RIP: Caute / Michael

Here’s a gofundme for Caute/Michael for funeral expenses.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-michael-manouel-jr-funeral-expenses

I won’t add my own commentary but I will say that it’s public and organized by a family member. I do feel like contributing would let them know that he did have a bigger circle of people in his life than his family/friends might have known

 

Thanks for this. RIP Caute.

 

Thank you for sharing! I hope the love from SBAF reaches the hearts of his family members!

 

Caute flew from Texas to join us for an hour at our August Socal Minimeet. He ended up staying a couple of hours.

 

Oh man. I got to meet him at the Corpus meet. Was a really lovely empathetic guy. Sorry to hear it.

 

I got to know Michael through DMs on this site. I imagine he DMd a lot of people here because he wanted to learn EVERYTHING he could about the hobby. He was also just a social and talkative person.

Since he was local-ish to me I started inviting him to stuff and introduced him around. He wanted to come to one of the Corpus Schiit meets so he came and slept on my couch for a night, we hung out and talked music & gear, and listened late into the night. We drove to the Corpus meet the next day and had a lot of fun. We rented a party house down there and once again stayed up late into the night just hanging out, listening to music and talking. We ate plenty of tacos and just had fun.

Michael was excited about the Abbas sound, thanks to the California SBAFers he met who also took him in and welcomed him like the Texas crew did. He was waiting on Abbas to make him an OTL headphone amp, and was in the middle of upgrading to a higher-end Abbas DAC. He was stoked. I'm sad that he won't be there for future festivities, sad that he'll never hear his new gear he was so stoked about, but saddest for his family who surely are hurting right now.

Michael wasn't here on the site for years like some of us, but he made friends quickly and I think his enthusiasm and friendliness were easy to recognize. I think it says a lot about him that so many of us are bummed by his passing.

 

I talked with Michael often here and on discord. His enthusiasm and sincerity were immediately evident and infectious. He cared deeply for the people in his life, even those of us he never met in person. I found his energy refreshing as he hadn't become as jaded as many of us. I'm grateful to have known him, even for a little bit. Let us all listen with ears as fresh and excited as his.

Rest peacefully my friend, and wherever you are, enjoy the music.

 

Man, sorry to hear this. I thought of him last week as I noticed he hadn't posted in a while. His comments were always interesting and with a sense of humor I could appreciate.

 

RIP Michael. May you find the solace and vibrancy you shared with so many of us here. I'm grateful to have shared even a sliver of time with you.

 

Damn, my heart sank when I saw this. Michael was just so lovely online and this is such shame. Our time on this earth is precious and I will always cherish the memories and friends made in the hobby.

Rest in peace, you will be missed.

 

Hello @caute brother and sister in law here. I just wanted to let you all know that we see all of your wonderful memories and donations. It is such a beautiful thing to see how many lives Mikey touched. Thank you all so much… it means so much to us. I wanted to share this with you guys and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or even to share more wonderful stories, we’d love to hear more. Thank you again ❤️

 

The thing that struck me most about Michael when I met him in Corpus at the meet was how inquisitive he was.... he seem genuinely interested in everything. I've met fake people and I can spot them almost instantly (living in the Hollywood area for 10 years will hone this)... they size you up, assess what they can or can't get from you, and act accordingly from then on. Michael was the polar opposite of this. You got the sense he would give you the shirt off his back if it would help you, with no thought to how it would benefit him in any way. I don't know if he'd literally do that, but his manner suggested it VERY strongly. I cannot overstate how earnest of a guy he was... there was nothing superficial or duplicitous about him.

One thing I do regret is that when the meet was coming to a close I was considering staying in Corpus overnight instead of driving back to Austin that night, and maybe hitting a bar or club or something. Michael offered to be a wingman immediately, but I workshopped the evening in my head before deciding I'd probably end up too tired in the middle of it to be of any use, so I decided to head back.... I wish I could've rolled out with him and gotten to know him better. So I left, and that was the last I saw of him.

I sometimes wonder why the world loses genuine people like Michael and less than ideal personalities are allowed roam around and make the world a shittier place, but I guess that's ultimately something we have to deal with while we're here.

 

I share this incomprehensible fact of life. There are many troubled by the Imp of Perverse as they face their personal challenges, yet they outwardly appear to be dealing with their demons well enough and even enriching the lives of many with their thoughtful contributions. Then to lose someone so valuable while some of those who would desperately benefit from a bolt of lightning remain to create havoc eludes reason. May Michael no longer have to deal with the Imp of Perverse and find comfort in a better, happier place.

 

This is very sad news. @caute I know wherever you are you are blessing others with your kindness and enthusiasm. Thank you for the audio conversations. Rest in peace friend.

 

As someone who's had no personal interaction with him beyond the posts he wrote on this forum, it is still easy to recognize his infectious personality and intrinsic honesty through written word.

To his family that may read this, you all deserve great credit for helping raise that type of young man. Please don't forget that as you grieve.

I am saddened to have not met him despite being part of the Texas SBAF family. It's a reminder that it's the relationships we have that matter. Everything else is just stuff.

 

Thank you all for organizing this - I've made a small donation.

I too only ever interacted with Michael here in the forums, but, he was so active, I was surprised to see he was a relatively new member. As others have said, he was always genuinely inquisitive and endlessly supportive of others. Sometimes, he could come off as a bull through a China shop - I remember him earning a temporary ban at some point (and are you even participating correctly at SBAF if you haven't gotten a warning ban?) - but he was always authentic and in tune with the spirit of the community.

I think it's a reflection on SBAF and all the folks here to hear the stories of generosity and welcoming of Michael, both in person and online. Audiophiles can be dogmatic and insular to the point of being outright mean to one another in other forums. But I don't think Michael ever experienced that here for even a moment.

SBAF was made better having @caute here, and will never be quite the same without him.