Tom, you bring up a good and simple point that we all probably agree with in theory. Most of the experienced regulars ( read that as meaning "someone that has learned the hard way" ) ALWAYS suggest trying something out for yourself within the confines of your system. Obviously, there is quite a bit of difference amongst systems, operating conditions and even personal likes and dislikes.
Unfortunately, the "try before you buy" option is not always available for various reasons. Some people might live in areas that are not populated with a wide variety of components or dealers, some people rely on buying used and can't really audition before forking over the cash, etc... As such, there is quite a bit of information that people are looking for courtesy of the internet. Our goal here should be to provide the highest level of HONEST opinions that you can find in order to help these people ( myself included ).
Notice that i said "honest". It is fine if someone has contrasting points of view so long as they can express them in an orderly and constructive fashion. After all, we all know how subjective the field of "audiophilia" can be and having different points of view can only help widen the information pool available to us. I think that most of us want to know both the pro's AND con's of any given situation before we get into it.
This thread was NOT to say that dealers, reviewers, manufacturers, sales reps, etc... can't or don't offer some VERY solid and factual information and opinions. Quite the contrary as has been evidenced on more than a few occassions. Having these business professionals / companies recognized and identified for their valiant efforts to help the consumer can only help them in the long run. As such, i can't see any upright business person / audio professional or consumer that buys or sells online being against this type of recognition.
The thing that we are trying to avoid or "regulate" are the wolves in sheeps' clothing i.e. the person doing nothing more than self promotion in hopes of fattening their own wallet. These types of people typically do this REGARDLESS of the quality or specific considerations of the product and could care less about the "victim" of their "crime". You know, the person selling "cough medicine", "rheumatism / arthritis medicine" that is 65% alcohol, 15% water, 10% paint thinner, 5% flavoring, 5% coloring and 100% bullshit. Then there's the guy that can make it rain in drought season for the small fee of $500 or the guy with the best cable or amp under $10,000.
Obviously, this type of "scammer" has been around since the beginning of time and is not limited to the field of audio. Given that such type of people do exist, we simply don't want them to feel "comfortable" HERE. We want to know if this person is sincere and can be trusted on a regular basis or if they might have some outside motivations when expressing specific points of view.
With this in mind, we need to take steps to protect ourselves and other interested parties from these charlatans. Identifying who's who and making everyone register is one small step in the right direction. As far as that goes, while the A-gon feedback system can be put to good use in direct buying / selling situations, it too can be tainted or manipulated to one's benefit. That is, if that person is of a mind to cheat and defraud the public.
A-gon has been aware of this type of scenario and is supposedly working toward correcting it. I know that AA has taken steps to minimize this type of activity in their classifieds section. If Audiogon wants to remain the top site for buying / selling audio gear on the net, they need to set the pace for all the others. This means protecting BOTH the buyers and sellers that make use of this site. Agree or disagree, now's the time to speak your mind. Sean
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