Is advice from a constant upgrader to be avoided

Spendors? Which ones?

Without the people that swap gear frequently you would never be able to get the common questions "how does this vs this sound" answered.

A common misunderstanding. In fact we are totally able to answer these questions without ever so much as a peep from the flippers. There’s actually good reasons to avoid them. We have a thread here been going for something like a decade, forget dozens got to be hundreds of amps compared. I could not possibly care less what this guy has to say about anything. When you have listened to a hundred different amps and still haven’t found one worth keeping more than a few days, at what point do you finally give up and admit, waste of time? Or at least maybe time for a different approach? (This seems to be dawning on him. Fingers crossed. No, seriously, he has put tremendous time and energy into this. I really do wish him well.)

I would much rather hear from someone who never heard any of them but has studied everyone else’s impressions so thoroughly as to understand what the flipper never will. I say that knowing full well this really gets some people going. People who follow the herd, unable to think for themselves mostly. Everyone keeps repeating the "home audition" mantra so it must be true. Right? Not even.

Someone already said, when you see enough people saying the same thing just maybe they are right.

Honest truth is, the more closely you examine a lot of common assumptions the more they fall apart. We are supposed to read reviews, yes, but also home audition. Why? If the reviews are good, why home audition? If they aren’t then why read them?

How about this: learn how to read them! Michael Fremer, for example. Great reviewer. But why? Because he tells us what he hears. What he prefers. Anyone following MF knows he likes a fast neutral analytical hi-fi sound. There even was a time he made no bones about it. I don’t know if he is so full-disclosure these days, but it hardly matters now, does it? Anyone can simply look at his system, his component choices, read a bunch of reviews, and figure it out for themselves.

Therefore, when I read MF say something is snappy or a little dry or whatever, I know it is REALLY snappy and dry. If on the other hand MF says it leans a bit lush I figure this probably means just about right. Because I have learned how to read him.

You do absolutely have to be able to figure this out for yourself. If you can then you will totally be able to use the information provided by the guy who never even heard what he’s talking about. Get a lot more useful information from that than from the guy who has spent all his time listening to 500 amps and so has no clue what sounded like what. How could he? Could YOU keep track of 500 amps?!

Say yes if it makes you feel good. We all know the truth. Just not with the cajones to say so.

I've had 3 turntables, 3 arms, 4 cartridges, 2 phono stages, 4 amps, 3 speakers, and roughly 3 sets of speaker cables and interconnects and 2 sets of power cords. In 30 years. That is a pretty consistent 5 to 10 years, sometimes longer, per component. 

I think you are right to question advice from people who don't know what they're doing. Which yes it is clear to me churning through gear demonstrates a lack of ability. Either that or the person simply likes change. Either way, why would you listen to them? Because if you want to be happy a long time what do they know about that? And if you just want change, what do you need them for then anyway?

So a total waste of time- and yet how right you are, makes up a lot of what we have here.

Unless, you learn how to read them. This is the art of making sense and culling useful information out of a lot of blathery randomness. A highly sought after skill, since if you can master it then guess what? You can be like me: happy as a clam, 20 years since I had a dud, and all from reading reviews and comments just like the ones around here.

Wish I could tell you how to do it. Lord knows I've tried. Maybe not lately. But search around, they're there. It doesn't happen by accident. There is a method to the madness. Happy to help any time.