The best and worst Audiogon poster's

Carl, you are correct in much of what you say. However, let me add that this is so only in the Northeast urban corridor from nothern New Jersey to New Hampshire. In the rest of the Northeast, things are wonderful. I live in the Philadelphia suburbs. Our area stretches from the Amish country of Pennsylvania, to Northern Maryland, to Allentown Pennsylvania, to the Jersey shore. It is truly a wonderful place to live. Philadelphia is everything New York is not. Warm, friendly, REAL people, with a sense of themselves. We are not grumpy or crotchety. There is a great mix of people from different walks of life, cultures, and careers. The economy is strong, and there is a shortage of workers. Our jobs pay well, compared to much of the country. The price of housing is no higher than the Atlanta area, and our cost of living is MUCH less than North Jersey, NYC, Connecticut, RI, MA, and NH. Land is plentiful, my property is 3 1/2 acres, even though I am 1/4 mile from the Philadelphia border. We have a nice mass transit system that allows me to get from my nearest train station, less than 1 mile from my home, to my job in Center City Philadelphia in 25 minutes. The restaurants here are some of the best in the country. There is a lot of culture here, including the Art Museum, Rodin Museum, Please Touch Museum, Meutters Museum(for the macabre out there), Benjamin Franklin Science Institute, NJ State Aquarium(across the river), and the Academy of Music. Washington DC and NYC are both 2 hours away, Baltimore is even closer. For vacation, we go to the Jersey shore(the worst of which is Atlantic City), which is extremely popular in the summer, or the Pocono mountains. We do not have the best audio dealers here, in my opinion, but one is one of the largest(two of them take up a full page ad in Stereophile)... Audio manufacturers Rogue, BAT, Timbre Technology, and formerly Fried(sadly, no longer in business) are here. My point is that next time you come north, spend some time in the Delaware Valley. You may be surprised.

Trelja I am also from the Philadelphia (Delaware Valley) area (born in Chester) and I agree 100% with what you say, some of the friendliest straight shooting people I've met in this country for sure. I love going home to visit family and friends and also have many fine memories of concerts at the Academy of Music, Spectrum (rock concerts) Bijou Cafe; Tower Theatre and Philadelphia Folk Festival not to mention the free summer concerts in Fairmont Park (Philadelphia Orchestra) at Robin Hood Dell. Yes indeed Philly is a great place to live and go back to. You forgot to mention Hafler Pensauken N.J. and Dynaco. Philly has a great variety of places to go and things to do. Thanks for reminding me of home.

..edited...trelja,tubegroover i have been in your neck of the woods and agree with you.i live in Southern Ontario which is very much like the area you are from.people from these area's are more tolorant than people from the South.I spent a week In South Carolina and was appauled at the treat ment of non whites.It was like talking a step back to what things where like here in the late 1960's.A time warp.

I think both Carl_eber & Tm12 both need a good lesson in manners!!!!!!!!! PLEASE, LET US NOT FORGET, weather it is specking & teching or just listening, this hobby is about what makes you happy with it. It is just like Baskin Robbins, if everyone likes the same thing then they would only have one flavor. Remember it is what you like, or what makes you happy however you spend your money on this stuff. Surly it is not worth getting all this excited about. I have done this hobby since the days of mono. I have made many good friends & listened to music all over this country. Just have fun, which is the point. If confrontation & arguments & showing your inappropriate behavior are your thing, then maybe another hobby might be better for you & all the people you come in contact with. Poor Guys!

What I had in mind when I posted this thread was not a popularity contest. These threads can be of utmost value to those new audiophiles as well as the veteran. As far as I am concerned, these postings are much more useful than the audio magazines. I wish there was this kind of forum 25 years ago when I first got into audio. Do you think Albertporter has some hidden agenda in speaking so highly of his beloved soundlabs? What about Carl_eber's Resolution audio CD player. Of course not. Can you say the same about the audio magazines? Audiogon IMO is the audiophiles best friend. There is so much valuable input that can be gained by it's members. It is obvious by the postings that there is a lot of passion involved with this hobby. I am no less passionate. A good heated debate over an amp, IC or whatever never hurt anybody. In fact it could be of great benefit. Belittling someone for there views serves no one. Thank you Audiogon members. You guy's are great.