I thought I could reduce my presence here and participate elsewhere so I registered on this site called whatsbestforum. First it looked harmless. I did not read the about section.
I made one comment, a speaker recommendation - did not name or mention anyone - just posted a link to a speaker site and I was immediately banned. The site went into an endless loop, with the you are banned message. I can't log off or view anything, the only way I can view it is if I start another private browser. On top of that, a few hours later, the message changed to "Your IP address has been banned." Like I am some kind of criminal to be kept away with a restraining order and pepper spray.
I wonder if it's an exclusive site or a cult, and if anyone from here is a successful member over there. The about us section is truly disturbing. I am not taking it personally, but it does bother me of course.
Been a member there for a little over 3 years, there's nothing insidious or otherwise about the site.
"The about us section is truly disturbing".
Is there some "about us section" aside from the below from the website that you are referencing because I can't fathom from it what is even remotely disturbing
"What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates."
@gano- Hello and good afternoon to you. Tom here. I am the lead moderator over at the WBF and none of our internal moderating team notes have you (or at least the moniker you use here) listed as being banned. Therefore, I am assuming that our software picked up the link in your first post as spam, and subsequently banned you from the forum.
If you wish, please PM me your moniker (username used), along with the IP address that was banned and I'll contact the administrative team to lift the ban, if all else checks out okay.
Please tag my name, as I do not frequent this forum very often. Thanks.
I actually like whatsbestforum. I've been a member there for several years. Personally, I read Audiogon and Whatsbestforum for entertainment. I have learned to take everything I read on audio forums with a huge grain of salt.
I've been a member of WBF for a while and its been a very positive experience- so has Audiogon. WBF has a little different vibe. It can get a little salty-audiophiles seem to get very emotional about our hobby-but I have rarely seen the nasty personal insults that are common (and sometimes highly entertaining) on this site. Maybe more discussion of high end stuff on WBF. Good people on both sites willing to share ideas.
I suspect posting a link violated some rule on WBF-you might read them to see if that's the case. WBF has subgroups for different brands, but there seems to be less blatant selling on that site, for better or worse. At any rate, its a site like this one-populated by folks who are passionate about audio, just a little different culture.
I really did not want to invite people here to attack my character. Now I can experience the same people removing my comments from my own thread that had zero to do with "let's argue and piss each other off". How not fun.
@ozzy62that is the whole story. I avoid you as much as I can for my mental heath, it would be so nice if you avoided insinuating stuff about me, my story telling etc. I know the whole story, I presented the whole story, the end.
@treitz3thanks Tom, I will PM you. I think it's a software/client issue when all is presented that the user is banned, along with "please contact the administrator" with no option to contact the administrator.
BTW I contacted a person named Ron on facebook about this.
@gordon please PM me the moniker (user name) that you tried logging into the WBF with. Thanks. I'll be happy to look into this for you, as simply logging in shouldn't result in an instant ban.
@gano same thing happened to me last month. Mine was I got banned after creating the account and just giving recommend on someone's question about TAD. So I don't want to have anything to do with them.
Funny enough I got sent a newsletter today too @gordon
I even forgot about them. I've unsubscribed from the email
As soon as I read the OP's first sentence about his joining WBF and his immediately posting a link in his comment it was clear he'd raised a red flag- typically links are either not allowed or are manually reviewed by a moderator or admin to ensure they're not spam / or virus laden.
I also inexplicably became unable to login using my initial user name/PW login credentials at WBF. I could not get the website to send a PW update and repeated emails to the website went unanswered, so I eventually made a small modification to my username, reregistered, and things have been fine for a couple of years now.
Hearing about several of these types of issues in the very small sampling of this thread suggests that maybe WBF could consider providing users improved access and interfacing with their user profiles/accounts and provide more active monitoring of related issues.
I get the same sometimes - your IP address has been banned, no rationale to why it does it. But I just either don’t visit as a result, or just wait until I’m in front of a different computer…
@mitch2 - The use of VPN's and multiple accounts when registering will result in an instant and automatic ban. Both of these are against the Terms of Service that every member has to read and agree too, prior to moving forward and completing their registration. Also, try not to post a link on your first post, as this may be picked up as SPAM or thought of as SPAM. Especially if there is a monetary value associated with clicking on the link. All of the aforementioned will result in an instant and permanent ban.
If there is anyone else that has experienced issues with the WBF registration process, just PM me and our team will look into it. Thank you.
@grannyring - Thank you so much for the kinds words. That was a very nice thing to say.
THE place where audiophiles and audio companies... All caps. Obviously there are 100s of sites for audio.
When it is combined with being banned instantly, it just feels there is something weird and a unique mindset behind managing the site. But I turned out to be wrong as they allowed me back.
I tried other forums when Audiogon was having trouble with several members. Since then, they have increased moderation. It was personal. Some members just didn’t like each other. I went to WBF and had no issues registering. I am used to people talk about expensive equipment but WBF really gets into the high end. I also noticed low amount of posts so it didn’t fit for me. I used audiogon to catch up on all things 2 channel and still do.
Recently, I have spent some time on Facebook group "2 channel audio for the average person". It has grown very quickly. They will not put up with BS. Everybody from a beginner to DIY to designer show up there. You still have lampcord, all amps sound the same crowd and why doesnt my 7 channel amp sound as good as my 2CH power amp but it is generally a pleasant experience. I do not have any issues here either. This is the place I learned the most.
What I most enjoy about WBF, and audiophilestyle forum most, is contributions from the designers/engineers/owners of audio firms, something you rarely get here.
@treitz3- I sent you a message but I stupidly used the word "email" in the text of my message so it is currently stuck in A'gon's "Moderation Queue". You will receive it eventually.
I love WTB as it drills deeper into very high end gear and topics. You are not shamed by comments about spending a great deal on your system. I enjoy both Agon and WTB for different reasons. When I can no longer take the A goners insisting that all tweaks are "snake oil" when they don't get results from a non-resolving system, or even worse comments about the tech used in a product when they have never heard the product, I go to WTB to get relief. It's a much more open minded group of members. A goners should give it a try, but please read the crowd before making comments.
Hello all, I would also like to add something else worthy of note.
VPN's and folks who use relays are what is causing much of this to happen when registering on the WBF. Spammers just LOVE to use these when spreading their SPAM across various web forums. If you use Apple relay or other relays used by Amazon, Microsoft, Verizon, Comcast, then you will run the risk of being associated with a known spammer. Don't use them, as if you are linked to that IP addy, you will be associated with the spammers and immediately banned.
In fact, all users of that IP address will be banned. If your IP address or e-mail is flagged, this will also cause your registration from being completed and will result in an instant and permanent ban.
Stopping spammers from creating havoc (as I am sure the admin team here on the 'Gon are all too familiar with) can be very time consuming....and if they get through, the effect they can have on the forum is not pleasurable to anyone involved. They will post 50 plus SPAM posts/threads as soon as they can. Spammers have gotten very creative and will even create a "sleeper" SPAM account that remains inactive for years, only to blow up one day out of nowhere. They are getting very creative. These measures have been put in place to curb their plans.
You made the cardinal sin of positing a product link to something they don’t get $ from when you click their product link.
I have only once looked at the site, so I have no dog in this fight.
That is not the case and it is an incorrect assumption, @jwillox
The WBF is not a typical money hungry site (at all) and we would never do something like that. This all has to do with spammers and keeping them from infiltrating the site. Nothing more, nothing less.
I love WTB as it drills deeper into very high end gear and topics. You are not shamed by comments about spending a great deal on your system. I enjoy both Agon and WTB for different reasons. When I can no longer take the A goners insisting that all tweaks are "snake oil" when they don't get results from a non-resolving system, or even worse comments about the tech used in a product when they have never heard the product, I go to WTB to get relief. It's a much more open minded group of members. A goners should give it a try, but please read the crowd before making comments.
secretguy nailed it. IMO, it's the height of pomposity to claim someone's system isn't good enough if they don't hear differences with different cables, components, etc. When in fact, there is no objective sound difference between cables.
"Non resolving" whilst their room has RT60 akin to a cathedral @secretguy
I detest weird self serving comments like that. Just because you have some expensive gear doesn't mean your system is more resolving. What is resolving about a speaker system that can't run the gamut of frequency range that is normal for music without massive nulls and incoherent presentation.
No amount of purchasing will make that system resolving and calling it so doesn't make it so
When a system/room must be described by acoustics concepts and their parameters, i never see the word "resolving" which is more linked to digital files format than acoustics....
I dont want "a resolving system" so much as a natural timbre sounding one... And timbre experience is more complex than just purchasing a "resolving " piece of gear...
My 'system', POS as some may discern, 'resolves enough' for me to 'resolve' between my aided ears into my rather 'over-resolved' greyed matter.....
Didn't even know WTB as a forum existed.....
Doubt if I'd do more than kibitz to see what the latest phraseology is applied to gear I can't afford, don't have a 'proper space' to 'appreciate the finer details'...
...'scuse, 'resolution' that some can enjoy.
Not a 'hater', don't get me wrong.
Just can't get erected over it.....happy enough when I wake to one... ;)
Each forum has its own culture. And it evolves over time. You find your place. I’ve probably been here the longest among the audio-related fora I joined, but don’t post as much these days. I know quite a few folks from WBF. Common base is a shared love of music, though it often comes out as a gear quest, since our respective tastes in music differ. There are still some long time members here, I think I started posting in around 2006, when I made the transition from ’stats to horns.
And I think there is a burn-out factor after a while, not meant as a diss to anybody here, but at a certain point, you’ve covered the ground, the "latest and greatest" is not always the answer and at least in my case, I have a variety of interests, as I’m sure many here do, that keep me occupied since I’m no longer in "gear acquisition mode."
@ozzy62 I agree,almost all of your post make want to not be on this site. Which is why I registered over there. It's fascinating how you poison a lot of harmless threads and turn them into petty bar fights. You be you, never change and enjoy whatever is left from this audiogon forum thing.
@whartwell you still contribute a lot here, and a lot of value, hopefully you aren't burnt out and done with this forum. It's definitely a mixed bag of fun and frustration but so is life, we just have to be wise about it.
A few options - if existed - would make it so much more peaceful though, filter option for one...
Non resolving, in that context, was a perfectly acceptable use of the term. People owning a system which is not particularly high resolution, or non resolving, can be forgiven for not understanding or even believing how one component or cable can be distinct in its improvement or worsening of the sound.
“I can’t hear a difference” or “I can’t hear it in my system” is understandable.
“I can’t hear it so therefore no one else can” is not.
I was in a high end dealer in Denver listening to early Wilson Watt/Puppies on Levinson gear with a Wadia CD front end. Quite high resolving for its time. Sounded pretty good and drew a small crowd. The salesman said he didn’t think the speaker cable was doing the system justice so he substituted what was actually a less expensive cable. Damn. The sound just expanded, much wider and deeper soundstage, greater low level detail, it was just flat better in general. I heard a gasp from a gentleman behind me and noticed his eyes as big as saucers. He said “I never believed in all that crap but man, that is obvious!!
The sideways bend this thread took into non resolving snake oil and psycho acoustic whatever illustrates the difference in the culture of the two cites. I enjoy and learn from both. Fewer personal insults or endlessly redundant posts on WBF and more focus on more expensive gear. But people can post what they want, or at least what the moderators allow, so all good. I'll admit though, that I don't understand the need to post messages completely unrelated to the topic of the thread-you could always start a new thread-but each to their own, its an internet forum. As Lincoln said, the world will little note nor long remember what we say here. Except for the part about cables.
All, so we do not take up more space on AudioGon, we will be implementing a new system (along with an appropriate email address) to contact the WBF, for cases that have been outlined in this thread.
Spammers have made it into a professional business to constantly learn new techniques to infiltrate all forums on the internet, and we try our best to thwart them at every level. But apparently, this has caused unintended issues. Expect to see an announcement on the WBF as soon as the new contact information is made public and implemented. We are currently working on getting this right and we also apologize for any inconvenience this has caused members that would like to join the What's Best Forum.
Stay tuned and hang loose. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me here via PM if you are having any issues. Thanks for your patience in this matter.
Also, many thanks to the team at AudioGon for allowing us to right the ship on your forum. That is also much appreciated.
“That is not the case and it is an incorrect assumption, @jwillox
The WBF is not a typical money hungry site (at all)and we would never do something like that. This all has to do with spammers and keeping them from infiltrating the site. Nothing more, nothing less.”
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