Please Make Audiogon Cool

I had a boss once who was so ugly, he passed out business cards at bars offering his friendship and walks on the beach. We found a stash of them during an office clear out in an enormous box of french letters. 

Todays daily post WOW!!!

I like high-end audio. Have since the 70s. I wish it was perceived as cool, but it just isn't. Every single person I have ever discussed this hobby with considers it odd to sit still, with eyes closed, listening to recorded music without talking or DOING SOMETHING! It simply is too technical, too meticulous, too anal-retentive, too obsessive-compulsive, too mathematical, too physics-centric, too electrical-engineerish, too expensive, too opinionated, too damn boring! I'm sure there's others, but I can't think of any more right now. 
What it is, is the antithesis of "cool". It's serious stuff, it's meaningful, it has depth and breadth, it requires commitment, determination and dedication. 
It's not for the casual person tripping through life day to day lacking focus and planning. It's for serious people who make plans and then see them through to fruition.
It's a wonderful hobby, but I don't know anyone who thinks it's "cool".
I wish it was.

I have the good fortune to work with a number of young people. They DO think audio is cool. I have a tube setup at my office and they are intrigued and interested. Play them some of their music and they will instantly smile. In fact, a young professional I work with told me last week that she would be buying a turntable. I asked her if she had any vinyl and she said not yet.

Here’s what they don’t think is cool: things that are radically expensive without justification and people who take themselves OR their gear too seriously. The shrines and rituals are what tend to fade over time in all parts of the human experience. If you make the act of listening to music a solemn, non-interactive experience in solitude while placing an almost religious fervor to its reproduction then the community has no right to whine that it just isn’t catching on. Keep doing the same old things and expect different outcomes? 
I was talking with a ham radio Nazi and he didn’t see the cell phone as a logical extention.....

I was talking with a ham radio Nazi and he didn’t see the cell phone as a logical extention.....

When I'm in an extreme analog and tube moment, I feel the same about DSP reissues and streaming.