Meet the Team

Founder & CEO, ecoustics.com. Brian single-handedly launched this website using raw HTML code and some rudimentary perl scripts back in 1999. Over 25 years later, Brian continues to run daily operations, code when needed, and manage a growing team of expert writers and podcast/video producers. When he's not writing or hosting a podcast you might catch him on a tennis court.

Editor in-Chief Ian D. White has been covering consumer audio, home theater, and A/V since 1998, which means he has spent nearly three decades watching perfectly sensible products slowly evolve into more expensive versions of themselves with extra steps. He pays attention to what works, what does not, and what exists mainly to justify the price increase. His work has appeared in eCoustics, The New York Times, Gear Patrol, Digital Trends, JAZZIZ, Big Picture Big Sound, SoundStage, Enjoy the Music, and The Jerusalem Post, covering everything from high-end audio, home theater, movies, music, and really bad engineering decisions. He’s a certified ISF calibrator, a former Lead Copywriter, and a veteran of the quieter corners of threat engineering and cybersecurity, where nothing works without approval and someone is always asking about the TPS report. Academically, he holds a degree in Near Eastern Affairs with minors in Judaic Studies and Forensic Science. His worldview is shaped by history rather than theory: grandson of Holocaust survivors, descendant of Irgun founders, and named after an IDF tank commander killed during the Yom Kippur War. Born in Toronto, his upbringing ricocheted between Washington D.C., Chicago, Rockville, Northern Israel, Arkham Asylum, and a few other formative environments best discussed off the record, before settling in New Jersey, Texas, South Florida—because chaos, like mold, thrives in humidity and traffic. He was conceived at a drive-in movie (yes, really) and has since watched more than 5,731 films across eight countries, though he will still go to his grave insisting he waited only seven days, not eight, to see The Phantom Menace. When he’s not writing, Ian collects vintage film posters, books, and an unreasonable amount of Star Wars, Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals memorabilia. He’s a professional-grade foodie and former pizza maker whose loyalties lie with dim sum, biltong, curry, pizza, deli sandwiches, pho, and Korean BBQ. Weekends involve parenting, Shul, record digging, scribbling notes in his Hemingway-inspired shawl cardigan, rewatching movies he’s already memorized, firing slapshots at the garage door like it’s Game 7, and casting into the Atlantic Gulf Stream in search of dinner, clarity, and whatever’s left of his moral compass.

Robert has been covering home entertainment and home theater since 1998 for various online websites including Dishinfo.com, About.com, Lifewire, Enclave Audio, and has made appearances on the YouTube series Home Theater Geeks. He received a Technical TV Production/Studio certificate from the San Diego County Regional Occupational Program and is a graduate of San Diego State University, with a degree in Psychology. You wouldn't think a Psychology degree would relate to home electronics/entertainment, but it provided a good foundation for a successful career in studio production work, consumer electronics retail sales, and, as a reporter on home theater tech and trends.

Will Jennings has been known as Wiljen the "Audiofool" for years in audio circles. He grew up as a musician and a lover of music. He started out saving his summer job money for concert tickets, and his first 2-channel system. While others were purchasing cars for their 16th birthday, he was buying Denon turntables. Early on in his audio journey he inherited a Dynaco ST-70, and his love of tube amps began. Will has a voracious curiosity and a need to understand what makes things tick; his reviews focus on the technical side of products and how well they perform. When children, a mortgage, and other expenses came along, his focus moved to headphones where he could get great fidelity and still meet his other obligations financially. For the past 6 years, he has been reviewing headphones, amplifiers, and other headphone-related products. Will enjoys live music as much as possible with an intense love of blues-rock, blues, and classical. Will also loves time with family hiking and camping in the woods.

Chris Boylan fell in love with music at an early age and discovered the joys and obsessions of hi-fi audio shortly thereafter. At age 6, he was convinced that his sister's plastic battery-operated portable record player was the best music reproduction system on the planet. At age 6 1/2, he began experimenting with an acoustic isolation platform made entirely of Silly Putty to tweak the sound. Around this time, he also discovered drums, much to his parents' dismay. His passion for music and film naturally led him to the wonders of "home theater," which in the early 80s meant a HiFi VCR, a huge 25 inch TV, a receiver, 4 speakers, and an outboard Dolby Surround Sound decoder. His screen has gotten a bit bigger since then, as has his audio system. Chris is ISF certified, has moderated discussion panels at CES and served on the CEA Session Advisory Committee. He has written about audio, video and other technology since 1993 in the virtual pages of Enjoy The Music, Big Picture Big Sound, CleanTechnica and now eCoustics.

Mark Smotroff is a freelance writer and avid music enthusiast who has worked for decades in marketing communications supporting entertainment technology companies. Clients have ranged from DTS, Sega, Acclaim Entertainment, 3DO, Sony, Sharp and AT&T to recent work with the Sacramento Ballet. In addition to AnalogPlanet.com and AudiophileReview.com, Mark has written for Sound+Vision, EQ, Mix, Goldmine/DISCoveries, BigPictureBigSound.com, HomeTheaterReview.com, Cineluxe.com, and many others. A deep music collector and active vinyl "crate digger," Mark owns recordings dating back as far as the dawn of the 20th century. His turntable array includes a hand-cranked, all-acoustic 1921 Victrola (which he restored).  Mark considers himself something of an “everyman audiophile” and his nice sounding — apartment-appropriate, intentionally modest — 7.1 surround sound home theater system has recently been upgraded to support Dolby Atmos. Mark is also a musician / composer whose songs have been used in TV shows such as Smallville and Men In Trees as well as films and documentaries. Mark's most recent original music project is a soft-launched concept album / rock opera which he is updating for eventual re-launch dialthemusical.com.

Positive sonic messaging is at the core of how Mitch produces all things audio. Broadcasting, creating, installing, learning, recording, and experiencing sound is all within his groove. Mitch and the All-Vinyl Black Circle Radio team have been transmitting nothing but vinyl over the airwaves since 2009. He sends his love to his wife Debra "DJ Crinkle", his two sons, and his musical/spiritual advisor Arc of All.

James, like many of us, got into the world of audio when his existing equipment decided to bite the dust. Queue countless hours of research on driver types and frequency response graphs, James has now combined his love for the written word with his even greater love of headphones. He would be into speakers as well, but living in an apartment prevents him from exploring yet another rabbit hole. After spending too much money on too many headphones, James is excited to share his knowledge as part of the Ecoustics team. James also works as a motorsport journalist, specialising in Formula 1, and operates a forklift to fund his audiophile habits.

Eric Pye is, in the words of his Instagram profile, “just some guy spinning records in his basement.” And what a basement! Real wood panelling, avocado shag carpet, and décor fitting of a growing vintage audio and vinyl collection. A nomad most of his life with international stints including South Africa, Japan, and the UK, he’s happy now to be laying down roots, making a home, and creating a little bit of musical heaven, shared daily at @AudioLoveYYC. In 2016 he began down the slippery slope of vintage audio, and two years later rediscovered vinyl (after a quarter century digital-only). He loves all things Jazz and Japanese Jazz, and someday plans on opening his own Jazz Kissa.

Tech writer and the Editor of Resonance Reviews. ✉

Jeremy Sikora is a complete industry outsider who as been collecting, breaking, and at times even fixing vintage hifi gear for several years. Now operating under the Instagram moniker @Budget_Audiophiler he has been detailing his experience from novice on, to share what he learns along the journey. He sees equipment from the 1990’s as “new equipment” and has installed a system in every room that is his music loving wife will allow. When not sourcing, posting, writing about vintage audio, he enjoys snowboarding, windsurfing, hiking, cycling, sailing, JDM vans and any sport his family can do together. Based out of Buffalo, NY he’s a Bills fan and firmly believes ranch dressing anywhere near a chicken wing is blasphemy.

Contributing Editor Chris Chiarella has loved movies since early childhood, but even then could be heard muttering, “If only there was a way to bring the cinema experience home....” Indeed, when the concept of home theater reached the masses, he was the first kid on his block to own a Dolby Surround processor, and he unhesitatingly embraced physical media from VHS to laserdisc to DVD, Blu-ray and now the glories of 4K BD-100s. (Yes, he streams for convenience, but spins for the ultimate in audio/video quality.) Forever a curious student of all aspects of films and filmmaking, he remains particularly fascinated by the intricacies of cinematography and sound design. An ISF graduate who has worked extensively with manufacturers and studios, Chris has written about entertainment and technology since 1992, for outlets such as The Perfect Vision, Video, Home Theater, Popular Science, Big Picture Big Sound, TheaterByte, Films in Review and Sound & Vision, and is thrilled to be joining the team at eCoustics.

Al Griffin has nearly three decades of AV journalism experience, and was previously a senior editor at TechRadar and editor in chief of Sound & Vision magazine. He has also contributed to a wide range of print and online outlets including Wirecutter, ProjectorCentral, The SoundStage! Network, and Popular Science. An ISF-trained video calibrator, Al specializes in TV and projector testing and has also written countless audio equipment reviews. As an avowed movie fanatic, he spends most nights holed up in his home theater, and is also an avid cyclist.

Jake Cheriff is an audio engineer, musician, and music producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Since graduating from NYU in 2016 with a degree in Music Technology, Jake has been active as an engineer both in the studio and on tour as FOH engineer. Jake is best known for his studio work with Paper Moon Records, and live session work with Paper Moon Sessions, Sofar Sounds NYC, and The Wild Honey Pie. In 2020, Jake began writing audio product reviews for publications like Debugger and Headphones.com and is excited to be joining the Ecoustics team!

At 4 years old, when Ealan was captivated by the solo violin motif in the animated classic An American Tale, he knew he was…different. Growing up in a musical family, the tunes of Beethoven, Itzhak Perlman, Buddy Holly, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Beatles would definitely always be a staple in his life. But after listening to film scores religiously throughout middle school and high school, Ealan took a crack at breaking into the Hollywood film scoring biz when living in L.A. circa 2010…only to come up short. Fast forward to COVID, Ealan got serious about YouTube after being laid off from his job as a marketing specialist at a local real estate firm. Music, audio and movies were his passion, so he focused on that, now amassing more than 40,000 subscribers and growing! Ealan now uses his filmmaking, audio engineering, music-writing and video editing skills to grow the eCoustics brand across all social media platforms, one wacky reel at a time!

John Sciacca was working as a golf professional in Northern California in 1994 when he first encountered a home theater system; a relatively inexpensive JBL Movies & Music system coupled with a Sony LaserDisc player and the movie Speed. Following that movie, John knew he had to assemble a surround system of his own, which led him down a rabbit hole of study and research, and eventually convinced him that he wanted to become a custom installer. A search on CEDIA’s Website led John to move cross-country to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where he joined Custom Theater and Audio in 1998, where he continues working. Since the early 2000s, John has contributed blogs, reviews, features, and how-to’s for numerous publications, including Sound & Vision, Residential Systems, Digital Trends, and Men's Health. John is still passionate about home theater, and his system currently includes a Trinnov Altitude 9.3.6 system, a Sony laser projector, and Kaleidescape movie player. John is ISF and THX certified, a certified Home Technology Association professional, and an avid pickleball fanatic.

Ryan Waniata is a writer, editor, podcaster, video host, and consultant with well over a decade of experience in tech publishing. You can find his byline at sites like WIRED, Business Insider, USA Today, Digital Trends, Review Geek, and others. He’s evaluated everything from TVs and soundbars to smart gadgets and wearables, with a sharp focus on A/V gear. He has a bachelor’s in music technology and composition from the University of Montana and an audio engineering certificate from CRAS. When he’s not reviewing the latest gear, you’ll find him playing music, eBiking, or exploring the breweries, restaurants, and forests of the Pacific Northwest with equal fervor.