by Rafe Arnott
If you’ve been to an Audio Note UK show room at one of a hundred audio conventions or trade shows in the last decade or so (think Newport Beach coming up, or the just-finished Munich show, RMAF, or the recent Vancouver Audio Show) chances are David Cope was there too.
He’d be the laid back dude in the Audio Note room with the wavy hair, glasses and black humor in charge of the room and tunes usually.
He’s unassuming, gregarious and fits in with Audio Note’s vibe of gear to connect you with music as opposed to gear for gear’s sake.
When I caught up with him in Vancouver, Don Thorne of Soundhounds was accompanying him and the two managed keep shit loose and fun despite some ‘who’s dick is bigger’ vibes from some other presenters at the show.
But hey, I’m told this is common and I shouldn’t worry about it, and since I wear a size 12 shoe, I didn’t.
After hassling Cope briefly to chat about how he managed to fall into his present gig, he acquiesced and at the end of a long first show day I was able to sit down with him and Thorne over beers and some ‘nosh to discuss Audio Note, its head honcho Peter Qvortrup, hi-fi and Cope’s take on the long and winding road that brought him to a corner table at a hotel in Canada with a wretch like me.
The audio files that follow are edited a bit for brevity, but basically cover a rambling, casual conversation that ensued over the course of a couple hours.
I hope you enjoy them.
- David Cope, His Story
- On Becoming an audiophile
- On Audio Note UK equipment
- On founder Peter Qvortrup
