Meet the Team

With Meet The HARMAN Luxury Team, our goal is for you to get to know us better. In each edition we feature a different member of the team, and this month it's Manuel Caballero, Senior Software Architect, Luxury Audio.

How would you describe what you do in your current role?
Improving the customer experience of our current luxury audio brand products and working with the wider HARMAN team in developing exciting new products.

What did you study in school? Did you always imagine yourself doing something like what you’re doing now, or did the fates just take you in that direction?
At University I studied Electronic Systems Engineering. Working in audio has been a long-term plan of mine but as it’s quite a niche industry, I’ve worked in the video streaming and broadcast fields for most of my career.

Share with us a little bit of your career arc?
My career has been in the broadcast and streaming industry, the high point of which would have been heading up the living room devices group at Amazon (which really is a place like no other). Since then, I have somewhat changed direction to align more closely with my passion for audio.

What is the most important thing you have learned over your career?
Never stop learning, be inquisitive. Always have a Plan B.

Any other advice you would offer people just starting out in this industry?
Do it because you love it, not for the money. There are easier ways to get rich.

What are you most proud of in your life?
First and foremost, my family. In terms of personal achievements, independently developing the Waldorf Kyra music synthesizer was a personal achievement I had wanted to do for many years.

When did you first realize you had a passion for music or audio? Was there any one song, band or movie that did it for you?
My “ear opener” music for me would be Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene and John Williams’ soundtrack for Star Wars – A New Hope back in 1977, which was my first experience in multichannel audio. Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the Worlds also gets honorable mention.

What kind of gear are you rocking at home these days?
As I’m relatively new to HARMAN, I’ve just had an Arcam AVR30 arrive and a pair of Revel 226Be speakers, but I’m really excited to add more speakers for a full multi-channel experience.

What current technology impresses you the most?
EVs like the Tesla.

What's your favorite music genre?
Pretty much anything really except manufactured pop and country & western. If I had to pick something it’d be in the rock to melodic metal genre range, but I also listen to a lot of jazz, electronic and AOR.

The desert island question, of course. If you were marooned for eternity and could listen to only three albums, what would they be?
R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Massive Attack – Mezzanine
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

You have the floor. In closing, tell us anything else you want us to know about yourself.
It’s just week two - I’m looking forward to getting started and making a difference!