Hi-Fi Forums

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Are they good or bad for our hi-fi hobby, and what for me is another question entirely are they good or bad for the hi-fi industry.

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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by karatestu »

I think forums are mostly good for the hobby. If it wasn't for the pfm diy room i would not have become interested in diy audio. If it wasn't for this forum i would not have the sound i have today. Bake offs and get togethers are the future of comparison and truth and forums have facilitated that but there just aren't enough of them.

BUT there are things about forums which are bad for the hobby. Shills, agenda monkeys, wannabe self professed guru's, brand fan boys, ego maniacs are all bad as they can point the unwary in the wrong direction. You need to work out who to listen to and who to ignore. Tedious arguments between objectivists and subjectivists dont help either (pfm). You just know to avoid cable threads. At least we dont have to rely on magazines anymore and their paid for bias.

Are forums good for the industry ? I suppose it depends. Slurpers use the internet for their own ends. The honest, small manufacturer can use forums to their benefit but it is hard to get exposure without reverting to shilling, spamming or controversy.

All imo of course :grin:
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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by Daniel Quinn »

All of the above, depending on forum.

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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by CN211276 »

On balance forums are good. I would not have the system i have now had it not been for HFS. I would not have paid the prices to achieve a similar level of SQ through retailers and distributors with VAT on top. I am where I am now through being able to recognise the wheat from the chaf, and there is a lot more of the latter.

Having said that, forums are getting worse. The worst thing that has happened is the commercialisation of Wam. What are newcomers going to think when they access the site and see a kettle lead advertised for nearly £600 on the front page. It is not rational or even sane. I think the decline of the industry is largely responsible for what is going on and getting worse. Those behind Waswam, MCRU and Martin T are the worst offenders.

Forums have to a large extent become a source of amusement with all the shilling and bulshit. I consider it a badge of honour to be banned from Waswam, AOS and PFM,the latter being a refuge for brainwashed willy wavers. TAS has become more of a joke than all three. The American forums are better, but not free of shiling. I recently came across the pebbles which the Doc had already highlighted.
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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by Lindsayt »

It's the good things: bake-offs, DIY write-ups and experience sharing (from people who know what they're talking about) that by far outweigh the less good things such as shilling, over enthusiastic fan boys, the personal insults.

In the long term bake-offs do help to establish where products fit in, in the grand scheme of things. Which for most manufacturers and retailers will be a "bad" thing (fewer sales) and for others will be a good thing.

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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

So AoS bans products from being involved so as to protect his £50-ers.

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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by savvypaul »

Good for hobby - information, news, bake-offs, learning, interaction, entertainment. Spammers and shillers, and ad-hominem, can be a problem (although this is the only forum I regularly contribute to, and potential issues are spotted early and well managed).

Good for industry? Depends on what the industry is trying to achieve. If manufacturers were keen to facilitate meaningful comparison of their equipment they could loan items, via forums, for bake offs and home auditions. Most, though, would prefer to have things completely within their control and limit comparisons, relying instead on their marketing to do the job.

Manufacturer user groups are an attempt at closely managing contact / content within a forum type format - and are, as a result, stultifyingly dull...
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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Is there another forum as useful and honest as this one. I don't know of another one apart from Audio Talk, and even there the Dunn haters have tried to wreck it. TAS used to qualify on honesty when it was just a big yawn, but MCRU and Coherent have taken it over (well taken over senior members) with their bullshit products.

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Unread post by Daniel Quinn »

Audio talk is a honest as hs but it will allow diversity of opinion . Wether it's a good thing or bad fluctuates.

Audio talk as the most modest admin.

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Re: Hi-Fi Forums

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Sounds as if you have criticism of this forum and how it is run - so voice them.

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