Audio Society of Minnesota

The third Thursday of each month the Audio Society of Minnesota (ASM) meets at the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting in St. Louis Park.  This week I attended my first meeting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Being with about 30 people who are even more geeked-out about stereo equipment than I am is pretty cool (think of the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” at middle age – minus the chicks).  However, the highlight of this meeting was a presentation by  John Calder  of Acoustic Geometry.

The message I took away from John’s talk was that audiophiles focus too much on what their music is played through (tonearms, speakers, etc.) and not enough about where it is played in (the listening room).  The room, and it inevitable audio flaws, affects the music as much – if not more – than your speakers.  So before you spend more money on upgrading components, consider fixing the acoustics of your listening room.  Now granted John has products he would like to sell you to do just that – but it does sound like pretty sound advice.  John explained the journey that developed the line of products at Acoustic Geometry that can be used to correct any room – whether recording studio or audiophile’s listening room.  He was candid about his biases and was both entertaining and educational.

If this meeting represents a typical ASM meeting I will be back.

As a side note the Pavek Museum looks like a pretty cool place – I will have to check that place out in detail another time.