The truth...Anyone can consider themselves a consultant, of anything.

Question: why did you have the need to mention a couple of celebrities in your last thread?

Ron Johnson, Audio ConsultantFrom the movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'. A skeevy loser that hooks up with underage girls because of his job at the mall and ability to drive them to 'the point' in his '78 T-Bird."I've known him since high school, and he's still banging 16 year-olds that come into the Radio Shack. He's totally Ron Johnson, Audio Consultant!"

op

time to give it a rest

this is not your therapy group

I was asked by some other members here through private emails, to tell a few of my stories. I was encouraged to keep this going, but not necessarily, make it about me, but make it a group thing. So many here, have interesting stories and specific experiences, not to mention, very fine and educated listening capabilities. BTW, I never met Diana Ross either. I have met Lauren Bacall. That was a very interesting experience for me. For anyone not interested ?....simply, just don't participate, and move on. Enjoy, be well and stay safe. Always, MrD.

What qualifies anyone to call themselves an audio reviewer or a music critic or a film critic? Look on You Tube and there are hundreds of people reviewing music, films, audio gear, shaving cream. Fact is, in unlicensed professions, we are free to call ourselves anything and try to sell that service. It’s up to the buyer to determine the value of the consultant’s opinion based on their methodology and prior experience with trusting the consultant’s judgment. I’ve watched movies that I loved and later heard movie critics say it was terrible. So I don’t take that critic’s word after that. Consultant is not synonymous with expertise or competence. It is just selling a service. I would think that if someone paid for the services of an audio consultant and then had negative results, they would stop using this consultant.

I’ve not considered the importance of the label audio consultant until I saw these posts. To learn things, I’ve gone to stores, books, videos, and blogs. Reading and listening, I’ve gotten an increasing appreciation of who knows what they’re talking about and who does not. Occasionally, there are "tells" which indicate either special expertise or flim-flammery. I’ve emailed some folks who seem like experts and it’s typically proven helpful to me -- Almarg was generous in this regard; I also got nice notes from Don Sachs and Ralph. Others I’ve emailed with who have not been experts have been helpful in telling me what they know and indicating their limits.

So, between the experts and common sense folks I’ve discovered (here and on AudioCircle), I’ve gotten some helpful nudges either towards or away different gear or experiments to try. Ultimately, that’s what I’m looking for -- a good guess at what’s worth trying for myself. And it’s never occurred to me that I needed a consultant, per se.

What happened to the last thread?  Why was it closed down?

@twoleftears I discussed the situation with Tammy and Admin, about some folks like yourself, counting commas and making fun of the thread, so I thought it best to have it deleted. BTW, did you ever read my comment about the flip down stylus guard on your Denon cartridge. You likely listen with the guard still on the cartridge. Ask anyone who sets up tables and is serious about analog ( I did, and I was ), and that stylus guard should have been removed once the table was set up and ready to play. Resonance city ! The only stylus guard, ime, that was designed to be left on during record playback, were those top models by Shure, although, I still preferred them removed, when sq was to be optimized. I hope this thread can continue, and I have been getting some questions thrown my way and have been interacting with appreciative members of our community. Have a nice day.

So, whatever skill sets and experiences I have had through the years, what was most important to me, was my customer. It was my job, to analyze ( dig deep with music related questions ) each and every one; to find out what their experiences were, what music, both recorded and live, that they were exposed to; what currently, they were not happy with ( with their current systems / rooms), educate them ( many did not need a music education, such as some names I mentioned ), but did need guidance at what was available to them, for their home or studio systems. It was never about money spent, as I helped all people, at all economic levels, but about improving a system, or building one from scratch, a system that suited them, for their listening tastes, their specific environments, and ultimately, their listening enjoyment. It was an awesome " job " that I had. Always a happy one, even with some of the difficult designers I had to work with, on many occasions. Music is the real deal, the universal language of all, and we need more of it, shared amongst ourselves, especially during these hard times of ours. I was fortunate to have grown up around music, recorded, and live. With our nation experiencing the separation of people, neighborhoods, towns, cities and states being pulled apart, it has been my experience, that music, is a worldwide recipe, for bringing people together, and there is no better time, than now. And yes, the equipment we purchase, is a means, to getting there. How many people I know, who do not care about speakers being the size of refrigerators, but can dance and tap their feet, while listening to their phones. It is all about the music. Enjoy, be well and stay safe. Always, MrD.