Perfection, love of design and technical knowledge

"In the early eighties, a stereo was a status symbol," says Feickert. "Today people prefer to buy a fancy car. Who still sits down and listens to music?" Born in Freiburg, he makes high-tech products for people who don't just see music as a cheap consumer good, but who pay a lot to enjoy listening to it.

Feickert manufactures turntablessince 2005. The music lover disliked the imperfection of the devices available at the time. Even today he is still a perfectionist when it comes to sound. The listener should feel the same emotion on the turntable as if he were in the concert hall.

His hands work precisely and without haste. "If you want to be fast, go slow." The record player is created piece by piece. The "Woodpecker" costs almost 4000 euros, the larger models around 10,000 euros. The market for high-end hi-fi systems is shrinking and customers are getting older. "The individual parts of my turntables are all manufactured externally according to my plans. Most of the suppliers come from the region. This is where I assemble and test the devices. I send the finished turntables to dealers and distributors worldwide," says Christian Feickert. He works alone and enjoys the independence of being his own boss. Office work in the morning, construction in the afternoon.

The three turntables from Feickert's range have bird names: "Woodpecker", "Blackbird" and "Firebird". The name of the largest model "Firebird" is a homage to the "Firebird", his favorite Stravinsky work.

The technically sophisticated models differ in the number of drive motorsand are each a further development of the previous model. Developing his own pickup is the next project on Feickert's list. Unfortunately, the development work is often neglected in day-to-day business. During assembly, Feickert doesn't listen to any music, sometimes he even wears earplugs. During development, on the other hand, he has to listen very carefully for two and a half hours. He then presents the results to the dealers and representatives.