FOLKS,

Unbelievably, this forum has been going two and a half years (since Jan 2017).

Thanks to all (members & non-members) for participating - ie. even just regularly visiting & viewing.
And to members for posting, about your own interests or whatever.

Forum Views have doubled in the past year & continue on an increasing trend.

Membership has increased 35-40% in the past year.

45% of the membership have been online (logged in) in the past 3 months.

We also regularly now receive almost 200 'guest' visits per day (including of course search engine bots).

We'd like to continue to grow participation in a friendly & supportive environment.

Also maintain a broad spread of sub-interests in the general area of audio, hi fi, music, film/cinema & any other related activities that may be of interest.

Any comments & suggestions are welcome.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Wow two and a half years !
Congratulations to you Owen for establishing such a friendly forum and to the members who have kept it this way.
I'm not sure if this is the place to raise this, but I have been thinking for some time that it would be great if we could develop the social side of this forum to include meetings or visits to members homes.
We all share a common interest but tend to be isolated in our respective caves with only written posts to link us.
What do members think about the idea of having friendly informal gatherings locally to discuss, compare, make suggestions, or just listen to music in each others homes?
I certainly don't want it to turn into a competition as to who has the best gear or biggest speakers! Keep it friendly and constructive ( like the tone of this forum ) with the added bonus of actually meeting face to face.
Whatcha reckon ?
Cheers
Graham

Good suggestion, Graham.
This has been mentioned & you may have noticed that we have a Get-togethers section already (as yet no postings ).
I have seen overseas hi fi forums where such occasional postings are interesting, especially with descriptions & pics of such visits & systems set-ups.

The reality for many is that their listening rooms/enviroments may not have the luxury of accommodating sizeable groups, but that's no problem, even a 1 person visit would constitute a 'get-together' IMO.

(Recently, my visit to rmc001's place qualified as such a posting, but we decided it would appear on Show Us Your System instead.)

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Great idea, Graham.
But doesn't that cross over into audio club territory? As a Melbourne Audio Club (MAC) member I know the house visits are what members love, as well as monthly general meetings. The MAC forum adds to that for those who can't make it to the meetings or who live further away. Perhaps there could be a NZ country-wide Dark Lantern Audio Club?
As I live in another country (UK) I could attend as and when I visit back down under.

AMR-iFi R&D

Really enjoy the Forum, a friendly place. I visit every day. Congratulations Owen , job well done.