By People who live in California, especially by the beach like me, often forget what how short the summer season is in the rest of the nation. The weather is always about 70 and sunny here and that is equally as likely on New Year’s Day as Mother’s Day. Yes, we put up with all sorts of drama (earthquakes, fires, traffic), as well as uber-expensive costs, but there are obvious perks. Our big problem is that we often forget that perfect weather isn’t an everyday event in most other parts of the country. I still remember what it was like to grow up in Philadelphia in the 1980s and early 1990s. The spring season was almost always wet and cold. Summers were hot and beyond humid, but ended somehow too quickly. The best time to live in or visit the East Coast is after Labor Day, when that cool, crisp Canadian air flows down, and places like The Hamptons are at their best. I try to book my business and golf trips (I’ve played 77 of the Top 100 courses in the U.S. via the Golf Magazine list) at this time of the year. I need to do the Cape in Boston and four more in Wisconsin before it gets cold again.
One of the things that I simply forgot when I was away from the audiophile online publishing business after selling HomeTheaterReview.com and AudiophileReview.com in 2019 was just how dead the summers are in the industry. Once the dust settles from the Munich HIFI Show (soon to be in Vienna in 2026) in mid-May, things start to spool down a bit in the audiophile business at some point later in June. From The Fourth of July to Labor Day, the audiophile business is basically on vacation, and so are many audiophiles, as these are prime vacation dates for tens of millions of Americans. The weather is warm. The kids are at home from school on summer break, and the idea of the warm glow of your tube monoblock amps is somehow just not on your mind as much as it is in the fall. The mid-to-late summer season is a great time professionally for us to work on long-term projects, but site traffic dips, and getting a meaningful sales meeting can be harder than a slippery four-foot downhill, left-to-right putt on some slick greens that Stimp out at 13 (that means they roll fast, to those smart enough not to take up golf).
Could Time Away from Your Audiophile System Be a Good Thing?
There is no question that a little time away from your beloved audiophile system gives you a chance to reengage with your beloved rig with a whole new listening perspective. Sometimes, taking a little time away from your system is just what the doctor ordered. Whatever little flaws in your setup nag at you, sometimes when you come back to your rig a few weeks later, things are just a little bit more copacetic.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and those words ring true with the audiophile hobby. Chances are your audiophile system is pretty fantastic. A little time away from it might just reintroduce you to one of your favorite things possibly with a whole new perspective that can keep you engaged with your favorite music.
What is Seasonal Audio Disorder? (Is That Even a Thing?)
OK, I just made up the term “seasonal audio disorder,” but the idea comes from my dear friend Ben Shyman. Ben used to review audiophile equipment for me at my old publications. He and his family live in Manhattan and, to this day, has a really slick audiophile system for his modest in size yet fantastically remodeled near-the-park CO-OP. His music playback system is pretty badass. He’s got Philadelphia Flyers Orange-painted Focal Sopra No. 1 stand-mounted speakers. He’s rocking a Bluesound streamer into a modern Benchmark DAC 3B. Where Ben gets seasonal is with his collection of Nelson Pass power amplifiers. Ben works in finance, with specialization in the energy sector. He’s smart enough to have invested in some of Nelson’s products while on my staff, which we both think could become collectable in the years to come. Ben has a Pass Labs XA30.8 Class-A operation amp that gets quite warm by design. That amp is a welcomed source of warmth (physical and perhaps even a little sonic) in the fall and winter but in the summer, Ben swaps out his class-A Pass Labs amp with a First Watt amp. This amp is more traditional in its operation and creates way less heat. In the summer, this is exactly what Ben is looking for, as it can get pretty sticky on those hot summer nights in New York City. Ben thinks there’s a chance that Nelson’s amps will be collectable down the road, so he wanted to own a few. He didn’t know that they would end up on a seasonal rotation, but it did, and it makes a whole lot of sense. These Nelson Pass amps aren’t so heavy that you can swap them out seasonally, which is exactly what Ben does, and it gives him a fresh look/listen to his system.
Ever Try Gear Swapping? (It is Not as Naughty as It Sounds …)
This is like wife-swapping (I’ve never done that, but Howard Stern says there’s the porn for it – a great bit, by the way), but with audiophile equipment. My friend from the terrestrial radio business is the guy who got the fantastic Paradigm Persona 9H speakers that I reviewed. They have powered bass drivers and ARC room correction, but still required an external amp for the highs and mids. By no means do you need 1,000 watts of power for this application, so I have arranged to send him my personal Pass Labs XA-25 power amp (read my review here), assuming that it is OK after the fires. It is back in Auburn, California, for a new box, manual, packing and a factory checkup. If the amp isn’t totaled, I will send it to my friend for him to compare to his McIntosh gear. This will give him a chance this summer to try out a lower-power but Class- A legendary (again) Nelson Pass-designed amp for something new.
This is where joining a local audiophile society is helpful, in that you might make friends with people who trust you and are willing to swap out gear with you. Paul Wilson runs the Carolina Audiophile Society and one of his buddies came over and heard the insanely good Bricasti M21 Platinum DAC in Paul’s now roughly-$500,000 system. A week later, he called his favorite East Coast dealer and bought one. I inspire Paul to buy more audiophile gear like a crack dealer. I am happy to see him returning the favor to other audiophiles, as it results in a lot of sonic joy.
Would You Travel for Audio?
The summer is a great time to travel, and there are all sorts of trips that you can make that can expand your audiophile horizons. Some of these places can be paired with family trips, or couples trips, or what have you.
One of the best experiences that you can ever have is to visit the University of the South (read my story about the system and setup here) to experience their insane audiophile system. When college is in session, the students at University of the South are able to experience uber-high-end audio in a professionally-designed-and-treated nearly-$1,000,000 system/room that is fronted by Wilson Audio’s top-of-the-line speakers. Get this: you can schedule an appointment to see what they are doing and to hear their system at no cost. They do accept donations, and that is always a good way to say thank you for an over-the-top cool experience.
Our old music editor from AVRev.com, Charles Andrews, recently took a trip with his wife and young adult daughter to the South. One thing he did that sounded so, so cool was to go to church. Now under normal circumstances, you couldn’t get me to church if you pointed your AK-47 at me, but he went to see the Reverend Al Green be an actual reverend. Green, a soul superstar, can be experienced at The Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis, Tennessee. You might also tie in a visit to the STAX Records headquarters, which is also in Memphis. Isaac Hayes’ and so many other stars’ careers were born there.
McIntosh’s House of Sound (read my story) is a block away from Google in the Chelsea part of Manhattan. It is a five-story palace of audio that, with just a little bit of effort, you can visit when you go to the Big Apple. They have audiophile and home theater experiences on all five of their floors in the city.
If you want to get the best demo of your life from the best stereo salesman alive today, call and book a demo at Joe Cali’s Gryphon Showroom in West Hollywood (learn more here). Located mere steps from The Sunset Strip, The Troubadour and other musical venues, Joe’s new Pacific Design Center showroom brings the Cello Experience (he was my boss in the 1990s at Cello, and we had a LOT of fun selling the world’s most expensive stereos) back to the audiophiles of Southern California. You need an appointment but, if you can get one, you are in for a treat. You will be telling your audiophile friends about your experience with Joe for years to come.
Catch Up on Your Summer Reading?
I was lucky enough to get PS Audio’s Paul McGowan’s complete 10-volume set of reference books on the audiophile topic. They cover every element of the hobby from somebody who learned from some of the best and is one of the smartest designers in a business filled with brilliant engineers. Learning more about speakers, electronics or acoustics when the temperatures are high might lead to a better understanding and/or appreciation of your system when you get back to being serious about audio in the fall.
In the very early days of FutureAudiophile.com, I made a list of some of the best books for audiophiles to read (read the article here). Everything from The Absolute Sound’s historical coffee table books, to Ken Kessler’s History of McIntosh, to Dave Grohl’s or Grace Jones’ memoirs (she promised that she’d never write her memoirs) and beyond. You don’t have to be listening to your audiophile system to work on becoming a better audiophile, and a little pre-season research never hurt any audiophile.
Final Thoughts on Being an Audiophile in the Summer …
Perhaps it was Dale Carnegie in the classic book How To Win Friends and Influence People who said, “It is hard to be depressed when you are appreciative.” Being appreciative of your audiophile system is a big part of enjoying each step of your journey in the hobby. Hint: there’s no end game. There’s no perfect system – the one that is just the best, period. “If you can’t be with the one you love – love the one you are with” applies to audio gear, too. If you switch up your system for the summer like Ben does, that can keep things fresh when listening to music. Maybe you take a big trip and have to travel with some good wireless (or wired, for that matter) headphones? That time can give you a chance to experience your favorite music in all new ways. Perhaps you will hear new details in the quiet of your ANC noise cancelation? Maybe you will associate some new music with a trip that you took with your family? Every time that I hear Orbital’s “The Box (Part One),” I think of a train trip that my dear friend from AVRev.com and I took when we both were in college and learning to record classical music in Austria. Songs can evoke strong memories, and new memories can make for more blissful moments when sitting in front of your favorite audiophile speakers when the season is right for audio.
Do you do anything differently with your audiophile system in the summer versus other, more indoor-friendly seasons? Do you have any summer rituals that impact your audio? Would you travel to experience something amazing in the audiophile world? Tell us more below.
