Is advice from a constant upgrader to be avoided

My business over the years has led to relationships and sources of gear too good to pass up. I took it upon myself to ride the roller coaster, sometimes making money, other times coming out even, occassionally behind. 

I recommend looking at how the person posting relates to the item. Are they talking about it like it's the "best think ever like an eager puppy?" Do they have a history of 10,000 posts drooling all over themselves and acting like an authority? Are they just trying to talk it up before they post it for sale? Are they always disgruntled about what they are posting? Do they just want to interact with members because this is what the hobby means to them- more community? So many more perspectives to consider .

I find it helps to assume that most have less of idea of what they are talking about, and out of those, most will have different tastes. From there it really helps to have a shared vocabulary. Even better is if the poster has heard something that you have heard so you can test that vocabulary. It takes time and experience on all sides.   

I have a dozen or so audiogon friends that I interact ocassionally about gear. Some of them have owned things that I owned years ago, and others have moved up to the next level or several levels from what I currently have. Some you will clique with more than others, just like any area of life. One thing I've found useful is to reach out via PM if there is a question you want to ask someone. Sometimes you can get great information "off the record". I don't think any of us likes really slamming a product on the forums- these guys have families and rent to pay. Off-line it is surprising what you can learn. Realize dealers have heard all the other items BUT what they sell is clearly just better. lol

Quicky, the room. I once had a perfect, well treated symetrical room. Now I have my system in a living room. Be careful with guys that know it all but have poorly set up rooms, like mine.

The one thing I do is stick pretty close to home. Equipment manufactures, speaker design and driver type.. I did that over a 10 year period in my 20s. I went through a lot of gear and found what I liked and kept GOOD notes. I made a  few choices like, Mcintosh, Thoren, Russco/type (TT) Pass design SS amps, SME tone arms, Telefunken valves and great electrical filtering and conditioning. I've used a few, Topaz design always worked for me. Triplite too.. Other than new manufactures making the drivers I use or going out of business, I stick to the same kind of speaker design and philosophy in building. GRs OB servo was an exception. I’m not an OB kind of guy for the most part..

The only new piece in many years was a Decware ZP3. I got it mainly for a RtR preamp. I added Cary to the line up, but it was OLD when I got It.. Then worked it.. I love it.. Betters my VTLs and most of my Macs (not ALL). I added class D 8 years ago, 3 years on and off picking what I liked.. Ncore is just fine for me..

Rogers PA-2 will better it in every way as far as a turntable though.. 3 times the cost too. Actually I have a pair of Mac that are quite a bit better. A C20 and a MX110z. both phono sections were worked over pretty good.. Better than the Decware, a cap change is all that’s needed, though.. (pretty sure).

Maybe just add .01 collection caps.. WiMa are great for that.. for pennies vs GOLD nuggets for payment.. NUTSO pricing on some bypass caps.. Mercy oh mercy pricing. :-) AND nothing seems to be in stock..

If one thing makes sense to me is if I can remember what something DID sound like and keep that reference available, I know when it’s ME not the equipment or the room or anything else. I keep a reference system here, it’s pretty simple too.

I have a FEW buddies that use MY little reference system as a mark in the sand after a gear up grade.. More money than good ears for most of them..:-)

I do have a right EAR thing going on as of late. They changed my heart meds, it’s affecting my ears a tad..

Heads up fellas.. Heart meds mess with the EARS... Water seems to help so far.. More not less. Maybe the NURSE not the doctor was right.. BP is a little LOW.

Regards

@ebm why on earth is that your go to response? An urgent need to exercise your fingers?

@mid-fi-crisis I seek opinions from all kinds. I especially want to hear from someone who has owned or owns a product I'm interested in. If they love it I want to know why. If they didn't care for it I try to find out why, with what equipment, in what size room, and with what music. Their dislike may be closer to my preference. I would avoid the folks who have plenty to say about items they have never heard. BTW love the screen name.

OP

Good observation. I have known guys that were addicted to equipment swapping. You are correct, not the people to listen to. I, like quite a few others here have been at this for fifty years or so, slowly acquiring and evaluating one piece of equipment at a time. For the last thirty years or so I have been careful to raise my system up a level and then spend around seven years there just enjoying the music. I think a number of folks here are like that. That is why some of uds try to say enough to quantify our qualifications enough in a post, and show our system to establish some credibility and to show our point of view.

Looking at it from a different side. Without the people that swap gear frequently you would never be able to get the common questions "how does this vs this sound" answered. Also this hobby has many facets. Some people just enjoy listening to music, others enjoy the nuances of sound reproduction through different gear.