Kevin Olson

Musical roots. My father always said he couldn’t carry a tune if it had a handle. But he loved music. Dad’s younger sister and brother were both professional musicians. When I was eight I went with dad to get a component stereo at Montgomery Wards. Do you remember Good, Better and Best listed in the catalog?

My aunt started me with piano lessons at age seven. At age twelve I joined a choir. When I turned fourteen our school had a mandatory ‘Fine Arts’ program. We studied the history of Western Art, Architecture and Music. That class gave me a love of Classical music and exposure to Jazz. That experience and choir still fuel my musical tastes.

While dating my future wife, I had a stereo in my living room. We still do. Seems normal to both of us.

When I turned thirty I suffered a career crisis and got a job selling audio at Music by Design in Sausalito. It was quite an experience. Maybe you came by the store in 1984-1985. Best sound in the north bay area at that time.

Over the years I have built four preamps from kits/designs and three pairs of loudspeakers. I built one of the loudspeakers because I had never heard any speaker that sonically amazing. Still my reference.

I find DIY quite rewarding and I am grateful that people like Nelson Pass and Sigfried Linkwitz share their engineering brilliance with hobbyists.

Having two crazy hobbies, photography and audio, our living room is a stereo store and a photo gallery.

I was President of the Napa Valley Photographic Society for five years. So when I found BAAS/SFAS I had to join. Since SFAS is East Bay, participating is much easier for this Napa resident.

Understanding how clubs work, I know they always need a helping hand. So I am pleased to join the SFAS Board and very pleased every time I attend a meeting and talk with all of you audiophiles.