Welcome to the evolution.
The Occasional Part-Time Audiophile is a new thing. Another experiment. And while it may be new to us, it’s not exactly new. The history of our hobby is as much a story of the writers, and the magazines that wrote for as it is of the companies, and designers that have also come, and gone. I want to respect that history because it’s worth celebrating. Even if I’m no one special. One paragon of the industry, not so long ago, said that my efforts were interesting, but “Seriously, Scot. You’re no Steven Stone.” That’s a reminder that my parents would probably have been very happy to hear, but the point was taken: walk humbly. So, in that spirit, I’d like to give thanks to J. Gordon Holt, Harry Pearson, Michael Fremer, Art Dudley, John Atkinson, Michael Lavorgna, Jonathan Valin, Steven Stone, Dave Clark, David Robinson, Corey Greenberg, Jeff Dorgay, Srajan Ebaen and so many more writers that I spent way too many hours with, reading, exploring, and daydreaming. It is because of those writers that we at Part-Time Audiophile have undertaken this new-to-us thing.
I think you’ll like it. It’s a little different, which is fair. We’re a little different. Not necessarily “three-eyes, and seventeen-hands on the body of a giant squid in space with lasers” different, but still different. Expect The Occasional to be a little different, too. We’re planning on a quarterly schedule, which is different (so keep an eye out for future editions), but when you do get into it, you’ll find all kinds of stuff in there that you might not find on the website (at least, not necessarily right away). Like I said, we’re experimenting. Kaboom!
Before I sign off, I need to say thanks. Thanks to Rafe Arnott, my dear friend; without his support, guidance, and help, my corporate space capsule would surely have burned up on reentry and The Occasional would not exist. To John Stancavage, for his steadfast and stalwart contributions in the face of little or no guidance. To Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis, for always pushing us on to the bigger and the better. To Brian Hunter, for never letting me take myself too seriously. To John Richardson for being my base-clearing hitter. To Paul Ashby, Darryl Lindberg, Ken Micallef, Mohammed Samji, Eric Shook, Lee Scoggins, Rick Mak, Marc Phillips, Lee Shelly, and Nina Sventitsky, for their continuing help, counsel, support, and contributions. To Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney and Mal Kenney, Frank Iacone, John Grandberg, Mike Mercer, and Roger Skoff, for all of their past help — we quite literally wouldn’t be here without you.
More thanks to Doug White for all the advice, encouragement, and support. To Gary Dews for shaking up the complacency, and helping me find my sound. To Jeff Catalano for demonstrating a true love of, and respect for, music. To Uncle Bill for his mentorship. To Jeff Fox, for all that time, attention, and space to play. And to the innumerable others that have helped us stand up, stand out, and have way too much fun doing so.
To all of our generous sponsors; you are our family and you have our gratitude and thanks. Without you, we’d all have immensely boring jobs doing immensely boring things.
And finally, I want to thank you, Gentle Reader. For your time, for your attention, for your clear and indisputably poor taste in reading material. You are why we do this.
So. On to the show.
Get your copy of The Occasional here.
