Thirty Days in the Hole

very good advice and on-target observations from @whart, valuable to noobs here

my first career for twenty some years was in the business of giving professional advice (not on hifi)

there is effort, knowhow and experience involved in how to successfully gather and receive good advice - advice seekers who are naive and lazy often get bad advice...

there are some people here that really know their sh**, from the fundamentals to the finer points of design, and are able to provide expert advice without tooting their own horn too much. Stick around and it will become apparent who they are. It’s important that their incredible repository of knowledge is passed on before it disappears into the ether..

“ MC has been a sort of consigliere for me. Let me tell you what I bought with MC's advice and recommendations: A lot/most of Townshend Audio Seismics and cables. And their preamp.“

Shilling mission accomplished then ! Did he mention to you that he was on Townshend Audio’s payroll at the time ? No of course he didn’t 

That Newcastle Brown must have been stronger in the old days, my favorite IPAs are almost double the ABV and 2 "will sure knock you (me) down"

Gov't Mule covers are always tasty.

If you've interacted with MC and had a negative experience with him and you are happy to leave that's not being a hater.  That's having good boundaries and expecting others to behave civilly.

Stop victim blaming. 

      I concur!!