Tom Waters: First thing's first, tell me how Hulgich Audio started…
Nick Hulgich: It all started a long time ago. I was just a kid, aged 10, growing up in Argentina, and tango (of course!) and jazz were played constantly in my house. I was also in my school choir; I was the percussionist. In those days it was very easy to get high-end gear, mostly from Japanese brands. Many of my friends had highend systems, and I had a very nice entry-level Sansui system — cassette deck, turntable and an integrated amplifier. The father of one of my friends had a proper dedicated audiophile room, with a McIntosh integrated amplifier and big Tannoy speakers. When his father was out, we'd sneak into this room to play our music. That was when I discovered what high-end audio was all about. I loved the ceremony of putting on LPs.
His father soon discovered what we were doing and said that he'd better show us how to properly use the turntable before we damaged something! Those experiences stayed with me and I felt that someday I would have my own high-end system.
Feeling that speakers were central to good sound, I started building them. There were lots of decent, inexpensive drivers, so I thought it was something I could afford to do! My first speakers were MDF with no crossover — they weren't good-looking. They were tuned by me by ear — I was always curious about crossover design but it was difficult (and frustrating) to get proper information in those days —
