Why do you give bad advice?

I look for advice from someone whose taste I share and then look for such a product at a good price. In this way I have been able to even order products from overseas which were not available here. Granted that I am vertran audiophile there is a market for any Good product and I have not bought any produce on personal audition in memory. The conditions are seldom good enough to get a good idea. I use to go to the Chicago CES and remember when one exhibiter took off the mattresses and put them on the walls to deaden the sound. On another I was sitting next to a mag writer who was listening to a speaker with a satisfied look on his face. I found it unlistenable. 

For example some years ago there was a speaker I wanted to hear and I drove from Southern Indiana to Cincinnati and bought them ear unheard as they were in very good condition. They proved to be excellent but not my taste. I sold them to an audiophile in Lexington who ran a large  store for the same price I paid. I have just orederd an amp from Califarnia at a good price. I have never heard one but I know the brand. Start cheap and learn your own taste. With audiogon and others you can experiment.

Audiophiles are unbelievably fickle and often sell excellent products for a large loss. Even when I was a dealer I bought most of my personal gear used because I could get better prices that way. I handled products like Krell, VPI, Quad, B&W etc. Sold  out of my basement as I had modified the room to get a good sound. I remember selling a pair of 801s and the customer complained that they did not sound the same. He had one next to a full glass wall. Since the speakers can easily be moved I switched them and the sound switched channels. It was the reflection that made them sound different. A radio station engineer was there once and said he had never heard anything like it. Am I a genus? Hardly but I make an effort. Read one of the room set up books before spending a lot of money.

I greatly enjoy this forum. I has allowed me to share my interest in this hobby and  have learned a great deal from the interaction. To do so is simple: Select OPs that interest; follow those that maintain same; participate when induced to do so; ignore those that are not of interest, or intrude on ones' sensitivities; always take the high road. 

Hey... Neat question. It could seem on it's surface just a rant but I think there are some real underlying issues/answers to this.

Issues with being self-centered: I am a career I.T. person who is also into audio. I realize I'm very self centered and really really like being "right". I have a certain set of skills and experience to work with and if I'm not careful try to make the problem fit my skills and abilities. I see it all the time where an argument starts in an audio or technical forum and gets ugly really fast when offense it taken and/or someone just has GOT to be right. ....or even "I'm wrong, but I'm more right than you!!!"    LOL

Let's face it, it takes a lot of knowledge, experience and insight into another persons preferences to even attempt to answer some of the generic buying questions posed. Most of my friends don't give a rats arse about my "soundstage" or my "CPU utilization". What I'm trying to say is what seems just fine to one of us may be intolerable to another. Subjective.

The reality is I'm really not an authority on a lot of things. I have a small amount of experience in a few things. Mostly I just take it all in and try to better my own understanding. I think a lot of misunderstandings could be avoided by starting out with "This is what I did and here is why...."