Audiojerry and others,
I don't think this needs to be or probably should be all that formal. In fact, I think informality should be a desired trait. I got started in this hobby almost in the cradle (actually in grade school) in mid-1960's. My next door neighbor was a high school english teacher (female no less)that had an 20-ft tower above her house strickly dedicated to FM. She had all tube Marantz and Mac equipment, Thorens tables, SME etc. In the 1970s she bought a ReVox A700 (~$3k in 1975 dollars), ReVox B77 II, among other major outlays. She still has the A700 to this day. 3 doors down from her was a electrical engineer who built his son a radio station equiped with Logan Turntables with a variety of tone arms. The dad had all Mac tube gear. What I remember from those days was that all these people just enjoyed the music. No one knew what the heck they had but they sure did enjoy the music over wine, cheese and conversation.
It makes sick to see people think this hobby is about my views are more valid than your views. Music is a sensory connection to the soul. How that is defined is unique to every person. What elements of the musical presentation makes that happen is no less person specific than their individual tastes in what makes the right about of ground pepper on their salad. You would no more say "You are crazy if you like that salad. I say it does not taste good. There believe me because I said it forceably or repeated with others I intimidated into agreeing with me?".
There are plenty of minor hurdles in getting an audio club together including privacy concerns, dealing with egos, etc. So maybe we could start this as an embryo project. A few people meeting with each other over a beer or coffee in a convenient place nearby their homes. This way we can judge if we want the other person roaming around in our houses and if we have a person with an agenda.
This could be a very rewarding thing to get started in more ways than one. People that like music appreciate the creative side of the mind and likely have other diverse and interesting perspectives. This could build life long friendships as well as being able to hear a variety of components in a variety of contexts.
Anyway that is my 2 cents.
