Why do you charge for your time?

Two reasons:

• Time is everyone’s most valuable resource
• We offer things that others don’t/can’t

Forum vs Retailer vs Specialist

People engage specialists when they need the highest calibre of insight and expertise – just ask our customers. All specialists, however, whether accountant, doctor, lawyer, or Liquid Audio, necessarily charge for their time and expertise.

Liquid Audio is not a retailer offering ‘advice’ about products we sell. The advice and insight we offer aren’t bound by these conflicts of interest, nor limited by a lack of experience or focus on new equipment. I don’t need to advise anyone or sell anything. Our advisory service is a professional service delivered by a specialist with two university qualifications, a lifetime immersed in hi-fi, and over 15 years of experience running this specialist business and publishing articles about hi-fi equipment.

Get the best advice you can find from Mike, and please, stop quoting forum posts as authorities. Only the guys who actually work, live and breathe this stuff really know.

Jon S

Free vs Paid

We receive ongoing advice requests from around the world, often several a day. Each requires time to engage and respond to questions, expertise to analyse equipment, research and calculate technical answers, and provide tailored guidance and solutions. This could be several hours of unpaid work per day if we answered all of them. I already provide this entire half-million-word resource for free. Due to the resources required, we can’t also offer free advisory consultations.

Whilst we are not a free hi-fi helpline, we don’t “charge for advice”, any more than a doctor charges for a diagnosis. We simply charge for the time and resources needed to provide a valued and valuable service. And for those wondering about free advice on the internet, know that specialists are rarely found in public forums.

“Free advice offers accessibility but risks being unspecific, unreliable, or lacking depth, whereas a specialist provides tailored, expert guidance for complex or high-stakes situations … For important decisions, investing in a specialist is often the more effective and safer choice.”

Google AI, October 2025

A Modern Problem

I addressed the problem of entitlement a few years ago in an article that received overwhelming support. It’s incredible to me that anyone imagines they are owed assistance, let alone from a specialist generously contributing to the hi-fi zeitgeist. Some examples:

‘G’ sought assistance with his Sansui amplifier after enjoying my articles. When I suggested he purchase some discussion time, G exploded: “F**k you, I’m not going to pay you.” People like this exist; we choose not to assist them.

‘K’ enjoyed my KD-600 turntable articles and free phone advice and then sought guidance on improving his deck. When advised to purchase a consult, K threatened: ” I know someone in the Australian Tax Office”. K tried it on again, years later, hoping I’d forgotten. Nope 🤣

‘M’ purchased a consultation that yielded game-changing improvements and an Accuphase amplifier purchase, but later demanded more time, claiming that he’d “Paid for 60 minutes but only received 20”. I sent proof of his 30-minute purchase and 50 minutes of received assistance, but never received an apology.

Our Solution

None of my colleagues offers an advisory service, so I know what an important void this service fills. I redesigned our advisory service to offer expert advice and guidance to people who value both the quality of information they receive and the time and resource cost needed to provide it.

The service is tailored to each customer’s needs, and, as a paid service, the value of time is built in, reducing time/energy/goodwill-draining one-way interactions and entitlement and fostering positive, beneficial exchanges with reasonable people. Everyone wins!

“Mike … you, of course, are a gem. We are so lucky to have someone as passionate, intelligent, ethical and hardworking in little ol’ Perth.”

David H