In August of 2006, Dan sold his partial ownership in Goodwin's High End back to its founder and President Alan Goodwin. At that time, Dan retired from the high-end audio/video industry. In his more than eight years at the store, Dan helped grow and refine the company into the area's most highly respected audio, video, and custom installation retailer.
With an avid interest in high performance music systems spanning 25 years, Dan rejoined the high-end audio field in 1998. Dan's experience in audio began during his undergraduate years when he worked in a Providence, Rhode Island stereo shop. His experience in building soundrooms, his exposure to the audio industry, and his ability to listen critically fueled an enduring interest in High End audio systems. Over the years Dan has carefully auditioned a great variety of components and has become a sensitive and thoughtful listener. He helped Alan found Goodwin's High End on Cypress Street in Brookline, and then later rejoined Alan in Waltham as a partner and co-owner of the corporation. Dan and Alan have been friends for a long time. During his tenure he served as the store's Business Manager and as a System Designer.
In 2004, Dan was featured on the PBS program Inside This Old House, where he surveyed the available video technologies and gave an overview of audio systems and room acoustics. In 2006, he appeared thrice on This Old House as they renovated the modern Cambridge Project.
In 1997, Dan worked for nine months with a team of
carpenters repairing and restoring his Bauhaus-style
international home. He also remodeled the master bedroom
and bathroom, performing the majority of the work
himself. His experience in framing, finish carpentry, cabinetry, electrical wiring, HVAC,
ceramic tile, flooring, plastering, and
even plumbing facilitated the design and implementation
of complex custom installation.
Prior to joining Goodwin's High End, Dan founded Attain Corporation, which he lead for seven years as President and CEO. Attain Corporation developed and published the award-winning InControl personal and group project planner/organizer.
Before Attain, he was a founder of
Nashoba Systems where he wrote FileMaker, the
award-winning, best-selling database program for the
Apple Macintosh computer. In 1988, he and his partners
sold Nashoba System to the Claris division of Apple
Computer. Today, Claris is known as FileMaker Inc. and FileMaker holds
30% of the PC and 90% of the Macintosh database market. Dan
holds a Sc.B. with honors in Electrical Engineering from
Brown University and is a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, MA.
In recent years, remote control systems have become a vital component of custom installed music and theater systems. Dan has used his extensive background as a professional software engineer and user interface designer to create easy-to-use touchpanel and keypad interface for what can be very complex underlying systems.
When not listening to music or playing with his daughter, Dan enjoys on-road bicycling, in-line skating, skiing, hiking, camping, rock climbing (right), and gardening. His purchase of a sports car has given him the opportunity to improve his driving skills on the track (above). He rationalizes, "My M Coupe is just about the most fun that you can have and still carry two big boxes of Spectral equipment!" In 2005 he became a high-performance driving school instructor with the BMW Car Club of America.