CE Pro July 2023 - 4

From the Editor
by Arlen Schweiger
Meet the New Boss,
Not Same as the Old Boss
I consider
myself an
audiophile and
my journey
started in 1987
when I spent
some Bar Mitzvah
gift money on
a Marantz AV
receiver, cassette
deck and
loudspeakers,
and Toshiba
CD player.
WHETHER YOU CALL IT a tall order or big
shoes to fill, I know following an industry
icon like Jason Knott is a daunting task. For
starters, Jason is 6-feet tall and wears size
10 shoes, while I stand just 5-foot-5¾ and
fit in size 8½ footwear.
Besides that, Jason is a dog owner and I'm
a cat person - my two female felines often
spend time as my home office mates. Jason
is a child of the 1970s and knows far more
than most about the decade's movies, music
and sports; I can say the same but for the
1980s as a proud Gen Xer.
A lifelong Californian, Jason made a big
move from the West Coast to Massachusetts
so he could take the CE Pro job. A
lifelong New Englander, I left for North
Carolina seven years back, and became a
remote CE Pro employee.
Jason is a natural athlete who can go long
stretches between golf outings and still
break 90; even during my heyday of playing
two-to-three rounds per week I struggled
to shoot below 100.
Of course, we share plenty in common,
too, which is why I consider him a good
friend and very complementary co-worker,
and I'm sad to see him leave. Professionally,
though, I could not be happier that he accepted
D-Tools' " Godfather " type of offer.
With that said, here's some brief details
about me; we'll be back to industry-related
content next month.
It's usually Jason who brings this up in
Arlen Schweiger is
Editor-in-Chief of
CE Pro. He can
be reached at
arlen.schweiger@
emeraldx.com and
@ArlenSchweiger
on LinkedIn.
group settings, but 20 years ago I fulfilled
a dream by appearing on Jeopardy! -
though I failed to reach Final because I was
$2,200 in the hole. Still, it was an amazing
trip in which I was accompanied by my dad,
who in 1969 was on the original Jeopardy!
hosted by Art Fleming (he finished third
too but earned $700 and an Encyclopedia
International set). We went to Del Mar race
track, my first game at Dodger Stadium
4 | CE Pro July 2023
(Sharon Stone threw out the first pitch)
and Getty Museum. And in fact, the contestant
who won my game went on to win
three more plus that season's Tournament
of Champions, so no slouch to lose against.
I consider myself an audiophile and my
journey started in 1987 when I spent some
Bar Mitzvah gift money on a Marantz AV
receiver, cassette deck and loudspeakers,
and Toshiba CD player. A decade later,
things kicked into high gear when I was
introduced to what a pristine sounding
Phish bootleg sounded like and became a
huge tape trader.
That was part of my true entrée into
the Vermont quartet's live music prowess
thanks to my neighbor, Chad Fagin, when we
were both living at home in Western Mass.
Chad - who also wound up in our industry
and recently joined Phoenix Marketing
Group as the rep firm's Southeast general
manager - upgraded me to a Sony AVR and
taught me about Paradigm speakers, Nakamichi
tape decks, DAT recordings and more.
I added vinyl playback (before used record
prices skyrocketed) and high-res downloads
to my collection, and still own thousands of
CDs, LPs and FLAC files; I reluctantly tossed
away 600+ tapes before moving to N.C.
Other passions include sports cards,
autographs, road trips, and visiting state
highpoints and national parks. My summer
plans include all of the above.
My favorite songs are the Allman Brothers'
" Blue Sky " and " Jessica " ; favorite films,
Raiders of the Lost Ark and Back to the
Future; and favorite shows, Cheers and the
first 13 seasons of The Simpsons.
I'll leave you with one life lesson, from Cliff
Clavin in Cheers' finale: " If you're not wearing
comfortable shoes, life is just chaos. " That
goes for tradeshows especially, so I'll see you
in Denver at CEDIA Expo, walking the show
floor in my size 8½ Skechers.
cepro.com
http://www.cepro.com
CE Pro July 2023

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