Have we lost civility and respect on Audio forums?

@calvinj  exactly. Never owned one of these pieces of equipment but filled with certainty that they will make no difference. 

If you don't own it, or have not owned it and tried it, zip it. Your unverified opinions that it doesn't work fill these forums with garbage.

Thanks @scottwheel  ... and @cleeds  .. last week signed up for both of those. This forum is about to be removed from my watch list. 

I think all interests where subjectivity plays a role inflame tempers, as every criticism becomes personal since it questions one's judgment. Look for, for example, Body Building Contest arguments or David Hurwitz critiques or reviews of the classical works on YouTube. He often mentions the hate mail he receives.

calvinj

... thanks for the suggestion.  I wasn’t referring to you in my response ...

Oh, understood, I figured that out! After a while, it's easy to follow the players here.

I mentioned audioaficionado.org not only because it really is the Friendly Forum For High-End Audio, but also because there are some real McIntosh experts there.

@calvinj  agreed on www.audioaficionado.org . actual owners versus those who have never owned it sharing their opinions.

I recently went to a dealer and had him demo Nordost Valhalla 2 versus Blue Heaven (which I use) on SF Amati G5s with a mix of components. McIntosh and others.

When Kashmir from Mancin was played ... blown away. It may not "show a reading on some electronic reading device" but I absolutely heard the difference. It blew me away. Blown away.

And no .. not confirmation bias because I am very judicious with my hard earned cash .. which is why I love US and Canuck Audio Mart ... love buying there.

The same way I loved the sound of a SF versus B&W. It was such a clear difference.

Many excellent points and observations, here!