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Lay Off the Newbies!

I always try to keep my posts constructive, but there is something that regularly goes on here that I think is detrimental to our hobby - A newbie has a simple question and a bunch of neurotic geezers (of which I include myself) jump on the guy with a million rules and rituals he must follow to achieve his goal, which ends up discouraging the guy right out of hobby. There was one analog thread on static where I recommended Gruv Glide and you geezers started in with so much BS- humidifiers, move to another climate, expensive gimmicks, etc, that GG would kill him and his records.  The end result? By the end of the thread, he sold his analog rig because he couldn't deal with the stress.  In a recent digital thread, you guys are recommending a newbie buy 20 year old transports.  All this does is just make newbies so stressed out that you'll drive them to MP3s.  Newbies need simple answers, commensurate with their experience level.  Buy a Rega table, screw in a Rega cartridge and play records.  They have plenty of time to turn into us.  Somehow we survived, listening to our Sansui receivers and JBL L-100s in bedrooms thick with pot smoke and spilled Boone's Farm.  And we made it.  Sometimes I'm amazed as well.  Let the young have fun while they can. Be well.  
chayro
chayro OP
3,001 posts
 
To be clear, I'm not saying that any of the suggestions offered by the more experienced members are wrong per se.   But they are wrong for a newbie. Imagine telling a 10 year old child everything that could happen to them at the beach.  Kidnapping, sharks, jellyfish, riptides and so on. It's all true, but that's not how you do it in the beginning.  Help them build a solid knowledge base and let them enjoy. 
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,986 posts
 
I've been here for twenty years and it's always been similar to what you describe. As @hilde45 has noted, you need to know the players and which ones know what they are talking about. It's that way on every BB I go too. 
earlflynn's avatar
earlflynn
461 posts
 
There are several snipers that look for post from certain people on certain material or subjects and they get quite nasty.

oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
OP I started posting 4-5 years ago under oldhvymec. I was on AG 20 plus years ago and forgot my call sign.

Honest to god newbies deserve consideration.

I love the new fellows that post the questions and the answer in a 4 page header and ALL CAPS. Then tells you he was drunk or drank a bottle of something..
Potheads included, they tend to be a little more paranoid though.

I like it when every other word is spelled wrong, NO caps, a single blur from beginning to end and full of "u" and "4u" and all the lazy crap that goes with being a lazy a$$, THEN a big fat period..

I LOVE it when they log on under audio2design, and 30 other names just to be an A$$ an tell everyone how they are wrong.

I really get in happy land when a newbie tells a guy with a good solid answer, has done and given the same sound advise over and over again and the newbie says "but my zillion dollar this and my zillion dollar that, and my zillion dollar friend, told me not to buy the 4.00 usd one (that works) it has to cost at least a 1/2 zillion dollars, if you don’t mind would you mind your OWN business, I’M to busy trying to impress people with the KA-zillion dollars I wasted..

YEA honest to god newbies deserve consideration. BUT HAND TO GOD some DON’T..

Regards
chayro OP
3,001 posts
 
I really wasn’t talking about people who are just nasty or pot-stirrers. I was talking about experienced well-meaning audiophiles who just overload newbies with too much info. For example, one guy with a Rega table was asking about a cartridge and they’re telling him not to use the Exact, but get something else, but you have to shim the back of the arm and buy an alignment gauge and how Rega’s alignment was bullshit. They may be right, but not for a newbie. Slap in your 3-point Rega cartridge and enjoy. Believe me, it won’t explode. And this also refers to newbies who are genuinely seeking guidance. Not the type @oldhvymec mentioned. They are beyond help.
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