I endorse Rob and Steve’s sentiments wholeheartedly and would add that what we’re trying to create is a platform on which enthusiasts, dealers and manufacturers can talk to each other and, crucially, obtain mutual benefit. The dialogue exchanged must therefore be respectful and constructive.

The atmosphere on the forum has to be right in order to achieve that, and through speaking to some prominent members of the industry recently it has become blatantly obvious that this is precisely what isn’t happening on other forums. Consequently, apart from dealers advertising their products on some of the bigger sites, the industry pretty much shuns the Internet forum world. We believe this is contributing to the current malaise in high-end hi-fi, and a situation we aim to address on The Art of Sound.

Other than that, we would like to provide our members with a place where they feel that they can be themselves and express their views on hi-fi, music, and any other permitted subject, without peer pressure, one-upmanship, and a feeling of having to conform to some accepted ‘norm’. There are no cliques, hidden agendas, nor any preferential treatment given; and not only will our members themselves be treated with respect but also their opinions and observations, particularly those of people who may not have the same level of experience with hi-fi as others. With that in mind, the forum will be strictly but fairly moderated.

We therefore wish all our members a fun and productive time on The Art of Sound!

Marco.