I couldn't agree more! And I even got a special mention. The email newsletter is always a welcome attention to my in box whenever it shows up, whether I'm mentioned or not.

It is indeed a welcome event when I see the newsletter in my inbox.

The newest one mentioned a growing sense of community here, that would bode well for the hobby - I already feel like I've met some cool folks. My wife, who does our budget, wishes y'all would not post so many music recommendations, however!

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My wife, who does our budget, wishes y'all would not post so many music recommendations, however!

Amen to that, Bro Buddha. SWMBO is getting ready to cancel my Amazon one-click privildges if I don't start using some self restraint.

OTOH, she was grooving pretty solid to Stephen's Sufjen Stevens recommendation this evening, so perhaps there's hope.

Wow! I actually talked to a woman about music this evening. Maybe us audiophiles really are cool. Of course, the fact that I'm posting this at 10pm might constitute a counter-argument in itself.

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Wow! I actually talked to a woman about music this evening. Maybe us audiophiles really are cool.

Yes we are. I have just spent 2 pleasant evenings at Raleigh, NC dealer Audio Advice, in the company of several manufacturers, playing music to what must have been 200 audiophile and music lovers. Organized by Musical Fidelity distributor Signal Path's Jim Spainhour as part of his continuing "Music Matters" series of events to spread the word about what high-end audio can do for people, there was good wine, good Italian food, and music. Lots of music.

Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath played some of his incompoarable live recordings in surround, Chris Browder of B&W and Dave Nauber of Classe played some of their favorite recordings on 802D speakers and a Classe DVD player; Walter from Mark Levinson put together a system based on the Harman company's new electronics and the first pair of Mk.2 Wilson Sophias to leave the factory. Transparent's Karen Sumner provided all the cabling

I played the hi-rez masters of some of my Stereophile recordings on the B&W/Classe system and on Wilson Watt/Puppy 7s driven by a Musical Fidelity kW750 power amp, driving in each case a Musical Fidelity DAC with the S/PDIF output of my PowerBook/MIO2882 rig.

I enjoyed people being able to hear my recordings with the original full 24-bit/88.2kHz resolution, particularly the upcoming Cantus and Robert Silverman albums. But what impressed me was how much fun it was, how much everyone got from listening to music for so long with such high quality. This seems so obvious but it is something that the industry, pursuing the bucks in home theater and custom install, has perhaps lost sight of.

Thanks Jim for inviting me and thanks Leon and Gregg and everyone at Audio Advice for hosting such a stimulating event. Let's do it again.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

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Quote:
Wow! I actually talked to a woman about music this evening. Maybe us audiophiles really are cool.

Yes we are. I have just spent 2 pleasant evenings at Raleigh, NC dealer Audio Advice, in the company of several manufacturers, playing music to what must have been 200 audiophile and music lovers. Organized by Musical Fidelity distributor Signal Path's Jim Spainhour as part of his continuing "Music Matters" series of events to spread the word about what high-end audio can do for people, there was good wine, good Italian food, and music. Lots of music.

Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath played some of his incompoarable live recordings in surround, Chris Browder of B&W and Dave Nauber of Classe played some of their favorite recordings on 802D speakers and a Classe DVD player; Walter from Mark Levinson put together a system based on the Harman company's new electronics and the first pair of Mk.2 Wilson Sophias to leave the factory. Transparent's Karen Sumner provided all the cabling

I played the hi-rez masters of some of my Stereophile recordings on the B&W/Classe system and on Wilson Watt/Puppy 7s driven by a Musical Fidelity kW750 power amp, driving in each case a Musical Fidelity DAC with the S/PDIF output of my PowerBook/MIO2882 rig.

I enjoyed people being able to hear my recordings with the original full 24-bit/88.2kHz resolution, particularly the upcoming Cantus and Robert Silverman albums. But what impressed me was how much fun it was, how much everyone got from listening to music for so long with such high quality. This seems so obvious but it is something that the industry, pursuing the bucks in home theater and custom install, has perhaps lost sight of.

Thanks Jim for inviting me and thanks Leon and Gregg and everyone at Audio Advice for hosting such a stimulating event. Let's do it again.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

I wish I had been there. I only hope that: 1. something similar happens someday near where I live at that future time, and 2. someone tells me about it before it happens!

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I wish I had been there. I only hope that: 1. something similar happens someday near where I live at that future time, and 2. someone tells me about it before it happens!

Plus let me add if getting one's name on the "guest list" does not require already owning some sort of megabuck audio or home theater system, then my wife and I will be there!