I had been an Audioholics reader in the very early 2000s, I'm not sure when I discovered it exactly. But it was one of a very few I'd refer to while feeding my obsession with home theater.
I had landed a job around same time to build content for a company that was finding success in publishing, they had an arbitrage "method" between Yahoo ads and Google AdSense, and I arrived to build them something on consumer electronics. I wanted to do something for the "every-man", I found a lot of the hi-fi magazines of the day to be downright insulting by calling a $10,000 box with an A.C. cord attached to the back a "budget" option, I was always like... WTF planet is dropping $10K on a any one component a budget option?
So, I resolved to write 100 pages of content that had the same tone friends and I had while discussing audio in the 90s, when we were just broke young guys in our 20s who worshiped fine audio but couldn't afford the good stuff. So, I started GizmoCafe.com.
The more I read the more I felt Audioholics was doing it right, it was the model for the more technical stuff I occasionally needed to refer to. You guys had people like Gene and others who really knew what they talking about, so I'd often link to Audioholics as the authority. At best the site I built was supplementing Audioholics *real* knowledge. The anti-snake oil articles and takedowns of the many myths was a learning experience, I figured out why these hi-fi magazines were so disingenuous about spending vast sums of money on audio gear, and whether or not it even matters to sound quality. I learned that it mostly doesn't.
Then I sent an email to Audioholics, introducing myself, my website and asked if I could create some content for you guys. I'll never forget that day I got a response. No promises were assured, but I was tasked with doing a Universal DVD player "how to" article on wiring and use. I knew I had to hit it out of the park. I even got a designer to do graphics for it and I groomed the article to a fine point because I knew it needed to be of the highest standards. And you guys published it!
Ever since, it's been an honour for me to be able to contribute, especially the opinionated stuff. The other websites I had been working on became irrelevant due to a combination of office politics and key changes to Google's AdWords quality scores meant the "scheme" that company had developed to make money off ads evaporated.
If not for Audioholics, I'd be that crazy old uncle ranting and raving on Facebook or something. Audioholics gives me a more productive outlet for the burning middle-aged angst.
Although, I have to admit I still rant and rave on social media. Just less than I would normally.
