@billstevenson — Your first post argued acoustics is too technical for this forum. But "too technical" only holds if a subject admits of no gradations — if one is either a full expert or has nothing useful to contribute. Does acoustics really work that way? This is clearly false. "Nutrition" is a genuinely complex science, yet people become meaningfully healthier by learning something about fat, sugar, and salt. No biochemistry degree required. Would you suggest they don’t discuss it? The same is true here: understanding first reflection points, bass trapping, and RT60 doesn’t require an acoustics degree. And it’s worth noting that cables, amplifier topology, and cartridge loading are no less technical — yet they have their own parent categories without apparent concern.
Your follow-up clarifies that you’re not claiming expertise — rather, you’ve either had repeated bad experiences with supposed experts who got things wrong or have been adjacent in various ways to areas where acoustics expertise would be important. So it seems that the problem you’re describing isn’t that acoustics is too technical for discussion — it’s that overconfident practitioners cause harm. But that’s a reason to have more better focused and accountable discussion, not fewer.
A dedicated forum topic is precisely where inflated claims get challenged and it draws those with good information (and maybe expertise) more easily to a subject that is currently discussed randomly in other places. A focused topic helps with this.
On harm: the misinformation you worry about cuts both ways. Audiophiles spending heavily on gear while an untreated 15dB mode at 50Hz undermines everything they’re hearing are not in a neutral position — they are actively and expensively underserved. A forum topic focused on acoustics is one of the better mechanisms for preventing exactly the kind of harm you’re concerned about.
Overall, on this topic, I see no good reasons against having an Audiogon forum topic on, say, "Room Acoustics and Treatments." It would
- help forum participants in every other category,
- focus discussions,
- attract those with more expertise to help educate other participants , and
- help generate more activity in sales on the site.
It would be easier to argue against a free lunch than argue any more about this topic.
