Would you know an AKer if you saw them on the street?

birchoak

Hi-Fi Nut
When I was a kid, I found a card in my dad's wallet that proclaimed him to be a member of The Ancient and Honorable Society of Turtles. What the what? The part that fascinated young birchoak was how you could tell if another person was also a Turtle, and it would go something like this:

person who knows that they are a Turtle: Are you a Turtle?
other person: You bet your sweet ass I am!

"Holy cow, they said 'ass!'" was all I could think, not concerned in the slightest that my father was part of this shadowy organization.

Well, my dear father has been gone for many years, but let us turn to the present:
What if that person hanging on a strap on the subway across from you is ElectronGenius33 or OhmGirl19 but you literally have no way of confirming their identity as an AKer? Suggestions (to be agreed on before such encounters, obviously) are as follows:

1) AKer 1: Is your soldering iron hot?
AKer 2: You bet your sw--Oh my God, I left it on and it is literally going to burn my house down!

2) AKer 1: Goes to 11?
AKer 2: Indeed, but that would blow the output transistors.
AKer 1: Indeed it would. Ahem. Allow me to formally invite you to a secret, oak-paneled lounge filled with equipment by JBL, Klipsch, Mark Levinson, McIntosh, and their ilk, for hours of high fidelity listening, followed by a highly illegal but oh so very entertaining, no-holds-barred pit fight of a completely restored Technics SA-1000 vs. a stock My Little Pony shower tunes radio.

3) AKer 1: Hey, is that a Luxman on the sidewalk?
regular person: Who's Luck's Man?

Let me know which secret phrase is best, or kindly present a superior one.
 
I might, if:

I see him pulling gear from a dumpster.
He's carrying a 1966 transistor radio.
His clothes are Walmart, but he's also wearing $500 headphones.
He's loading old Klipschorns into a pickup from the same year the horns were built, with a big grin.
He's wearing a yellow button with "Bullshit" written on it.
He's wearing a Yamaha Advisory Board windbreaker (I still have mine).
I hear him tell his wife he paid ten dollars for the Khorns.
He gets excited when he finds a console with tubes at the flea market.


and the #1 confirmation:

He gives away a turntable he'd offered for sale at the flea market to an enthusiastic teen. Then throws in a receiver and speakers.
 
I knew a Turtle years ago.
Crotchety old cuss.
Tail gunner.


AK’re on the street? No, too rare.

The guy passing by the electronics section at the thrift store without really looking except if something “special” happened to be there? Maybe.

AKer 1: scroe any good woogers lately?
AKer 2: yes, but they need foam.
 
I used to ask craigs buyers that came here to buy audio gear. I never met a single one from the 2 dozen or so I asked (which surprised me) so I no longer ask.
 
I'm not sure, but it's actually starting to get weird for me. 3 different people I've either bought something from, or run into on other sites, have turned out to be members.
 
Not sure about the street. Maybe at their home.

boombox-old-man-eating.jpg
 
I did wonder if there were any UK AKers at the June 10th Junction 28 Radio Rally. If you were there, I was the guy wandering around with a vintage Heathkit R-C tester in one hand and a pristine Mark 8 III Avometer in the other. Scroe.
 
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