Here, in the "Elements" blog, I like to try to point out some of the fun, interesting, entertaining stuff that can be found in other parts of the truly vast and wonderful webworld that is stereophile.com. That's, basically, what yesterday's post was all about—that and my own emotional and psychological issues, which I like to throw in there to keep things exciting for you readers.
I've worked at <i>Stereophile</i> for eight years, and, in a time when people change jobs as often as they change cars or television sets, eight years is a pretty good stretch. In that time, I've taken part in some exciting and memorable things, from <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/050205Day4/index.html">Home Entertainment Shows</a> and <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/010905ces3/index.html">Consumer Electronics Shows</a> to the live recording of <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/907att/index.html">Attention Screen at Merkin Hall</a>. But <i>Stereophile</i> is fifteen years older than me, and I missed so much.
Right about now, I suppose John Atkinson and Wes Phillips are pulling into a rest stop, somewhere off the New York State Thruway. The sky is Sinatra blue and the air whispers secrets of spring. The doors to the Land Cruiser shut with a gentle thud, and the guys stroll into a 7-11 for some black peppered beef jerky, Nacho Cheesier Doritos, and a couple of tall Mountain Dews.
The <i>Stereophile</i> <a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0&C=1">forum</a> has been hot. I don't even know what's happening—I'm only the Administrator—but two members are really going at it. It's been going on for days. One dude sees things one way, and the other dude sees things in a very different way, and neither wants to meet anywhere near the middle.
Was it really only yesterday? It feels like it was a hundred years ago.
Jason Victor Serinus <a href="http://stereophile.com/news/031308amex/">reported on it</a> a couple of weeks ago, but in case you still haven't seen that American Express ad featuring hi-fi retailer <a href="http://www.musicdirect.com/">MusicDirect</a>, here it is.
Have you guys seen those <a href="http://www.wsdistributing.com/">Vincent Audio</a> ads? (See page 128 of the April issue, or page 130 of the March issue or, even better, page 183 of the January issue.) I love them all.
I still sometimes forget that the year is 2008. It'll take me a few more months to get used to it. No doubt about it, though: 2007 is old news. I can tell by the copyright dates on my new CDs. It's 2008. The birdies are making all sorts of happy racket outside my kitchen window; the high temperatures are creeping up, up, slowly up; Opening Day is less than a week away.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/092005knowing/">I knew nothing</a> about high end hi-fi. Hard to believe, I know. But true. I didn't even know that the high end existed. My Magnavox boombox worked just fine. As a person grew older and gained the responsibilities and markings of an adult, I knew that his or her speakers and amplifiers grew larger and flashier and more expensive—like their houses and cars and debt—but I didn't equate those changes with better sound. I didn't even think about better sound.
Art Dudley reviewed the original <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/705arcam/index.html">Ar… Solo CD receiver</a> in our July 2005 issue. Art was impressed. He wrote: