Successful Launch:
The first ever Wisconsin Audiophile Society (Society) met at the Rathskeller in the Memorial Union,. UW - Madison on Saturday, March 29, 2003. The first meeting lasted about two hours and brought together 8 participants with all but one (Green Bay) coming from Dane County. The group first shared their interests outside of audio equipment to help introduce each other at a personal level. People shared their wide ranging interests that included volunteer community work, dogs, family, and 60s and 70s cars.
Several expressed a desire to get to know the equipment that each had so that feelings about equipment synergy could be discussed at future meetings. Included in this discussion were thoughts about effective tweaks including tuning Dots, vibration dampening devices, sources of tubes, tube rolling experiences, power conditioning, dedicated power lines, and power cords. Many of my earlier thoughts, expressed in the Audiogon Wisconsin Club Thread, on the construction of the society around the idea of friendship, community support of local dealers and repair personal, and sharing of audio perspectives came out. Also the desire of catering to local restaurants/bars, farmers markets, local music scenes, and other local attractions during our meetings in other parts of Wisconsin seemed to ring true for all members. This later point came from the desire not only to help out our fellow Wisconsinites but also to explore the Audiophile lifestyle or for us to learn what exactly that means in its many colors. Whatever that means I am sure it has something to do with connection with the soul.
The Society members spent a good deal of time swapping stories in how all they came to this point in their audiophile lives. Names from the seventies like Dynaco, McIntosh, Advent appeared more than once in members stories of their early years. Of course, I had to break the mold in waxing about my early years in the mid-1960s with thoughts on old Marantx and Mac tube gear driving AR and KLH speakers.
Future Plens: We are tentatively planning on meeting every 2 months and seeing how that works out with everyones schedule. Maybe less often during the winter months when we might spend more time visiting local members homes for local listening sessions. Among the other plans is to have company representatives put on their dog and pony shows for others and us at local dealers. Probably the most ambitious of all the general goals of the society is to spread the word about hi-end audio to our younger people.
Does anyone want to host the next meeting which will occur near the end of May or beginning of June 2003? If so, pass on your thoughts to me and I will get them out to others.
In the meantime, members please continue to send me your current equipment make up, Audiogon Ids, and other thoughts for improving the society. Send to my direct e-mail and not through the Audiogon.com post (here).
Cheers!
