Audioholics Celebrates 25 Years of Online Success!

[gene]

Join us on April 18th at 7pm EST when we celebrate 25 years of publishing success.

Audioholics Celebrates 25 Years of Online Success!

On April 18th, 1999, I launched a new online AV Publication with the tag line "pursuing the truth in audio...". We are pleased to be celebrating 25 years of...

www.youtube.com

 

[gene]

I asked each of our staff to discuss how they found Audioholics.com and how they began writing or contributing content for us. I will update this post as more of our guys give me their responses. If they are too lazy to commit to writing, we will get them to talk about it in our Youtube Livestream event on 4/18/24 at 7pm EST

James Larson:
I first stumbled onto Audioholics back in 2006 when I was doing research for what subwoofer is the best bang-for-the-buck within my small budget. After some helpful advice from Audioholics' forum, I made my decision and didn't think about the matter again until a few years went by and decided that I wanted a bigger sub. I went back to Audioholics since it was such a great resource the first time around, and that is when I really got sucked into the rabbit hole. I thought I knew everything I needed about audio before that, but it turns out I knew nothing!

I became a forum regular after that, and when the AXPONA trade show of 2014 came around my area, I thought that I might be positioned to give something back to Audioholics, if only in the form of pictures of some of the systems. I asked Gene if he was interested in that, and he countered by asking if I was interested in doing a write-up as well. I'm no journalist, but I thought why not try something new, and Gene liked my coverage enough that he offered me other writing assignments. The rest is history.

Going forward, I hope to expose readers (and Youtube viewers) to great loudspeakers at all pricing levels. I want to show people that you don't need high cost or high complexity to achieve a truly good sound, and I want to bring consumers back down to Earth who are eyeing high channel count system when a simple stereo pair might actually be better for them. I want hi-fi audio to become a common household amenity again as it was in the 1960's when so many homes had component stereo systems. I think that could be possible if enough people can be made to realize that good stereo systems don't have to be ugly, cost a fortune, or require a computer scientist to set up.

Theo Nicolakis:

1. When did you first discover Audioholics?
   I first discovered Audioholics around 2005 researching reputable online magazines for audio, video, and home theater. I loved Audioholics' in-depth reviews, industry news, and insights into products and research that I could find only on Audioholics.
   
   
2. What made you decide to become a content producer for Audioholics?
   It’s all Gene’s fault! Gene invited me to be a contributor to the site. For about four years before Gene asked me, I had been maintaining my own audio blog.
   
   
3. What are your goals going forward in content production for Audioholics?
   My goal is to make the Audioholics reader an educated consumer armed with the information they need to select the best audio and home theater products for their unique setups and tastes. For me that means talking about the science behind the sound bolstered by first-hand experience. I also plan to focus making more tutorial and “how to” content in addition to standard reviews and create an “Ask Theo” segment on our YouTube channel to answer our readers’ questions. Finally, as a technology professional, I’m keenly interested in delivering the ever-expanding intersection of technology, audio, and home theater to the enthusiast community.
   
   
4. How long have you been with Audioholics?
   11 wonderful years! I started writing for Audioholilcs in 2013.

Tony Leotta:
I first discovered Audioholics in 2005. I was sitting on Gene's couch, drinking beer, listening to music, and watching movies. Gene had told me his website was really taking off and that he could use some help with proofreading articles and posting content from the writers to the Audioholics site. That's how my behind-the-scenes journey at Audioholics started. Within a year I was covering the CEDIA home installers show with him. Things were much different then. The goal was to provide as much coverage as we could regardless of our personal well-being. Gene would keep us up till 3 am to make sure we posted everything we had seen that day. He provided plenty of coffee and pizza to keep us going.

My first official review was of a water-proof speaker box, EGO Waterproof Sound Case for iPods | Audioholics. It was cutting edge technology at the time for a waterproof speaker. Most of my time was still spent editing and posting other reviewer's content and creating previews of new and upcoming products.

Soon, the availability to review higher-end products was available and I took advantage to try out products from companies like SONOS SONOS Playbar, SUB, and Play:5 Review | Audioholics and SVS SVS Prime Wireless 2.1 Speaker System Review | Audioholics.

When I started in 2005, 720p displays were the norm and the big announcement of 1080p displays was mind blowing. Video media had just barely started making a change from physical products like DVD's to streaming media. The iPod was at a highpoint and so was the argument for the lack of fidelity of MP3s. The Blueray vs HD DVD war was in full swing, and we covered it all.

The biggest change for me over the last 20 years at Audioholics is the addition of produced videos on Youtube. I remember showing the technicians at the Dolby Labs booth a newly purchased hi definition 1080p video recorder we were using for an interview between them and Gene. It fit in the palm of your hand and recorded a digital video on tape. They were amazed.

Although much of my work is still behind the scenes, I now get the opportunity to travel the country for Audioholics to attend press events for newly released products (Bowers & Wilkins New 801 & 805 D4 Signature Speakers Demo Audible Improvements! | Audioholics), cover trade shows without having to stay up till 3am, and try out some of the best audio/visual devices in the world.

Steve Feinstein:
When did you first discover Audioholics?
I'd known Gene from seeing him at CEDIA in the early 2000s when he'd come by the Atlantic Technology booth to see what was new. I started checking out the website around that time. I was impressed, since Audioholics seemed to take technical accuracy seriously and it was written in an accessible, down-to-earth manner. It became a regular stop for me. I never thought I would find a truly reliable, accurate audio source again, especially after the 1980's demise of the "Big Three" audio magazines—Stereo Review, High Fidelity and Audio. What a pleasant surprise! A real audio site, written for audiophile, serious, accurate and detailed. The articles were thorough, the reviews thoughtful and well-presented. As time passed the reviews became more and more technically adept, to the point that today, my feeling is they surpass the best that the Big Three magazines ever did.

What made you decide to become a content producer for Audioholics?
Gene asked me to comment on something around 2006 or 7. He wrote to me asking about whether manufacturers who designed and made their own drivers in house were somehow "better" than companies who bought stock drivers off the shelf from driver vendors, or something along those lines. I wrote him back with a very detailed and nicely written answer and Gene asked if he could publish it. I think that's how things started. Then I wrote something about center-channel speaker design, having a lot of experience with that at Boston Acoustics (where we did the industry's first true 3-way center, with a vertically stacked midrange and tweeter) and at Atlantic Technology, were we did several "good" 2-way centers with the MTM nested closely together and the T above the centerline of the Ws.

What are your goals going forward in content production for Audioholics?
I am one of the older (if not the oldest) contributors to AH. My first-hand audio experiences go back to the 1960s, and so I've witnessed and lived through more technological changes and American societal shifts than any other AH contributor. I bring a bigger-picture perspective to audio issues than other contributors. I was there as my dad went from 'mono' to 'stereo' in 1962. I was there as we went from tubes to solid-state. I was there as B&W TV transitioned to color TV. I don't think that experience is matched by any other AH contributor. My articles have an historical perspective that is unequalled by any other contributor and my many decades experience in both marketing and engineering in the US speaker industry gives me a unique vantage point.I simply like that there's a "market" for my opinions and 55+-year-old experiences. It's important for "young" audiophiles to understand how and why things developed as they did, and that is something I bring to the table.

How long have you been with Audioholics?
I'm not sure. I left Atlantic Technology in 2012 and Gene published my first contribution while I was still there, so something over 13 years or so. I love having an "outlet" for my audio opinions and philosophy, I love "defending" my opinions with rigorous technical info that the informed readership understands and I love presenting historical info that I know the readership will simply not hear or read anywhere else.

Jacob Green:
Since the days of my first job at the Los Angeles Times, I have been motivated by journalistic integrity and the challenge of bringing creativity and humor to reporting whenever possible. My work at Audioholics is a perfect synthesis of my passion for the written word and my lifelong fascination with all things audio. I can’t pinpoint exactly when I first discovered Audioholics, but it was probably around the time that I moved to Berkeley in 2006 and began using social media. In fact, I joined the Audioholics team in 2018 after Gene posted on Facebook that he was looking for content creators with an interest in and love of audio. It has been a great fit for me and I look forward to taking on more challenges while spreading the gospel of grammar, syntax, and clarity of meaning. I will also continue to entertain the possibility that cables really can make a difference, as long as it doesn’t get me fired.

Wayde Robson
I discovered Audioholics in the early 2000s and was hooked by the ideas that I’d come to learn as “audio objectivism”. I had been some form of audiophile since I was a kid in the 1970s playing my Black Sabbath records on my dad’s Marantz system, but only when he wasn’t home of course. As a young adult in the 90s I always had an ever-evolving audio system in my living space. Despite believing a lot of audio myths back then, I learned how to piece together great bang-for-the-buck systems.

In the late 90s I’d have a sort-of awakening. I had friends that bought glossy audio magazines that I’d flip through assuming they were authoritative. But over time I started seeing inconsistencies in their message and soon grew downright disdainful of a certain publication. I’ll never forget reading in one issue that a $10,000 preamp was “...good if you’re on a budget.” It kind-of pissed me off. The Internet was just becoming a thing and I felt that certain parts of the audio press was an elitist anchor chained to the neck of this hobby. I wanted to do an audio blog for people that lived in the real world and had bills to pay. I wanted to demonstrate how you can spend under $500 and put together a great stereo system.

By the early 2000s I was helping a web-publishing/click-arbitrage start-up build websites about consumer electronics. In my search for authoritative sources about audio that I could link to for “real world” information, I soon discovered Audioholics.com. I felt these guys were doing it right! It had all the authority I lacked as just a fan and not an engineer. My learning expanded and I offered to build content for Audioholics if they didn’t mind my linking to the website I had worked on for years. They agreed and when my first article was approved for publication on Audioholics I was thrilled. That was 2004 and the article was a practical guide to setting up a Universal DVD player. My old website was sold long ago but I’ve stuck around in some form with Audioholics ever since.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Congratulations and (an early) happy birthday! Cheers to another 25 years!

 

[ryanosaur]

Congrats @gene and all of Team AH!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Congratulations Gene!!!!! I’ve been a reader since about 2007. Now just an annoying forum member.
This is a great milestone! The AV world is much better for having you in it.
Thank you.

 

[-Jim-]

Congratulations to Gene and all the Crew here at Audioholics. Hopefully the next 25 years will be even more prosperous for you.

 

[TLS Guy]

Congratulations Gene. It has been my pleasure to be a member of this forum. We have all helped in our own small way to keep this forum a place of sanity and reliable information. I do think this forum has been a genuine help, and assisted many over these years. Long may it continue!

 

[Eppie]

Congrats on the milestone Gene. I've only been a member for a little over 3 years but I've learned a great deal from the various articles and members posts. Still remains one of my most trusted sources for information.

 

[gene]

Update: we are planning some contest giveaways during the live event. WE are working on an entry form with prizes so please register ASAP once we get that going. Looking forward!

 

[mtrycrafts]

How time flies.

 

[lovinthehd]

Cheers to all contributors! Thanks, Gene !

 

[gene]

Congratulations to Gene and all the Crew here at Audioholics. Hopefully the next 25 years will be even more prosperous for you.

I hope I'm not still doing this at 75 years old. LOL. I was hoping my kids would take over, but sadly they have no interest in this hobby.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I hope I'm not still doing this at 75 years old. LOL. I was hoping my kids would take over, but sadly they have no interest in this hobby.

Put it on autopilot mode.

 

[gene]

Contest Prizes for the April 18th, 2024 Livestream event @ 7pm EST:

• RSL Speedwoofer 10e
• SVS SB-2000
• Definitive Technology DN15
• Focal Bathys
• RBH Sound 5i Impression Bookshelf speaker
• Cambridge Audio MXN10 (black)

more to come as we work the details out....

Winners will be announced towards the end of the livestream!

 

[Tankini]

I hope I'm not still doing this at 75 years old. LOL. I was hoping my kids would take over, but sadly they have no interest in this hobby.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown! Maybe create an A.I Gene?. One just doesn't replace a Gene DellaSala,

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Congrats on 25YR of audio excellence.

Being on AH forum is pretty much a daily routine for me. Gotta have it!

 

[gene]

OK folks, here are all the details about our 25th Anniversary Event and Prize Giveaway this April 18th, 2024 and 7pm EST:

Audioholics Celebrates 25 Years Online - Giveaway & Livestream Event

On April 18th, 2024 we celebrate 25 years of “pursuing the truth” in audio publishing excellence as we are joined by our review staff and close channel partners that have helped to keep the dream alive.

www.audioholics.com

Register here for the contest and we will ask you to email us on the livestream from the email you registered to confirm you're the winner if you're chosen: https://gleam.io/NPoC3/audioholics-celebrates-25-years-livestream-audio-giveaway

 

[Bobby Bass]

Registered and looking forward to the event. May I recommend a pair of Perlisten towers to give away. Come on Perlisten and join the celebration!

 

[Verdinut]

Congratulations to Gene and all his staff for the 25 years of this wonderful online AV magazine.

When I found this site, I registered as a member and I'm glad that we are a group of passionate audiophiles being able to exchange ideas, experiences and opinions on AV equipment.

Keep up the good work. I wish you many more years of competent and honest publishing.

 

[MandM]

"Prizes limited to residents of continental USA only.".........BOO!!