How did YOU get here?????

[Rock789]

one needs to find an understanding woman (or man)

[E-Stat]

Let's all share how we stumbled across this site and share some of our history on this site...I am curious to see how we all stumbled across this and what our experience has been like...

I was referred here from another audio site regarding the cable issue. I was amazed at the quantity of virtual ink spilled by those who would debate endlessly about a topic for which they find no value - and most often never experienced the cables in question anyway.

I fall on the other side of the fence than RL since I find audible benefits to using a variety of aftermarket flavors in my systems. To each his own.

rw

[topspeed]

...they mistook aural for oral ...

jimHJJ(...it could happen...)

Wasn't Jenna in that one?


OK, OK, before I completely hijack this thread and the newbies start thinking I was serious, my story is pretty much like everyone else. I was researching some equipment, speakers most likely, and came across this site. Thanks to my supreme ineptness on the computer, I had never joined a forum before. IOW, AR was my first and you know what they say about your first time...

It was quite lively back in the day, what with flame wars, trolls, and insults being hurled all willy nilly. However, along with the resident morons, we also had the genius' such as Woodman, Doc Greene, Sir T, and countless others. Thankfully, we still have a lot of knowledgeable members such as Wooch, Kex, Edyct, Geoffcin, and countless others that over the years have increased my knowlege of this hobby tenfold. I've learned more on this site than I ever learned through years of reading TAS, SR, Audio, Stereophile, etc.

This is a much more civil place than before. Not as lively, but not as acrimonious either. Do I miss the wars? Yes and no. I enjoy not being challenged at every turn (typical Mtry response: "You may think you heard that, but you didn't. It's all in your head. DBT's have proven blahblahblah..."), but on the other hand, you can only answer the question "What's the best _______" so many times.

I don't post as much as I used to and when I do, it's usually to goof around with GMichael, Worfster, Cam, FA, Kex, Wooch, and the rest of the knuckleheads in Fave Films or OT. Ironically, we rarely talk about audio. Go figure.

[bobsticks]

No, seriously. It's the first thing that popped up.

Like many, I have always had an affinity for music and have always managed to acquire whatever my flavor of the moment might be. When I was younger I never had any money and as I got some I was moving around all the time so adding more expensive junk to move around and break never made any sense. Having settled down (a bit) the time seemed right.

The cast of knowledgables has already been mentioned and I agree that I too have learned quite a bit--a crash course as it were. That's what piqued my interest and characters like Bernd and JM and JRA and the Rave Recers keep me hanging out. Gotta give props to Flo as well. I think I had posted once or twice and that crazy Bavarian guy was good enough to call me and talk for hour or so on his dime, which is not exactly cheap being a transatlantic phone call to a stranger.

It's probably worth noting that I came in during the Lexmark wars. That kind of entertainment is priceless.

[jrhymeammo]

Got sick of buying stupid audio mags. Anyone here still them?

then moved on to Epinion.com for reviews on speakers. I saw a reference to AR on one of the reviews. I'm glad I did, cuz if it wasnt for this site and members here such as royphil, nightflier, and hifitommy I would've never got into vinyl. Thanks to bobsticks too, finally got back into shiny discs again

also, I would like to give out a shout out to. umm ummm........ MYSELF!!!

[PeruvianSkies]

Actually If I can remember correctly I actually looked at this site mainly for the pictures for quite some time before actually joining. I then only used the Photo Gallery and posted my stuff for some constructive criticism and then finally started getting in on the discussions.

[Carl Reid]

This is cool. I found my review for my old Technic's speakers. Looks like I was here back in 2001.... Man, I've been away from this site a lot longer than I thought....

Oh for the record, I think this site is a great place and I've really learned a lot here over the years and hopefully I've given out one piece of good advice to somebody over the years...

Though, I do find that many people (myself included) are quite active on the site for a while and then dissappear into the night.... I think that it's hard to stay focused on discussing this hobby... As others have said, there is only so many times that recommending X product can hold your interest before you just avoid the discussion all together...

But still I think it says something good about this site, that members return eventually...

[lewburgh]

I stumbled upon this site because I enjoy reading reviews about audio components and speakers. I was in the midst of uprading my speakers and other components and I found the insight and knowledge of the members here to be unparalled. I continue to come back to this site to read the reviews, but even more so because I appreciate the passion and enthusiasm the members here hve for audio. Special thanks to nightflier and blackraven who made me feel welcome from the get go and went out of their way to help!

[Florian]

I must have been 17 and my first set was a Onkyo TX-DS555 with Infinity RS3 bookshelves. A friend of my stepmother came over and we talked about audio. He couldnt relate to me and couldnt find anything good to say about my boxes. He mentioned he had speakers with no cabinets and no cones. I didnt get it at the time, but found a pair of Magnepan MMG's on audioreview since they where feautered here as a "hot buy". Thats basically how i ended up here.

[kexodusc]

Back in 1999 I was looking for reviews on an Arcam CD player and a new Marantz a/v receiver to go with my PSB speakers. For 3 years or so I used to browse the reviews and briefed the forum infrequently under at least 2 other handles that I can't even remember. I guess I re-joined in 2003 or so under "kexodusc" and it stuck.

[JohnMichael]

A salesman at the now defunct local audio store told me he was writing a review for AudioReview. I said what? He explained about this audio site where people write reviews about equipment they have used. Never having a lot of money to make mistakes choosing equipment I thought the site might be of help. I began reading reviews long before I checked out the message boards. One day I thought I might have something to say and I jumped into the fun. Been having fun learning and getting to know others. This is my favorite site on the internet.

[hydroman]

Another stumbler looking for info before a purchase (of a new reciever and later, new speakers).

I have learned quite a bit in the short period of time here.