About Stereo-Untypical
My name is Noam, and I have a problem. 
Let’s try that again. I’m 42, share a name with the radical Noam Chomsky, and live in southern Canada with my near-perfect partner and two of my kids. I love most genres of music, including country and rap. My main interests are folk and jazz though. I also listen to quite a bit of Beethoven and Mahler. I suppose my ‘holy trinity’ would be Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, and Beethoven. My favorite rock band is Wilco, the finest American band since, well, The Band.
I believe listening to music should be a habit, not an ‘event’. Life’s too short to compare cables! Damn, I’d rather talk about music than “listen to cables”! Music is the thing…audiophiles are largely just nerds. I guess that makes me one; but nowadays I listen to music on all kinds of gear - from the car radio to my Zune 30 MP3 player, to my modest, largely DIY home system. And it’s all good! My interest in headphone audio is pretty recent and has so far been a great source of enjoyment.
I’ve been interested in audio gear since I was 12 - specifically, it was the day my stepdad brought home a pair of Maggie MG-II’s! I can remember poring over his magazines, memorizing model numbers and specs…..yeah Bob, we got him hook, line and sinker. In the early 80s, I worked in retail hi-fi in Toronto, made some friends doing that, and was burned out by age 19. A brief but interesting ‘career’. I rekindled my interest in the hobby about 12 years ago, and in the ensuing time have bought, sold and tried a LOT of equipment. By my count I’ve had 14 completely different systems in the last 12 years, not counting headphone systems. I’ve probably owned more than 70 components in that time. I’ve also built a number of DIY kits and projects. To an outsider all that may sound ridiculous, but I’ve enjoyed the trip…for the most part.
I was one of the earliest toronto-audiophiles members, and I founded the toronto-triodes group (both still going strong). I’ve made many friends in this hobby, and learned a ton from them. Most of all I’ve learned to keep it fun.
So my ‘hi-fi ethos’ -if one is needed- is that if it sounds good, it is good. If it makes you dance, it’s probably really good. And if it’s ‘unobtanium’ or priced in the stratosphere, it probably holds little interest for me.
I hope this blog will be informative and entertaining; if you agree, drop me a line, or Digg some of my posts.
regards,
Noam Bronstein
(admin)
the pic below is from the first Phonogram convention, August 2001.(Toronto)
