Have we lost civility and respect on Audio forums?

It’s always the extremists of any persuasion that cause the problems. The more people moderate and learn to respect and perhaps even learn from others who happen to not think exactly the same way about something, the better off we will all be.

I think narcissism or perhaps just mere selfishness tends to be the driving force. If you care about others, you will respect them and value their opinions. If they act like a yahoo, then all all bets are off. Everyone just be civil! IS that too much to ask? Apparently so. As was pointed out above, conflict is a natural thing that is a part of Homo Sapiens as well as most every other species on the earth that battles for survival. But Homo Sapiens have the ability to learn and maybe evolve? Or maybe not so much.  The jury is still out apparently.

I am wondering, using your own testing criteria / and methodology, just how we would draw a valid conclusion about your Las Vegas system being SOTA ?

BTW I think any constructive common interest or hobby like the pursuit of good sound tends to bring otherwise disparate people more together than the norm. That is a good thing! Just not all the way all the time.

Sports and sports fans are another good example of how otherwise disparate groups can be brought together.

All it takes sometimes is just one common interest.   The more the merrier.  Don’t let the politician’s divide you!

There is another camp…the listen and measure crowd…. best example i know expressed in a commercial product is Charlie’s measure  / listen switch on the QB-9

Yup. Civility is dead. Several months ago I read a comment, or a post, from an audiophile even older that I am, who was wondering how to re calibrate suggested stylus force numbers to "wet". Man oh man, did the flamers come out. If it hadn't been so sad and demoralizing.... It took me awhile to come back, I have no idea if the OP folded his tent or not. It isn't a problem unique to this forum. The ascendance of dogma over reason seems to be complete. I have literature from Thorens showing wet and dry stylus force tables. I have cartridge data sheets showing both... But the experts had no trouble coming down on a person who was just looking for usable knowledge. We are surrounded by those who think they can lift themselves up by pushing others down.

these are dark days