I've really wanted to this for the last couple of years, but I seem to have less time these days. And, now with the school year starting and the after school activities......Sheesh, its overwhelming! I still love to try. Keep me in mind. I'm in Baltmore County, Pikesville area. Could get together every few weekends or so, bring different equipment over to hear, have a few munchies, could be a good time. |
Well, I have a friend who lives in St. Louis that started an audio club out there. I think they call it the Gateway Audio Society. They have a dedicated discussion forum on Audio Circles. Here's the link: http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewforum.php?f=70&sid=62f27250d94010363be3def14e707177
There's maybe 7 or 8 regular members and probably a few other less frequent participants. They generally meet whenever a few of them have time and someone is willing to host at their home. When they started they were meeting every other weekend (at least that's the impression I got from my friend's emails), but now I don't think they meet that often. They go over the host's house, bring some equipment of interest, have a few beers, some munchies, listen to various components that the members have brought and talk about, well, audio stuff. Later, they will post remarks and pictures of the meetings on Audio Circle. Just one example of how a club can work. I'm sure there are bigger clubs and smaller clubs with different variations of goals and how they meet. Personally, I like the way the Gateway Audio Society does it as I am most interested in hearing different components and equipment. Any other thoughts? |
Why don't you name a place to meet and throw in a few dates to choose from and we can see which date works best, how many of us can attend, how long we can meet, etc. As I previously mentioned, with summers end, school starting, after school activities and a busy work schedule, my availability is limited, but I am interested in trying to see if this can work. I don't mean to sound like a whinner with the "limited time and availabiltiy" factor; I just want to be up front or straightforward about my availability. By the way, if anyone is interested, I am selling my Rogue Audio M-120 Magnum tube amps for local pickup. I've posted an ad here on augiogon, but so far no takers (well, I came close, but the spouse factor got in the way of the buyer). |
Reisterstown is fine for me. I'm somewhat in between Reisterstown and Baltimore so either is fine, but I'll vote for Reisterstown since that was the first pick . I'll have to check my work schedule tomorrow before I can confirm the dates; however, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to make time for at least an appetizer or dessert if I couldn't make it for the whole dinner. Anyway, I'll check in with you guys when I have more info tomorrow (unless a different plan for meeting arises). |
Sounds great. Its pretty much how other clubs work and how I would envision such a club here. The frist meeting will probably be the hardest to arrange since we don't know who each of us are yet, how many of us are seriously interested in making this happen and our line of communication is a bit hampered by only posting through Audiogon. I suppose when we get each other's personal email addresses it may be easier to communicate or we could possibly create a dedicated forum like my friend's club does on Audio Circle (as I mentioned in an earlier post about the Gateway Audio Society on the Audio Circle website). Anyway, I don't know Reisterstown all that well, but there used to be a Don Pablos in Owings Mills, close to the Owings Mills Mall. I think its still there. It would be a good place to have a beer and some nachos, meet and discuss everyone's vision. Those of us that attend can choose between just some light nachos or dinner so no one is scared off by a big commitment for a whole hour and half or two hour dinner in the event they should feel uncomfortable with meeting new people or even making a commitment to a club and just want to feel things out (hope I'm making sense here). Anyway, this is only a suggestion; I'm open to other ideas and places to meet. It would also be helpful for everyone to post in some type of a response so we can see how many of us are still interested. It appears to me that 5 of us were initially interested, but there's only 3 of us continuing this dialogue. In any event, these are just thoughts and suggestions. I'm not trying to be a dictator; just trying to keep the momentum moving. |
Hey Drv. Just wanted you to know I wrote my post before yours was available on audiogon to read. All of your suggestions are good ones. Although I like the Harryman House, I think its too expensive for a first meeting. Mari Luna is nice very little family owned resturant--way better Mexican food than Don Pablos. I'm agreeable to whatever everyone chooses. I just think we should keep it on the light side so others will feel comfortable. At the moment, either date looks fine for me. |
Oops. Something that didn't occur to me earlier today is that Mari Luna doesn't have a liquor license, but you can you bring your beer and wine. If that's problem, we can change the place. At least we know the date and time is good for most of us. Sorry that I forgot about that aspect (though I suppose its a good thing that I'm not thinking about alcohol first thing in the morning). |
Mari Luna Mexican Grill, 102 Reisterstown Rd. Baltimore, 21208 |
I'm interested, but my time is fairly limited. I wanted to get involved the last go-round, but other obligations prevented me. My time is still pretty limited, but my interest is still alive. If people are still meeting and getting together for listening sessions and audio talk, I'm game. My attendance may be irregular, but I'm willing to give a shot if others are. Hope there is still some activity with the club. Kartracer, if no one else replies, feel free to send me a private email if you just want to make some contact with another obsessive compulsive audiophile. Thanks. |
Regrettably, neither of those days are good for me as I am expecting my wife's relatives in from out of town on both occassions. But, please don't let that stop the group from meeting. I'd rather see everyone get started and I'll catch up at the next meeting. Believe me, I'd much rather be hanging out and discussing audio than with my wife's relatives, but that would not be a good choice for my long term "health", if you get my drift. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Just let me know what happens. And, feel free to send private emails through Audiogon if you don't want to post further information. Thanks again.
Norm
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I know I didn't attend the gathering, but I have posted interest in this group before. (Really sorry that I couldn't go because not only did I use to be a Magnepan 3.6 owner, but I now use the Merlin VSM-M, an older but bigger version of the monitors and I would have loved to have been there.) Anyway, has anyone considered using the Regional Circle section on Audiocircle.com? The Regional section is where many audio clubs centralize their communications, announcements and plan meetings. There is already a Mid-Atlantic Audio club, but most, though not all, of them are in the DC and Northern VA area, so I don't think we would be treading on any other groups toes. I didn't read all the fine print, but it does require that someone be designated as a facilitator who would manage the site and you can loose the site if there's no activity for something like 30 days. Anyway, I'm just throwing the idea out there for discussion since following all the communications as a "club" seems much more cumbersome on Audiogon than it is on Audiocircle (no offense Audiogon). Just take a look at the Regional Circles over there and see what you guys think. |
Quoting Wb3ffv:
"Wow, I went and looked at AudioCircle, and that sure didn't look any less confusing to me. I have run a few forums, and it's all quite easy."
No problem. Just use the Yahoo group or whatever everyone finds most convenient. On Audiocircle, once you form your club, you get an entire section for the club. For example, under Regional Circles, you would have an entire section for your club. It might be called the Baltimore Audio Society (BAS) for which when you open that section there would be a list of threads for any topic of interest only related to that particular club, eg., plans for next meeting, thoughts about the last meeting, latest purchases, etc. There are already many clubs listed under the Regional Circle, such as the Mid-Atlantic Audio Society or the Gateway Audio Society, etc. I'm not suggesting that Audiocircle is better than Yahoo or any other website host, but merely that it seemed easier than having one single thread here on Audiogon that will surely be many many pages long in a few months. Yahoo is fine with me if that's what everyone would like to use. I was also throwing the idea of Audiocircle out there for thought because its part of a broader audio community, like Audiogon.
Sang: Yeah, I had a feeling that you had the lead free version. From what I've read, I am jealous. There's a guy in Northern VA who has offered an open invitation to come here his lead free VSMs with a Music Reference RM-9SE. The RM-9 is a classic, but the SE version is supposed to be extra special. I've been told there were only 18 of them made and they cost somewhere around 3x as much as the standard version. Never hearing the lead free version of the Merlins or the SE version of the Music Reference amp, it could be a fun an interesting trip down there. If you have any interest, feel free to send me a PM or email. My problem is that my weekend schedule is sometimes more hectic than the weekday. Still, I gotta start getting out to hear more audio equipment and these club meetings. Just too much fun not to. By the way, I'm kind of a closet cable nut too. What are the fusions and how do you like them so far?
Thanks. |
there is also a Mid-Atlantic audio club. They meet in Columbia sometimes, but I think most events are in Northern VA (don't quote me on that since I've been out of the scene as of late). The Mid-Atlantic club can be found on Audiocircle.com |
