Audiogon Is Still Relevent...Don't Listen to the Naysayers.

I think a lot of it has to due with Covid, no seriously. I think Audiogon in general may have a lot of people with a lot of extra time on their hands that just like to comment, get their numbers up or just be a troll. Add the extra time of being home due to quarantine and now that just amplifies the extra post. What gripes me is if someone post looking for information about their system or brand X vs Z, I love when people comment with absolutely no relevant information just to comment. Cable post are the worst. Yes I know it is system dependent, so do most of the other thousands of members, but if someone has a question about brand X of a cable with their brand Z speakers, answers like "cables are snake oil" are just a waste. The question wasn’t about if you think cables work, the questions was asking for experience with a certain brand. If you have no experience with that brand, kindly move to the next thread, rubbish snake oil answers just clog the post, start fights and prohibit the OP from getting their answers which is truly what a forum is about.

On balance the blather far outweighs the useful. That said, pay attention, sift and search, this is where I learned about DBA, HFT, ECT, PHT, PPS, springs and Townshend Pods, Herron, Soundsmith, Raven, Tekton, and much, much more. 

Some of these like springs and Schumann resonators I never in a million years would have tried without people like Rixthetrick, roxy54 and magister helpfully describing how they sound.  

Things like these have brought my system to a level I would not have thought possible. Okay technically it was me that did this. Everyone else gets the same info, but only a few of us actually bother to act on it. If more did, imagine where they could be now.

But instead, not only is it just a small minority who listen, but a larger and much more vocal majority not only don't listen they bash bash bash and actually succeed in driving away a lot of the best contributors.

One of the worst even devotes a whole thread to mocking and insulting people who try and make their systems better. 

So it is a mixed bag. The site itself is useful. Wish the same could be said of more of the people posting on it. Guess the same could be said of the internet, and life in general. KBO, as Churchill used to say. KBO.

Top things I’ve learned on Audiogon:

1) I needed to upgrade my old Pre-amp. Someone here I trusted told me so.
2) discovered Class D amps
3) learned a lot about tube gear from many. A lot from Atmasphere and Almarg in particular.
4) dispersion patterns are an important consideration when choosing speakers. This topic is an Audiokinesis specialty.
5) Impedance matching between components is key. You are trapped if this is not done right. This topic was an Almarg specialty.
6) Wires can matter. So can power conditioning. YMMV here.
7) people here helped me tune and match my phono section specifically...cart to step up TF to phono stage.  Also got the idea to use mu-metal foil as an EM shield around my otherwise noisy but now dead-quiet step-up transformer here somewhere.
8) Jitter control is key when it comes to DACs and digital sources. I’ve found Kijanki’s posts on this and other topics very helpful over the years.
9) Good bass does not come easy. More demanding of power than I realized prior. You need lots of quality power/muscle in most every case to truly do it completely and well. This is where Class D amps shine uniquely in particular.
10) learned to consider and factor in how human ears work as part of the system.
11) Lots of good products to choose from and how to do it.
12) Mamboni helped me a lot early on to learn more about Ohm Walsh speakers.
13) learned a lot about the instruments used in making music and the sounds they make as a result of topics discussed here.

Notice a lot of the people mentioned here are professional engineers with large knowledge base and willing to share. Guess what I do for a living? Not related to audio though. There have been many others I have learned from though, not always technical gurus, just credible folks with good experiences to relate.

My understanding is Mamboni was a retired classical musician in a major symphony orchestra I believe and also a big Ohm Walsh fan. He is probably the one who helped me set my course here the most early on.

By the way old posts by smart people are not forgotten history here. You can look up all posts ever done by any member here if so inclined.

To me, this site is so much more than just a buyer's guide. Yeah, things can sometimes get a might testy here but I still enjoy the heck out of the joint.  I enjoy the passion here.  I get a kick out of how articulate some of the posters are. Am I offended that discussions involving PrimaLuna tend to devolve into blood sport? Well, yeah, but then I slap myself a couple of times and tell myself to get over it.

The negative comments don't bother me as long as they aren't mere personal attacks.  It's an entertainment/hobby site, not unlike sports boards.  It's not 'important' in any sense.  I didn't love my music any less when i had scratchy used Seraphim discs playing on my BIC turntable or cheap cassettes on a Sony tape deck.  And if someone denigrates low-end tube amps or face-palms because I have lampcord speaker cables or is outraged that I play cd's at all, so what?  It's not going to make anything sound different to me, nor is it going to inspire me to pay (or regret not paying) 20-30K to improve things with a room re-build or a new pair of speakers (it might inspire me to invest $100 or so or perform some simple $0 tweaks!).