25: Max looks back

It’s been a long time between AudioEnz columns. But I couldn’t let the 25th anniversary pass without one more contribution.

Michael Jones and I first came together around 1987. I’d finished building student radio (Contact 89FM) in Hamilton and was writing a music column for The Waikato Times.

Hi-Fi was a big part of my personal interest and this new audio magazine Zounds was out at Lakeland or maybe Ken Prime’s store in Hamilton. Anything audio was always going to capture my interest and a letter of application was quickly written and sent.

And so it began. First record reviews and then a slow move into equipment. Through the years Michael and I put our words together and the enjoyment was simply sharing ideas about all things audio. We learned to write and learned to write about audio. I also learned from a distance what commitment and determination really means when you produce a magazine like Zounds/AudioVideo/AudioEnz from Michael's end. It remains one of the significant achievements in New Zealand audio that Michael kept the magazine going.

And then it stopped. Exhausted and worse for wear and tear, the print days were over. Both of us swore to "never do it again."

Shortly after making that statement, the phone calls from Michael started and the ideas began to flow, e-mails began arriving and the web was taking hold and not long after saying we’d "never do it again", somehow Michael had launched AudioEnz on-line. It was live. And it was fresh and new. And to this day, I’m not really sure how it happened!

Invigorated and excited about this new medium, we again learned how to write. This time for the web. The review style was shortened, fonts decided on and layout done beautifully, Michael's vision was years ahead of the local audio industry.

Then the future became obvious. Ever the contrarian on things audio I would argue the opposite side of existing audio thought just to see where it would go. And for the most part that philosophy served me well. It sure got me into trouble, but for me, arguing about everything from dipoles to perforated screens and bass shakers was a way to challenge industry thinking.

I was sure a forum was the future for AudioEnz. I thought we could get 20-30 local audio people to engage in discussion. And that would be enough. "We’d never see 500 members", Michael and I both said, laughing at the possibility and our wild dreams of forum grandeur. But I bugged Michael to breaking point to build it. Today with more than 3400 members the AudioEnz Forum enjoys a global profile with informed members from around the world sharing ideas and experience in a unique friendly forum culture.

I owe a debt to Michael. He gave me the chance to write. He allowed me Max’s "Bitch Pages" and the chance to share my enthusiasm for home theatre and music. Most of all he taught me about good audio. "Don’t buy the Carver amp, Max", Michael said. He was right. "It’s all about power supply, Max", Michael said. He was right. "It’s all about the music, Max", Michael said. He was right. "The Forum should be a friendly place to discuss audio, Max", Michael said. He was right.

Michael has taken his rightful place in my musical life as one of the most important people I ever met. Or argued with.

Things change and for me I’ve spent more time with music than home theatre over recent years building radio stations and getting back to what I wrote about 20 years ago in my favorite AudioEnz column, My Back Pages. It was always about the love of music.

AudioEnz is Michael's achievement and I am just so proud to have been a part of it. I still stop in from time to time to read the forum and people still ask if I’m that guy that used to write for AudioEnz.

I always answer "yes" and then answer to the question they really want to ask: "Yes – the Mizuda is still going."