500 members - a small but significant milestone!

[Marco]

Chaps

Well done.

I have to say I lurk a lot now a days but the standard of discussion on this forum is very high.

Better to have 500 good members than a load of morons.

Regards

Mick

Hi Mick,

I echo Steve's sentiments, and your comments are appreciated. We're trying to build something different and seem to be succeeding quite well. AOS will continue to be developed on a number of levels to keep it 'ahead of the game', as it were. We will get there slowly but surely.

If we were fortunate enough to have been around at the time when the old Naim forum 'disbanded' and started AOS with a core of popular and respected contributors like some other well-known forums did {wink, wink} AOS would now be huge. There just wasn't the same competition back then. It was (and is) much more difficult for us to grow and become successful in the current climate with so many other audio forums around, so we had to be a bit different in terms of discussion content and outlook, and particularly the way the forum was managed.

One thing we had in our favour was the experience Steve and I (and Rob to a lesser degree) had from previously contributing to other forums, so we learned from mistakes that were made and ensured that AOS would be immune from them, but we remain as pro-active and vigilant as ever in our desire to achieve the targets we set. There are plans in the pipeline, for example, that will expose the forum to a much wider audience ('legitimately'), so hopefully the membership will grow further as a result.

You're right, quality of membership is more important than quantity, although the latter helps the forum grow more as a community. We have some exceptionally knowledgeable contributors who don't appear on the bigger, well-established, forums and as such our members have access to information which isn't readily available elsewhere. This is part of what makes us different.

Anyway, old chap, it's good to hear from you again so please post more and lurk less in future!

Marco.

[Filterlab]

...One thing we had in our favour was the experience Steve and I (and Rob to a lesser degree) had from previously contributing to other forums...

Yes, as far as hi-fi forums go I'd only been on HFC, Wigwam and Hi-Fi Corner (), however I've been on many other forums encompassing various subjects (three BMW 7 series forums, general banter pub forum, Honda Accord forum, two performance Volvo forums, Blu-ray forum, GSM forum, Lexus forum, Saab forum, high end watches forum etc etc) and I know how easily a forum can degenerate from being informative and polite to a load of people talking about poo and testacles. Luckily we have intelligent members here are consequently the discussions are wholesome.

There's always the initial questions of 'will people join?' and 'will people contribute?', but as Steve and Marco seem to know dozens of people within the hi-fi fraternity it was only a matter of getting the ball rolling. Of course Marco's various bannings from other forums serve as a great method of getting people to have a look at this one, and as this is clearly a very well thought out place in comparison to other forums (layout, subject clarity etc), those who have had a look and are really interested in hi-fi have stayed with us and contributed. As we set out to embrace all aspects of hi-fi without prejudice (I mean - a hi-fi forum administrator with a computer as a source, imagine!) we have lots of decent input from every point of view, new members are quick to recognise that it matters not what they're listening through and join in the discussions and keep contributing.

So hats off to Steve and Marco for envisaging the forum and sticking to the original formula, may our numbers grow qualitatively rather than quickly.

[Marco]

Yes, as far as hi-fi forums go I'd only been on HFC, Wigwam and Hi-Fi Corner, however I've been on many other forums encompassing various subjects (three BMW 7 series forums, general banter pub forum, Honda Accord forum, two performance Volvo forums, Blu-ray forum, GSM forum, Lexus forum, Saab forum, high end watches forum etc etc)

LOL! My apologies, Rob. I didn't mean to demean your level of experience on other forums. I was simply referring to the 'heyday' of hi-fi forums before such places like Wigwam, pfm and Zerogain existed. At one time there were only two that I knew of: the Naim forum and the Mana forum, both of which were before your time, young whippersnapper!

I think the Naim forum, for example, started around 1998, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong... I know the HFC forum existed then but the guys there were mostly into basic entry-level stuff which was not where I was at.

Hi-fi Corner? The least said about that the better!!

Of course Marco's various bannings from other forums serve as a great method of getting people to have a look at this one

I think there's some truth in that, and I don't mind in the slightest. I've learned a lot since then. It's tough sometimes being a 'celebrity', but what can you do?

Marco.

[Andy831]

Good to see Mick Parry here.

[Marco]

Yep he's been here a while, Andy

How do you feel this place compares with other forums where you're also a member? Be as frank and honest as you like! I respect your opinion.

Marco.

[Steve Toy]

Lets avoid an interforum slagfest though. Keep it constructive and if making any negative comments about other forums please be rather vague () and don't specifically name them.

[Marco]

No-one's "slagging" any other forum as far as I can see, mate. There's not even a hint of it, nor would any be allowed

I don't think there's anything wrong with referring to other forums directly as long as it's relevant, which it was.

Marco.

[Filterlab]

...at one time there were only two that I knew of: the Naim forum and the Mana forum, both of which were before your time, young whippersnapper!

Definitely you old fuddy duddy. I didn't get internet until 2002!

Hi-fi Corner? The least said about that the better!!

Hehehehehe

No-one's "slagging" any other forum as far as I can see, mate. There's not even a hint of it, nor would any be allowed

Definitely not, that's not our thing here in any way.

[Steve Toy]

I was just taking a little preventative action that's all. I could see the floodgates opening to that kind of thing if we were not careful.

[Marco]

Indeed. But I am ever-present, always with my fingers on the zapping buttons - there is no escape for the 'baddies'...

Realistically, though, it's rarely a problem we experience here. Our current members and those joining us respect our ethos.

Rob,

I've been posting on audio forums since 2000 when I joined the old Naim forum. That's where I met the Toyster and we've been in love ever since!

But there are some who've been posting on forums for much longer than that. You missed the old days - it was a hoot!

Marco.