Having grown up in the NOLA music culture, and raised by a Black woman whose radio was on hard gospel 24X7, music is deeply woven into the fabric of my daily life.

In the 1960’s and early '70’s I lived in NYC; was promoting concerts and managing groups. Music 7-days a week. I put together my 1st stereo system in the early 60’s.

We heard about a gathering in upstate NY and drove up. Strange…the officers were letting people smoke in front of them. Concerts, concerts, concerts…the Fillmore East most every week end, CBGBs, jazz clubs in the East and West Village…sometimes Broadway shows. Very occasionally, classical at Carnegie Hall. But, the concert I remember most clearly at Carnegie Hall was Delaney and Bonnie with Eric Clapton and Dave Mason.

Early rock was amazing, new and different types of music and groups emerged almost weekly. An example: I was managing a British blues group…very loud and hard blues…Marshall stacks, Hammond B3 with a Leslie, kit with double kicks, and a Fender Twin-Reverb for the lead . One day I walk into their house and they are playing acoustic guitars and singing 4-part harmony. I ask what happened? They put CSN on their turntable.

Then, a change…contracts with Mercury and Columbia didn’t pan out. Drugs began to take a real toll. It was time to take a new path …graduate school to attain a PhD in Psychology.

Upgrading equipment occasionally; but always collecting music when I found something interesting, life went on. I married a woman who loves the blues and music as much as I do. My practice as a forensic Psychologist developed and grew. The Absolute Sound and Stereophile emerged with a focus on equipment. Tubes and turntables drifted to the background for many, though re tubes I’m still a true believer. TT not so much. All those LPs from the 60’s and 70’s, rock, blues, jazz, Broadway shows, Classical LP’s sit in my music room. The TT is rarely used…but last night I was thinking about getting a new cartridge and comparing pure analog to digital, now.

Since the late 1980’s I’ve focused on digital media with its good enough sound but far superior convenience, to play what I want to hear in that moment…letting 1-piece of music drive me to the next.

It’s about the music for me…the emotions and experience come across on the radio as they do through a well put together system of equipment. The benefit of Roon for me is that there is so much music available. That said, there is a lot of music that is not on Roon…so my collecting continues…albeit at a much slower pace.

Roon is new to me, but I’ve been using streaming for a “long time”…before Computer Audiophile started…I don’t remember exactly when. I’m reading about Roon and trying to understand how to best set it up to use it.

Thank you to those whose Vision is Roon and to those who are implementing that Vision.