Reference Tracks: Josh Finkelstein Has Literally Made His Own Speakers

“You can build a really strong system with KLH for $3,000 to $5,000. That’s certainly not nothing, but it’s far more accessible than people expect. Helping people discover that is really the best part of the job.”

Welcome to Reference Tracks, a series from KLH where we talk to people in the music and audio business about what songs, albums and artists they listen to when testing out a stereo or speakers.

For this Reference Tracks update, we spoke to our very own Director of Sales, Josh Finkelstein, whose love of speakers goes back to his time in high school physics when he and some classmates made some for a class project. 

“My best friend and I were obsessed with speakers growing up, we even built them for physics projects in high school,” Finkelstein remembers. “It was really fun to prove what happened to the sound waves if you put in a port or changed parts of the speakers.”

As part of his role at KLH, Finkelstein spends a lot of time with our speakers, showing them off to customers and dealers. You might even say he’s thought harder about what music to play when testing out KLH speakers than just about anyone else at the company. He’s always on the lookout for different songs to showcase the best of KLH’s products around the world.

Here we talk about a drum track that puts you in the seat of the drummer, a great vocal jazz track, and what he loves most about working at KLH.

KLH: Do you remember the first time you heard a great stereo?

Josh: Oh yeah, the moment that stuck was at my friend’s house when he played Dire Straits on a new stereo he was building. I’d heard those songs before, but this was totally different. Sound was coming from places the speakers weren’t. That was the first time I understood what real hi-fi could do. I think it was something off Brothers in Arms, which people still use for demos today.

What do you listen for when you’re testing a system? Doesn’t need to be just for KLH speakers.

I start with music I know really well. I think that’s important. You need a benchmark—like ordering the same dish at different restaurants to compare. I know I like the New York Strip at this restaurant, and I think it’s the best and had it a lot, so I’m going to test the Strip at other places. I keep a running playlist every year with a few go-to tracks for that purpose.

I almost always include a female jazz vocalist. I’m listening for placement and detail, whether the voice is dead center, whether you can hear breathing, etc. One track I use a lot is Melody Gardot’s “If You Love Me.” It builds this wide soundstage with strings, then her voice just appears in the middle. When it’s working right, the speakers should disappear.

When we were together at ProSource in Golden, Colorado, you played a drum track that was crazy to listen to. It felt like sitting behind a drum kit. 

Exactly! That’s actually how it was recorded. The microphones are placed from the drummer’s perspective, not the audience. Drummers pick up on that immediately. It sounds like you’re sitting at the kit.

The track is from Steve Smith, the drummer from Journey. He’s playing with legendary bass player Victor Wooten. We use it to demonstrate bass control. You’ve got quick, punchy drum hits alongside long, sustained bass notes. On some speakers, especially bass-reflex designs, that can get muddy real quick. A good system keeps everything tight and articulate, so you hear both clearly.

We’ll pair that with something like Roberta Flack. There are kick drum hits [on some of her records] that, on less accurate speakers, linger too long and mask smaller details like a triangle or tambourine. A better speaker keeps those details intact.

 

What’s your favorite part of getting to sell KLH speakers as a job? 

I love watching people have that “aha” moment. The same one I had years ago. People think great sound has to cost a fortune. Then they sit down, hear a well-set-up system and realize how immersive it can be. We see it all the time at shows… there might be a $500,000 system down the hall, and then they come into our room and hear something that’s a fraction of the cost but still delivers an amazing experience.

You can build a really strong system with KLH for $3,000 to $5,000. That’s certainly not nothing, but it’s far more accessible than people expect. Helping people discover that is really the best part of the job.