Growing up in a 100% pop culture, Harry experienced his first organ concert by Bach in the early 1970s. That was on a Hi-Fi system that was fantastic for the time. Since then, beautiful or ugly was no longer an issue for him: from that moment on, he was deeply convinced that all types of music and sound communicate with humans. When you hear music at the right moment you are touched to the depths of the Self. As a result, in the mid-70s Harry was one of the first in the Netherlands to put high-end audio on the map. That development led to the realization of a personal dream in 1988: a High-End specialty store called Rhapsody. Another dream was an own record label with superior recordings: this was realized ten years later with Turtle Records. The knowledge that Harry and Michael thus acquired as sound directors of classical and jazz recordings still has a great influence on the finishing and composition - the "tuning" - of a hi-fi system. For them, this knowledge and experience are of absolute importance to advise customers in the right way.
Michael grew up playing guitars, bass guitar and drums. He is a music freak at heart. Making music has remained his great passion, but finding his "holy grail," or the perfect hi-fi set, is a passion that has joined it. Will this one ever be found? "No idea," says Michael, "but the path to it is fascinating and exciting." That passion for audio and music and thinking along with customer needs and solutions are the pillars by which Harry and Michael run Rhapsody together in their own way. This makes Rhapsody no ordinary store but a meeting place where music and audio lovers feel at home. And where excellent espressos and cappucinnos are always served.
In addition to many Hi-Fi shows and lectures, Rhapsody regularly hosts live concerts on the premises. These concerts are always recorded in high resolution. Subsequently, those recordings are available on CD-R or as high resolution downloads. The recordings are made in cooperation with Frans de Rond and Peter Björnild of Sound Liason.
This bridges the gap between the recording studio and people who enjoy listening to high-end recording. You can attend these unique concerts by subscribing to our newsletter. After the announcement of the concert, registration starts and the first 40 registrants can attend this concert. Similarly, concerts are also organized outside Rhapsody's premises.
The heart of Rhapsody is "tuning": how to put together a set and how to work it out in the client's home. It is often common to use live music as a starting point for this. Unfortunately, almost all live music (classical excluded) is electrically amplified. So what then is the reference, acoustic music? And if acoustic music is used as a starting point, why does Mahler sound completely different in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam than in the Doelen in Rotterdam? And does that involve sitting at the front or back of the hall?
In short: using live music as a reference is difficult. For Michael and Harry, therefore, the microphone feed is the reference. In other words, that which the producer intended during the recording. Because of the knowledge they have gained themselves as sound directors in live recordings and studio work, it is quick for them to analyze what is on the CD, LP or dowload as recorded music. This allows them to correctly inform their clients what is happening in the recording itself. This gives the client a more reliable picture of what he or she is listening to.