Roots of the Ride: Soul, Shipwrecks, and True North
And if we’re talking about soul — I can’t go further without tipping my hat to the fire that started it all. Before any of this, I was part of the HeadRoom family — the headphone and amp crew out of Bozeman during the golden age, before it sold. Their mission was simple: put world-class sound right between your ears. That crew? They were the real deal. Led by Tyll Hertsens, the godfather of audiophiles and a true visionary. Tip of the sword. What Tyll said became gospel for the industry. Those lessons landed in the ears and minds of thousands — and that’s where I learned my craft. I still carry that work ethic. I still carry that standard.
It was about soul. About doing it right. Picture HeadRoom as a bold, battle-ready ship cutting through the wild sea of electronics. But the waters got rough, the currents shifted, and the ship started to weaken. While some headed for calmer seas, I set for land on my cable raft, following my own compass, spotting the lighthouse, and building a shop away from the big fish.
We also lost our Seatronics Captain, Tyll, in the storm — and no one after him seemed to know how to read the map. Tyll was the wheel. Without him, the ship drifted, and those left at the rudder just couldn’t steer the course like he did. He went on to chart new waters in the sea of InnerFidelity as Editor-in-Chief, keeping his hand on the helm, navigating the headphone world a while longer.
The rest? Well, they jumped ship somewhere along the way. RIP HeadRoom — the sails dropped, but I miss those days, and I miss the hell out of y’all. I mean it.