Would like to start a Stereo Club in the midwest.

KT, very thorough and very enlightning, you and the others has expanded the thought,, pointed out the shortcomings, and the benefits as well.. I really think it would work..as you stated, if you "lose" $500.00, you have auditioned several pieces, for little money, and then we kick up a new mag... from real music/stereo owners/audiophiles. A workable concept? you bet...

Bye the way, KT, when do we start?? I would love to have you as a charter member...

What is ironic is I think this concept would work better with interconnect, speaker cables, and power cords as long as certain parameters were abided by as lengths go.

The advantage of cables is that they do not degrade (and actually sound better as they get burned in). They are also easy to ship and transport. They have no moving parts, and they do not have much chance of breaking or getting damaged (when compared to amps, preamps, and sources).

I think Kthomas makes some very good points, and has thought this out initially pretty well. I might be willing to join such a club that did this with cables for an initial run. Maybe start with cables for 1 year, see how it works, then perhaps move to other components. There are a lot of power cords out there I would like to try. There are a few ICs and speaker cables I am interested in that I have not tried.

The other issue that one must think about is cost of shipping. This might sound trivial, but the cost of shipping amps, preamps, and CDPs can really mount up (if members are not local). Even just shipping cables with insurance, it can amount to $10-$20 or so per shipment. Multiply this by 12 and you get $120-$240. Amps and preamps being at least two+ times as much.

Anyway, just stuff to consider.

KF

More good points...KF, but lets be honest for a moment... this is a very expensive hobby..I am certain that many of us watch what we spend, I know I do, but when I find a piece of equiptment that I want, I go for..and I think most of us do. If this happens, all the participants will, upfront, know that there are costs involved, just as there are costs involved when you buy something..no difference..shipping, insurance etc...I know that, I have spent a small fortune on the above..but I am also aware of the benefits..thanks

I like the idea! If we could get a group of 8 or 10 people in the St Louis area, it could be a lot of fun. We could meet once a month at a members place and listen to their set-up's, have a few drinks and talk about our club products.

The only problem I see is finding 8-10 *GOOD* compatible people in STL to buy in.

Sign me up!