W h o W e A r e

We design and install high end audio and audio/video systems, home theaters and whole house music systems that are tailored to each client's individual predilections. We can help you update your pre-existing system, as well as improve your room acoustics or design an entirely new room for your music system or home theater. With a tradition of personalized attention spanning more than 30 years, we think that you will be thrilled by what we can do for you! If you would like to have us assist you in designing or updating a system or room, you're invited to call us at 781-893-9000 to explore the possibilities.
Alan Goodwin | Owner / System Designer
In his earliest years Alan Goodwin was surrounded by music. His parents played classical and folk music on their mono audio system and his mother played classical piano with an emphasis on Bach. At the age of 5 Alan started taking piano lessons. Since then he has also played bass viol, bass guitar, acoustical guitar, and MIDI keyboards. After 3 years of apprenticeship in high end audio, Alan Goodwin founded Goodwin's in 1977 at 33 Newbury Street in Boston. The plan was to sell high end audio systems by appointment (upper right). By doing what he believed in and by treating his clients the way that he would wish to be treated if he were a client, the business naturally grew. And each year his loyal clientele expanded. Within a year of opening, Alan invested in a state-of-the-art recording system and made a series of on-location recordings at venues including Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Paine Hall, Brown Hall, and Emmanuel Church. It was a tremendous learning experience: there is nothing like making a live master tape and then bringing it back to the showroom and playing it over the finest playback system then extant to learn about music reproduction. The Newbury Street location was succeeded eventually by locations in Cambridge and in Brookline over the years. But according to outside observers, the current Goodwin's High End location in Waltham, which Alan custom-designed in 1995, is the finest technical facility in New England for the demonstration of high end audio and home cinema. Other than listening to music which has been a lifelong passion, Alan enjoys skiing, hiking, yoga and gyro (Gyrotonic & Gyrokinesis). He also indulges in other pursuits such as cooking, reading and photography. For those interested, here are some tips on where to find high quality cooking ingredients and kitchen utensils. For those curious here are a few photographs for your viewing pleasure.
Malcom Becker | System Designer
It's common knowledge that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Well...not always.A misspent youth building various preamp, amplifier and short wave radio kits led to a degree from Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute in, unexpectedly, biochemistry. This was followed by a brief tenure in research labs but audio retail seemed like it would be a bit more...human. Over 40 years later, it was clearly the right choice.
Co-owning a high end store and then a custom installation firm (in the days that it was a nascent industry), has given him a a foundation in the business side of audio retail. More importantly, music has always been the driving force behind Malcom's relationships with his clients. Assisting in the choice of the appropriate hardware is how he brings people closer to the music that they love.Another 40 years doesn't seem in the cards but as long as he can bring the joy of music to people, he will.
Michael Rice | System Designer
Joining us from Central Ohio, Michael Rice has spent most of his childhood, adolescent and adult life involved in some aspect of music- whether it be listening, performing, programming analog and digital synthesizers to composing music and writing concert reviews.
“My parents were always listening to music, my mother playing the piano weekend mornings and going with my parents to concerts when they thought their single-digit aged kid could make it through the performance. While many of the early concerts were at Columbus’s historic Ohio Theater, my first rock concert was around when I was 8.”
While Michael is new to Goodwin’s, he worked for many years at the large Midwest store Progressive Audio representing many of the brands found at Goodwin’s. Later, he worked at Thiel Audio and had the experience of seeing the evolution of product design, development and manufacturing.
“I came to Goodwin’s to further my understanding of the leading edge of the art and to be associated with the finest components and companies available, regardless of price. Fortunately, I’m surrounded by friendly, helpful and knowledgeable people and a facility that promotes the ultimate High-End experience.”
Dana Ente | Senior Technician
From an early age, Dana Ente has had a connection to the consumer electronics industry. He got his start at his father's Brighton TV repair shop. He spent time learning how to repair TVs and radios, as well as installing antennae and sound systems. This was followed by two decades of experience in the car audio business, including installation and management positions at several retail specialty stores. Experience in residential and commercial alarm installation taught Dana not only construction techniques but also instilled the patience and attention to detail to successfully install complex wiring schemes and properly integrate equipment into any environment.
A former motorcycle hill-climb racer, Dana enjoys spending time with his family while camping, practicing cross-country and alpine skiing, biking and especially fishing. When not picking rocks up around the yard he can usually be found canoeing around a nearby pond with his dog Kate.
Jim Fuller | Turntable specialist / Senior Technician
Jim is in charge of all in-house technical repairs as well as being expert in turntable set-up. In addition he attends to certain on-site system setups and has traveled for Goodwin’s to such places as New York City, San Francisco and Switzerland in order to do so.
Jim's Grandfather crafted clocks and rifle stocks in his spare time and considered technical precision and aesthetic flow inseparable. He insisted that a young, tinkering Jim pay strict attention to detail. At the same time Jim was learning the trumpet and baritone horn and was immersed almost daily for ten years in the sound of live, unamplified music in various concert, marching and jazz bands.
Intrigued with all music and mystified by the hi-fi component specifications advertised in Rolling Stone, Jim applied to the Air Force at sixteen to attend FM radio repair school. His specific goal: to definitively sort out these specifications and to learn which are important and why, because they are so hotly discussed.
Stationed on the central coast of California, Jim's spare time was spent tweaking audio components and attending as many live concerts as possible.
His first civilian technical work began at Charleston’s former Hi-Fi Clinic in 1984, just one day before his first daughter was born. In 1986, he completed an associate’s degree in electronics engineering just before he moved to San Antonio and accepted a technical sales position with the former Bill Case Sound. Moonlighting at the same time for Mark Heaston and Creston Funk of Concert Sound, Jim learned Linn turntable setup. In 1988-89 Jim briefly sold gear at Bjorn's Audio/Video, also in San Antonio, intent on learning new projection home theater philosophies.
In 1991 Jim co-founded Absolute Sound, a West Virginia high end audio/video shop, but eventually surrendered his interest in that enterprise and by 1997 had returned to his alma mater to teach amplifier and AC theory and semiconductor physics. In 2000 Jim earned his FCC class one license.
Jim has built, experimented with, repaired, and modified amplifiers, speakers, disk players and most other audio components for over three decades—specializing in turntables, amplifiers and speakers. At home his primary listening source is vinyl. He says the most rewarding part of his work is enhancing the quality of music for others.
About those hotly debated hi-fi specifications, over the years Jim has unraveled the mystery and distilled four technical specifications that actually provide real, honest insight into any piece of audio gear: they are height, width, depth & weight!
Karla Harrington | Accounting
With many years of experience working with computer-based accounting systems, Karla keeps the back office humming!
It’s simple really. It’s the experience. High End Audio has its roots in the parts and specifications but at a deeper level, it is about how profoundly those parts and specifications transport you to a different place and time.
It's not just about one unexpected experience; it's about an endless series of unexpected experiences. We are fortunate to have a facility that allows us to deliver these experiences. A quality music system is born of a carefully curated selection of exceptional hardware, an in-depth familiarity with the performance of all components and how they interact.
The staff at Goodwin's High End have over 200 years of combined experience configuring systems that evoke the joy of a great musical presentation.
Our greatest satisfaction is when people tell us that the experience with their new system is something they did not think was possible. It really is simple. It is the experience you can have at Goodwin’s High End that can be the catalsyt for transporting you into another world, the world of high end music reproduction in your home.