Why do you charge for your time?

Two very good reasons:

• Time is our most valuable currency, and we all need to earn a living
• The expertise that drives our services is unique

Forum vs Specialist

People engage specialists when they need the highest calibre of expertise and insight. Our advisory consultations are a paid, professional service delivered by a specialist with two university qualifications, a lifetime immersed in hi-fi and over 15 years of experience running a widely recognised and trusted specialist business.

There’s real credibility here @ Liquid Audio, and our consultations deliver expertise and other benefits that cannot be found elsewhere. The service is designed to counter the ‘gurus‘, misinformation and retail pressure. It’s a unique service that we’re pleased to offer.

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

Because we’ve become so trusted in the hi-fi community, we receive constant requests for advice. Every request requires time to engage with and respond to questions, and expertise to analyse equipment, research and calculate technical answers, and provide robust, tailored guidance and solutions. Due to the number of requests we receive and the time and expertise required to properly address them, we do not offer free advisory consultations.

“So, you charge for advice?”

No, we charge for our time, during which we offer our expertise.

“But I can get free advice on the internet.”

Sure, let’s see what the internet says about that:

“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

The problem of entitlement is something I addressed a few years ago in an article that received overwhelming support. I find it odd that anyone would imagine they are ‘owed’ assistance from anyone, let alone a specialist contributing to the hi-fi zeitgeist for years. 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.” Yes, people like this exist.

‘K’ enjoyed my KD-600 turntable articles, received 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 to steal my time again, years later, hoping I’d forgotten. Nope.

‘M’ purchased a consultation (good) 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” (bad!). I sent proof of his 30-minute purchase and 50 minutes of received assistance, but never received an apology.

None of these people can access our advisory service again, an entirely avoidable outcome.

Our Solution

I designed our paid advisory service to circumvent entitlement and offer expert advice and guidance to people who don’t expect me to work for free. This unique service is tailored to each customer’s needs, and being a paid service, the value of time is explicit. This reduces time/energy/goodwill-draining one-way interactions and fosters positive, beneficial exchanges with reasonable people who value me and my time.

Definitely a win-win!

“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