Tis the Season

Seeing as how this is the time of the year where we celebrate the birth of our Savior by stimulating the economy, I thought I would give The Audiophile something related to his hobby. I mean, not his hobby, because I've been told it is not a hobby, but rather his... his... I don't know. If it is not his career, and it is not his hobby, I guess that makes it his passion, which sounds somewhat better than calling it the "love of his life."

The mailbox cooperated with my plan by offering six catalogs peddling everything from tiny underpants to chocolate-covered prunes, which should probably not be partaken of simultaneously. My attention, however, was on the audio catalog whom I selected as my traveling companion for the business at hand.

It took about six seconds with my nose in the glossy pages for me to realize this was not going to be easy or comfortable. I had no idea a power amp needed mega isolation nor did I realize metal connectors were susceptible to oxidation and corrosion. If this wasn't horrifying enough there was a photograph of a $13,000 subwoofer (reduced to $7,999) with a mature gentleman crouched next to it TOUCHING THE DRIVER.

For the record, I would like to say my intentions were good, but the non-audiophile has no business saddling up the hi-fi pony on the Christmas catalog merry-go-round. Fortunately, The Audiophile also likes wool socks and chocolate-covered fruit so I've got that going for me.

And that, my friends, is audio winning.