audiojerry@yahoo.com
Brookfield, 53005 (near Milwaukee)
March or April would be more do-able |
Everyone please drop me your e-mails and let me know where you are at (e.g., city) ( I can plot people's city on a jpeg map (I have a GIS practice) and send it out to members), and 2 or 3 saturdays (early afternoons for 1 - 2 hrs meeting) when you can come to Madison for an informal meeting during the months of March and April (this will give us more time to plan and for Winter to get over of this ice and snow thing). I can put together a summary memo and get it out to all. |
I would really like to be involved but I can't make it this Sat. |
I have been looking at the Talon Perregrin X too. Where did you get them?
Saturday the 8th won't work I have commitments until 11:30 and it's a good 2+ hours to Madtown from Green Bay. I hope the meeting takes place though. Next time if I have more warning I will be there. |
Hi Nanderson,
That was a very well thought out post. I hope something can materialize.
Are you located near Madison? I know of several audiogon traders, who also happen to own some great equipment living in the area. Do you know Grant Samuelson or Giulio Tononi?
Grant has written reviews for Soundstage, and Giulio is a researcher (I believe) at UW. Both live in the Madison area and I've visited both. Each had a great system and are very knowlegeable about equipment and music. There is also the University Audio dealership. It might be beneficial to have a dealer participating in the group, even though there is a chance that his agenda may differ from other participants.
Regarding a mission statement, I'd personally like to use a club's influence to attract industry professionals to perhaps demo their products or hold discussions about trends in the high-end. I'd also like to use the club as a means of learning from other members in terms of what works for them in terms of system synergy and music. As a club, we might also be able to get opportunities to audition new products or take advantage of some group purchase discounts. Just some thoughts...
Listening to your system, for example, would be a learning experience by having a chance to listen to the Perregrins in a room with marble floors? I briefly owned the Khorus and sold them to a friend in Brookfield, another potential club member. I had a phone conversation with the designer/builder, and he said he believes break in of the Talons is more in the neighborhood of 1000+ hours. |
Since this first meeting is very informal and probably not worth people traveling 100-miles for without a list of things to discuss. Even then it might be better to share the results of the initial meetings in our respective cities. I just checked the Memorial Union Events Calendar (http://www.union.wisc.edu/events/) and nothing looks too big happening at the union to make it hard to get a parking place in the parking garage (2-hr metered parking) across the street from the Union for the early afternoon on Saturday Feb. 8. Yet I wonder if the thing to do is do a Zip code search for members with our local areas and send them an e-mail and set something up when we have a more viable and diverse audience (say at least 6 would be nice). With only 3 of us or so each in a different city it would seem a little disjoint to do with this without some planning. I, can do a search of zip codes, in my area in Audiogon. Of course, this will only find those members that are selling something but it is probably better than 3 people in State as large as Wisconsin. It might also be good to look at the threads they participated in and see if they are the "ones up-man-ship" or "I know best type" before sending them an invitation. Absent any threads, we could see what there Feedback is as an indication of their character. I opt to hold off for a few weeks till we can get the snowball at least rolling down the hill a bit.
Also, feel free to e-mail me. I am working on a list of things to think about for a "Mission Statement" for such a club. Your thoughts are appreciated.
I just got a great pair of updated, Talon Peregrine Xs with those massive claw stands in yesterday. Man, oh man, could I have used some help just moving them around and getting them setup. They are incredible speakers but have a finish that has a texture like a mirror (essentially no friction at all on the surface and big and heavy for a monitor). You can imagine how fun that was getting them out of their double boxes and carrying them across a ceramic floor.
Not many in the midwest have heard the Talons and this could be a place to showcase the lesser known pieces. I am really struck by their many incredible sonic virtues. I am running them in my 2-channel system with a ARC-LS22 with Infinicap upgrade and YBA 2-alpha HCDT. From what I have read it will take several hundred hours of break in time to do them justice but already I am impressed. |
Audiogon just notified me of this. I may not be available this time around, but I strongly encourage anyone to see and hear lokil957 system. It has got to be one of the best anywhere. |
I gotta work this Sunday but Saturday is free for me. So how about this Saturday, Feb 8, at noon or sometime after that?
Bruce |
How about a date and time. If we get no response to this Nanderson and Nrchy I'll just have you over to my house in Milw. as you 2 seem to be driving all the posts. Lets hear from everyone. |
LOL :) ! Honestly, this is just about setting a tone for the infomality and , hopefully, fun nature of an audio club. The Rathskeller because we won't be kicked out because we are not drinking enough or taking someones table and it is just a conducive atmosphere to letting your hair down. |
Crap, now I have to go out and buy a new wardrobe again. This happens every time I join a new secret society! Are you sure black hooded robes won't be okay? |
How does the Rathskeller on Lake Mendota sound to everyone with sweatshirts/T-shirts (weather dependent) and jeans (aka non-status, warm and fuzzy clothing) the attire for an informal meeting? |
We need someone to set up a time and place. Will somebody please take charge. I would but my people skills aren't very very good. I think we can make this work. there does seem to be enough interest. |
As I have indicated several times, we have several people in Green Bay who are interested. Our ability to attend would be based on the day or time of the meeting. We would like to see this get off the ground though. |
Nanderson,I agree with everything you say. Lets come up with a place to meet and put it out there and see who shows up. I personaly think Madison is a good location for the whole state as it is fairly centraly located. I live in Milw. and would be glad to drive to Madison.
We just need to set a time and place to get together instead of just posting here.
I hope others interested are following this and get involved. Lets get this off the ground. |
I think the ego thing is the single biggest reason NOT to have a audio club. That said, as my thread above points out, it does not have to be. I think you can tell if a person is begging for approval if you have lived long enough. I think, at least, one way to get to this off on a good footing is to meet at a nuetral place. I am in Madison and those that live here know the large number of places we could meet over a beer or coffee. We could all meet and see if there is the right chemistry. I think the equipment should at first take on secondary value until we weed out the children (in mind).
Most of the people I have met on Audiogon are a great bunch of mature people with their feet on the ground and a strong love of music. I am sure this thing will work if we start as friends and not as competitors. Life is too short to deal with idiots or to miss out on hearing great music with fun people in a variety of contexts. I am as much interested in meeting interesting people with a diverse set of interests as I am in hearing interesting equipment. Anyone near Madison feel free to drop me an e-mail. I am usually busy as heck but can make some time for getting this experiment started! |
I've been following this thread off and on for a while. No body seem to know how a club would function. Do we meet in small groups in peoples houses to listen to guys set ups and talk about them. I don't know how long that would last. It's hard dealing with egos and all. Although I'm open to people coming to my house and listening and discusing audio.I've been to a Chicago Audio Society meeting. They rent space in a building a once a month get together. They get alot of people in the audio industry to come and demo their goods. That is alot of work for someone. I don't see that any thing will ever happen in WI untill someone or two say there is a meeting at such and such location. Anyone interested should come and lets figure out what we want. I don't what to put the time and effort into such an under taking but I would sure like to attend meetings set up by someone. |
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. |
I don't know e-mail addresses for the people from Green Bay who are interested. I would certainly let them know if something were in the works though. One of them works Saturday in an AV shop here so availability might be limited. |
I would enjoy participating and get-togethers, but I am not in a position to get involved in any type of formal organization.
I strongly encourage others to check out a new site called
audiocircle.com.
There is lots of lively interactive discussion taking place there, and a lot of get-togethers are initiated from there. In fact, another particpant in that forum from Port Wash. is coming over tomorrow evening to listen to some 801's that I just got and to let me audition his new Shanling. Others would be welcome. |
Greeting to all...
Currently, this is what I have:
FirstName LastName City EmailAddress
Nate Kern Green Bay NathanaelKern@aol.com
John Barlow Milwaukee loki1957@nconnect.net
Jerry Slavata Brookfield audiojerry@yahoo.com
Noel Anderson Madison nanderson@mailbag.com
Bruce Wentler Portage bwentler@merr.com
Nate and John stated that there are several others in their areas that would like to start one up but when I requested their contact info to add to the database, I have not received any. I can understand this for how would they know me from a hole in a wall?
I'm not doing realy anything this weekend if anyone would like to meet? |
I have tried to generate responses from people who have posted on this thread before. It seems people are interested in talking but no one really wants to do anything. If you can put something together I have several people in Green Bay who are interested. Let me know. |
There are plenty of hi-end shops in the Madison and Milwaukee area. Plus the extensive Jazz scene in Madison and the generally openness of Madison, WI helps to foster creativity on many fronts. So I suspect we can get this audio club going ! Another MAD-CITY Audiophile! |
I filled up the gas tank on my motorcycle and I'm ready to travel. Where's the first meeting??? |
I am trying to setup a database of people who would like to see an audio cub for Wisconsin. If pleople who live in Wisconsin and would like to join such a club, please email me your contact info. With info, those who respond, can see how many people are from what city and then choise what city to house the first meeting or maybe have several smaller clubs, each located in the larger cities. |
I know several other people in Green Bay that would be interested and would be willing to travel if anyone ever gets anything together. Give the ball a good kick and lets see what happens. |
I am definitely interested in that idea. Although I maybe an outcast being originally from Chicago I guess I could be the token FIB. I promise I will not wear any Bears jerseys or use Brett Favre's name in vein.
MEby |
DEFINITELY,
Actually, I started this whole idea about a year ago, but I've been neglectful in following through. I'm in Brookfield. I would really like to get the ball rolling again on a loosely knit community network of fellow hobbiests.
There can be many advantages and opportunities for sharing, learning, and getting/offering help to one another. Maybe we can try to stimulate new interest again just by keeping this audiogon thread alive.
C'mon, any other Cheeseheads out there? |
I would be interested, I just moved to Milwaukee from Austin TX and I can not tell you how few high end dealers there are around here. If anyone knows any good high end tube dealers closer than Chicago let me know. |
I've been wondering the same thing! Who wants to assume the responsibility to establish something like a CAS? I love this game and I know there's lots of others around who would like to sit down and argue the merits of their system over yours, maybe by accident someone could learn something worth knowing. Is this all talk or is there real interest?
Who wants to meet in (?) Madison, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Appleton? What would we do? Who would we lie to? When will we do it? Lets get serious!!! Respond on this site and we can get something set up, or email me with your thoughts and we'll see what happens |
I like manly beer and manly audio . |
Ha, You've been spending too much time in the UP, and far too much time at University Audio. Get off the Lienenkugels and Krell, and into some triodes and Hieneken, fer gosh sakes.;)
Happy Listening!
Grant
|
ya hey there ,how about a club in Madison?we could eat cheese, drink brew and listen to my krell martin logan system.ya hey.then maybe a little fishin. |
Samuel, see it *is* a stimulating place. Brats, beer, co-eds and t-shirts. Three of the four fall into the basic food group. Any leads on how to order shirts? They really are quite cool. |
Those T-shirts are still plentiful around campus...but I don't go there for fear of being detained for lascivious staring :o). Especially in summer, wow! |
Spud, I'm surprised at your post since I've found Wisconsin --especially Mad City -- to be a pretty stimulating place. If you start the "Cheesehead Audio Society" maybe you can include some honorary out of state memberships.
Are the "#%&! Em Bucky" t-shirts with Bucky Badger giving the one finger salute still around? Had one years ago and would love to get my hands on another. |
There's a lot of interest in music and audio in Wisconsin, I guess it depends where you live. Madison has lots of interested hobbyists and a few high-end shops. Milwaukee less so, or so it seems. There is a great dealer out in Appleton, Bruce Jacobs at SoundWorld. He can point you to some of the best sound in the state and is well respected throughout the industry. That'd be a good place to start. No, I'm not aware of a club though. Probably too many Wisconsin fella's worried about that secret handshake,'ncludin me! :o) Happy listening! |
might i suggest you form "the cheesehead audio society." bet you'd get some initial interest in green bay, at least. BTW, i grew up next to your beautiful state, spending much time visiting the home of the badgers. - kelly |
