How much do we at A'gon influence the industry?

I don’t know the answer to your question but I would not dismiss this a streamer insignificant.  No one needs bad internet comments, and in Audio, a greater proportion of people buy on line.  I’ve googled components many times and been directed to this site to read posts, so it isn’t just Agon members that see this stuff

Wow i didn't sleep last night thinking about this the answer is  O.

as for Googling and ending up here… try deleting all your web history, cookies and then search again.

our degree of impact on the market…. or how important are audio forums…


I’ve wondered the same sort of things in the past. I agree there does not seem to be any concensus the membership here or at any other forum detracts or contributes significantly to or from the upper end audio market.

indeed, what one says online and what one actually does in fact can often be very different.

I’ve heard too despite the level of acrimony or negative conotation in a post or topic, ALL advertising is good.

to what degree meanderings and ramblings online impact new product sales is presently anyone’s guess.

as the majority of transactions here or at another major resale website are overwhelmingly preowned merchandise I’d offer we have little impact at all on the current audio market new merchandise sales apart from contributing to increasing awareness.

the one area which may be impacted would be the retail ranges below $3500 for new kit. perhaps even below $2000.

maybe less.

loads of disposable income were disposed of about six years ago or so when the economy took a big hit, briefly. although it has recovered, ain’t no one gonna drop their MSRP accordingly, any time soon.

one thing to keep in mind, what ever is the total membership at ALL HT or Audio forums combined, we still make up only a tiny percentage of the buying public at large.

that said, we make up the largest portion of the buying public which will buy audio products at prices other people would scoff at or choke on after hearing what they are!

I’ve also wondered given the nature of the industry having a well worn appetite for dealing with used gear, why more if not all dealers arent more into taking in trades, or used gear as partial payments for their new kit?

the most attractive sales tactic I’ve been hooked with was a trade it back in for full price if you choose a likewise but more expensive product. buy a pr of speakers for $3K new, and within 12 months get $3K credit on a pr of speakers costing $6K, or $10K, etc.

I believe electronics had a shorter period for trading up, like 90 days? or not. can’t remember.

only thing I recall for a fact was I became reluctantly loyal to that dealership for quite some time.

then I was told about this venue. yet I’m still inclined to buy new when possible.

I can only provide one data point related to Erik’s question, namely my own purchasing experiences.

When I consider purchasing an audio component, if after following and/or researching comments that have been provided here or elsewhere about particular products within the specific category I find what seems to me to be significant controversy about the manufacturer’s customer service and support, or that seems to suggest that system matching and/or setup are more critical than usual with that component, that component becomes a non-starter as far as I am concerned. There are always alternatives which don’t have those concerns but are otherwise comparable.

So to me commentary provided at forums such as this one are an essential and very influential means of narrowing the possibilities when it comes to selecting an audio component.

Best regards,
-- Al