the Chief Executive Officer of Goldmund International – the company that has pushed the boundaries of high-end luxury audio to a new level with the introduction of the iconic Reference turntable, Epilogue speaker range and the Telos power amplifiers. Michel Reverchon combines his extensive business prowess with his undeniable love of high-quality audio – resulting in a market-leading company that is not only truly innovative but one that has a clearly mapped direction and strategy.
About Goldmund International.
Goldmund has been pushing the boundaries of high-end luxury audio and video equipment for over 30 years. During this time, the company has been on a continuous search for the most accurate reproduction of sound and image that its customers expect.
Goldmund audio and video products are developed with the most advanced technologies and involve patient and meticulous work with a research and development cycle often lasting up to 5 years.
More simply for those readers that do not have technical knowledge of audio products: ‘The sound produced by Goldmund systems is now the most accurate and lifelike ever produced by any audio manufacturer worldwide.’
Monaco-based Goldmund has never followed existing audiophile trends and refused to use technologies that they felt had not proved their superiority, preferring to develop their own.
Interview with Mr Michel Reverchon, CEO of Goldmund International
Luxurious Magazine: Mr Reverchon, thank you for agreeing to a Luxurious Magazine Interview; we want to start by talking about the early days of Goldmund. We know that Goldmund was originally started by two young French Architects. Tell us how you became involved with the company
MR: I became involved from the early beginning to help the two founders sell in the USA. I was an IBM marketing manager and was travelling to the USA regularly. When we had too much success there, I purchased the company in March 1980
LM: At what stage in the company’s development did you start to believe that Goldmund could become an internationally renowned brand, and was there any particular ‘Eureka’ moment that would have triggered these thoughts?
MR: After buying the company, I decided to make Goldmund a real Audio manufacturer business and launched a strategic plan to develop speakers and electronics.
Our first products appeared in 1982.
LM: Would you class yourself as a Businessman first or an Audiophile?
MR: By taste, I was an audiophile, but my profession was to be a businessman. That is a mix rarely encountered in this industry, which may explain our unique success.
LM: Leading on from the previous question, did you have a passion for A/V prior to joining Goldmund, or was it something that grew from working within the industry?
MR: I was born and educated in a family of Musicians, and my interest in Audio started very early. Being an electronic engineer made it easier, and I built my own components as soon as I could.
LM: As the CEO of Goldmund – What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
MR: The visit to an important customer’s house (often a celebrity) to share their emotional experience when watching or listening to their system. Unique!
LM: For the less technical among us – What are the key features that separate Goldmund Products from other high-end luxury A/V brands?
MR: The first difference, as already noted, is that our company is a real business, managed as a large business company, thanks to my training with IBM. The second difference came from an early affection for luxury, which pushed us to develop very sophisticated products and manufacture them in Switzerland to benefit from the local passion for precision and quality.
LM: Of all the superb products and developments that Goldmund have created over the past 30 years, which one has brought you the most pride and why?
MR: It has been a very continuous process, each new product bringing serious progress both as a technological challenge and luxury finish. In such professional development, there is rarely a place for exception.
LM: We understand that the R&D Cycle for a new Goldmund Product is up to 5 years; during this cycle, are new technological breakthroughs during this time a benefit or a hindrance?
MR: If there is a technological breakthrough, we are usually the company that’s bringing it.
The only exception is probably the various disk formats that Japanese manufacturers have brought on the market, to the detriment of collectors and mostly before they were really ready, giving us a lot of work to correct them. This has been the real only perturbation in our technological progress
LM: Without giving too much away, What’s in the pipeline from Goldmund?
MR: We entered the acoustic correction of a room in our R&D program in 2001. Today it drives half of our R&D engineers.
LM: The readers of Luxurious Magazine are keen to find out about the very best things in life; tell them why Goldmund Products should be an integral part of their luxurious collection.
MR: For people enjoying perfection in both technology and in manufacturing quality, very few companies can provide a complete solution as we can, and none can provide as much assistance and competence in dealing with the top customers. In addition, our spectacular business success is a guarantee of long years of future support.
LM: In what ways is the quality of audio equipment beneficial to one’s entertainment experience?
MR: There are now plenty of people, and I am one of them, who cannot simply suffer the kind of poor sound quality of anything surrounding us, from Movie Theaters to home audio systems. I cannot watch TV or a film in a “regular” environment. So it is not only about entertainment quality; it is about being able to stand it.
Thank you for taking part in a Luxurious Interview; we wish you continued success and technological perfection and innovation.
For more information on Goldmund Sound Systems, visit https://goldmund.com/.
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