Op ,I absolutely agree with your thoughts and I’m guilty at times of being a butthead. My opinion is the problem is caused by our social evolution with the internet , over population and a conditioned impatience and a continual need for instant gratification. Take texting while driving , at first it was kids and now everyone does it. The town I live in is extremely mean by nature. Here it’s about not stopping for traffic lights that change to red. Every single light change has someone going through a few seconds too late. It’s interesting because now when you get a green light nobody goes for a few seconds. So the amount of movement time is essentially the same. Living in Fresno there is a popular T-Shirt that is a hand pointing a revolver at you with the caption “ Fresno , see it like a Native “. It’s just off the hook here. Anyway all our social ills carry over to chat sites. Being in recovery for over 30 years I have to rely on my Reprograming with suggestions like “ Look for the similarities, not the differences “. Or “ If you Spot it, You Got it “. I was told there is a God, and I’m not it. With all the experience I have and the instruction I’ve received, I can and still do occasionally spit fire . We live on the internet and are never together in person and are conditioned for instant gratification, as if my opinion actually matters. As a former shop owner and a professional businessman, you are painfully aware of our social ills. What I would like to share is that a few months ago I went into a showroom and adjacent warehouse that used to be Sun Stereo in Fresno. I followed the salesman showing us Quartzite for our remodel. I suddenly stopped in the doorway of the old showroom and asked him and my wife to please indulge me for a moment. I stopped looked around then closed my eyes. I had a perfect image of what I saw standing in that spot almost 50 years ago. It was absolute joy being in my “ Old Happy Spot “. So thanks for posting and bringing me back to that place of joy. If I could only grab a couple of those vintage receivers, a Nakamichi Dragon and some JBL 300’s while in the “ Way Back Machine “. Regards , Mike B.
Dealer affiliations and attitudes, assumptions and lack of respectful engagement in audio.
When I started in Audiogon 20 years ago it was a different place. There was pretty civil discussions with fellow audiogoners. There were audio dealers on the site and there were also hobbyists and it wasn’t a big deal. I been on the dealer side/business side the last 7 years. Here is what I find. A lot of us tend to be quickly negative and nasty to those who disagree with us. We don’t have the sharing of knowledge spirit that we used to have. A lot of us want to show others how much smarter than we are than them. In addition to that there seems to be an attitude that if you are a dealer you gotta be shilling instead of just telling the truth. More importantly there seems to be an attitude that audio is the only thing you do. I have a firm in my professional life that I have ran for 25 years. I’m smart enough to know you never know who you are talking to. I just think audiogoners have repeatedly started to step over the line and become HABITUAL LINE STEPPERS and not engage with the necessary level of respect. A lot of us in the hobby just want to meet and have positive audio and music experiences. Not rage debate! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS EVERYONE?