hey SteveB,
Members of the NC Audiophiles periodically propose meetings with a posting here in the forum. You might see an invitation to a gathering if a member has gotten a new amp or speakers, etc., and wants to give other members an opportunity to listen. I've been to meetings at Carl's house and at Claude's, though not recently. You could certainly post an invitation to meet on a weekend and allow other members to RSVP.
I myself am primarily interested in modifying or building equipment to reproduce music better, while avoiding spending megabucks for high-end components. I built some speakers, but have never heard them driven by a solid state amp, only my low-power tube amp. I've never heard my system with copper interconnects, only the silver ones I've had for years. I've also never heard how my amp (in its current interation) sounds driving a nice pair of commercial loudspeakers. Those are some of the things I'd like to explore as a means for identifying areas in my system that need improvement.
FYI - some things that helped improve my system so far: switching to Goertz speaker cable, installing Sonicaps in my amp, going to a passive amp imput through an Alps pot, and many more things, some minor, some major.
Lensman
