Some people actively participate but rarely if ever start a thread.

Good question and Congrats on starting a new thread.  I’ve started a couple and the responses have been great.  Encourage others to do the same if they haven’t already.  Positive and interesting threads are the lifeblood of online chats IMO. 

Most of my questions can be answered via the search function.

Bless you. There's so much here already. I've argued it should be organized into some kind of archive but that won't make any money...

I've found that threads I've started that ask for something specific are pretty well responded to and answered. But ones that are more opinion based or ask for feedback on a certain component inevitably devolve into pissing contests. 

I've found that too. It only takes one monkey to start a food fight.

I have one idea about close-field listening. Not sure how well that will go over. Is it too controversial?

I'd find this interesting. The heart of the hobby for me is how people listen and set up their rooms and gear.

I would like to see a whole category here for just low price bargain components

Me too. This would give a good boost to the hobby because younger people are, by and large, the future and do not have a lot of disposable income. Your idea is what Steven Stone and others have hit upon. See:
https://pmamagazine.org/?s=steven+stone

@asvjerry  Interesting video Jerry.  Kudos to you.  

I have not started any threads or opened any discussions for All of the Reasons Listed Above.

+1 @sns  

I for one start threads to get answers to problems. Here I can get honest answers from people who for the most part don’t have anything to gain. And vice versa,  I try to answer questions that others have.