Is advice from a constant upgrader to be avoided

@douglas_schroeder

When the internet evolved beyond the old BBS world I thought this was gonna be great, people sharing knowledge, growing with and from one another.  Has turned into something rather different, polluted by self-righteous and cowardly bullies hiding behind annonyimity to be intolerantly rude and judgemental and dumping the stream fecal sewerage the emminates from their mind into the clearer waters of those wanting and willing to listen and share.  Audiogon and the audiophile community is  certainly not alone in this unfortunateness.  Some people want to stay with the same audioi system forever.  Fine, I'd never put them down for it.  Some people like to experiment.  Sometimes they even do heretical things like adjust the hue or bright/contrast of the TV or even buy a new one!  I'd never put them down for that either. 

And there's one tremendously ironic thing about this dynamic and we see it displayed widely and clearly here.  The people who do experiment and change equipment and spend money on what have often, but not always, provided some small improvement in the experience and have proven to be advancements in the technology of audio reproduction are almost NEVER judgemental of those who don't experiment with changing equipment.  They consistely and sincerely express the position of, "Hey, I think it's great that you love your system the way it is.  Good for you."  It's universally the people who don't want to change anything and/or won't spend even a little bit of money to try something new who pile on with riducule, smug abuse and, honestly, a lot of ignorance as they attack people who are just having an open conversation. Cowards hiding behind a screen, armed with a keyboard, spewing sewage into otherwise interesting waters.

@sns 

You say you only trust the people who've learned "what they DON'T like."  Why?  What's wrong with people who've bought a piece of equipment they do like and sharing that??  If you go into a wine shop do you say to the person working there, "Hey, listen, just tell me all the things here you don't like?"  If you're thinking about going on a trip, the beach, skiing, traveling abroad and someone starts telling you about a place they really enjoyed do you say, "Hold on there!  I only want to here about bad trips you've had."  If you suddenly discover you need a plumber and a neighbor starts telling you about a great experience they had with a particular plumber do you say, "Whoa whoa whoa, I only want to here about all of the crappy plumbers you've hired?" 

You're whole story makes no sense, in fact it smells, like sewerage.  I'm calling BS on it.  It's made up trash to support your self annointed superiority.  Never happened.  

@wspohn 

The search for betterment is the passion of the intelligent and curious mind.  It is not a disease and not a symptom of a disease.  The inability to understand that coupled with the need to ridicule it is, however, a symptom of retardation.

@surfcat

"The search for betterment is the passion of the intelligent and curious mind. It is not a disease and not a symptom of a disease. The inability to understand that coupled with the need to ridicule it is, however, a symptom of retardation."

I assume that you would approve of our local high end market populated in great part by local and emigrant Chinese auidiophiles, who buy the new models of any well reveiwed gear the minute the review comes out and sell their one or two year old gear at cut rate prices to those of us who aren’t so easily influenced?

Don’t distort what I said - the urge to improve a system is indeed a natural one that we have all indulged in, but the urge to do so in an obsessive manner is unhealthy and unnatural.

Ah yes ,I like the questions.How do you trust someone who is always changing systems. I'm another audio nut,who buys alot of stuff.I have learned the hard way about buying used audio equipment. The price looks great for a piece of equipment that cost thousands when new and now it's being sold for hundreds. I have bought so junk...it should of never been sold.The buyer Beware.....take it from someone who has been burned a few times.

@surfcat  Wow, what reactionary comments to my post, can't even discern my agreement that experienced may in fact be trusted advisors. I simply pointed out two local flippers I wouldn't trust giving me advice. Are you making the argument that all flippers are trusted advisors?

Now as to why its important to  understand what you don't like before you can determine your preferences for sound quality. I'd like to think that most of us have a destination in mind  when we took up this hobby/obsession. I assume this destination is to have a wonderful at home music listening experience. Certainly most have to experience much equipment to reach this goal, equipment comes, equipment goes, the equipment that goes is what you DIDN'T like. You may also end up at a destination you discover doesn't satisfy in the long run, that may be a system that's excessively analytical or romantic, at this point you've discovered you DON"T like that particular overall sound quality.

And so, you say we don't need to learn what we dislike,  so the question becomes, is there anything you dislike? Why did you change out equipment if you did in fact like what you just got rid of? For no reason? You either found that piece of equipment lacking in some manner or you're just churning equipment. The churner has no destination I can discern, or at least the same destination that I and many others have.

Also, I can't trust the churner's opinion about any piece of equipment they're selling  or reviewing since they can't say they DIDN'T like it, remember not liking equipment or particular sound qualities is of no consequence in discovering what you do like. This is an attitude that permeates professional reviews, virtually nothing is bad here, have to read between the lines in order to discern the barrest minimum of contextual perceptions.

When  purchasing used equipment one of my first questions is, why are you selling this piece?  Churners never tell me anything of consequence, they'll just tell you they're moving on, the honest person will tell you what they didn't like about how piece fit in their system. I certainly have no issue with churners telling me nothing, with so many constantly changing variables (the constant churn) what else could they say. I've had churners buy equipment from me as well, saw the piece I just sold them up for sale a day or two later. Not flipping to make profit, I guess they determined after one or two listening sessions piece not good. Seems to me they could have done some due diligence and researched sound qualities of this particular piece prior to purchase and the churn. In this case I suspect addiction to the churn. This type of churner has nothing of consequence to say in reason for sale,  just as they don't in giving advice.

On the other hand, the former churner has reached their destination, that destination being the enjoyment of music played on that particular collection of equipment. Certainly, they may over the long run continue to change out a piece here and there, but that doesn't mean their unhappy with the present destination, rather its like visiting a formerly unknown place of interest within lived in town.

After nearly thirty years at this I'm so happy I've reached my destination, yes, there are some unknown places of interest in my town, but I sure love my town.

In conclusion, I have no problem with churners with a destination in mind, at least this person can tell you specific issues they had with equipment, they gave it a fair shake. The other kind of churner simply changes out equipment because they're moving on, what does this tell me, nothing of consequence, without a fair shake they'll tell you whatever you want to hear, or criticism that may have no merit. I also think its fair to question the credentials of those whith very limited experience with variety of equipment, they lack the contextual knowledge.

The search for betterment is the passion of the intelligent and curious mind. It is not a disease and not a symptom of a disease. The inability to understand that coupled with the need to ridicule it is, however, a symptom of retardation.

this line patent? You guy need relax by using meditate technique not the booze and dope.