Disagreements and Conflicts between Audiophiles have we lost our brotherhood and maturity?

Calvin,  Yes, I agree with your comments and post.  When a member asks others for their opinion on something there is always a group of folks (experts) who need to lambaste that person and shoot down their experience.  These negative encounters have trained me NOT to engage with this group as much as I have in the past.  Most threads that I may have something valuable to contribute to I just pass over due to the expected negative feedback.....

We all hear differently, enjoy many different genres of music & like many different aspects of hifi systems. Opinions & tastes cannot be right or wrong & anyone who’s married or been in a relationship for any length of time knows this well.

I’m guessing the average age of most people on this site is 50+ so we grew up w/ no or minimal internet, computers, cell phones & social media. Thus we all should know how to reasonably communicate in a sane & cordial manner having to do so directly or at least over the phone & probably know that we can learn from anyone

I’ve had a good or very good system since I was a teenager as time & money permitted some of which I built or modified & some just stock. I was in the pro sound industry many years ago & learned a lot  then. Some aspects of music reproduction I’m very familiar with & some, especially digital & streaming, not very much. I’ve learned a lot from many folks here, try to contribute occasionally & really appreciate & respect the knowledge & experience of many contributors. 
 

I just ignore or chuckle at those who want to make this an ego contest. They have to live w/ themselves which is punishment enough…

I think the responses in this thread show us how strong the community is here at Audiogon especially.  @052rc I agree most of the people OP is referring to are not audiophiles, but online trolls with nothing better to do than to talk smack to strangers on the Internet.  And spend their life whining rather than working and so will never experience truly high end gear.  I would argue that the vast majority of audiophiles, especially Audiogon posters are actually quite civil.  It's unfortunate that the loudest and rudest people are naturally heard the most.  This makes it seem that the majority is this way when that is far from the truth.  Enjoy your system and focus on the majority of people here who are good folks that just want to talk about their passion!  Don't let the haters get you down! 

Nostalgia can bring out golden memories. I recall bitter arguments and name calling from early days of social media and this site in particular. No doubt there has been change, likely mostly in me in that in my learning phase I used this forum as a resource, many of those members no longer here, sigh.

I agree civil discourse in general is on a downward spiral as people have become inured to all the fussing and fighting. For far too many free speech means exactly that, including being free of consequence. Well, sorry to welcome you to the human race but the things we say have consequence, and our present society/culture is one of those consequences.

I enjoyed meeting Calvin at SWAF and thought his room was really well done.

This forum can get a little rough, but it’s never going to be that serious, it’s just listening to music. Maybe a few things to keep in mind that might help:

take it with good humor. I remember a few years back the epic and vicious battle that involved MC and Kevin Deal about some tube amps, maybe Prima Luna and something else. Went on for days and was entertaining in the same way that a big-time wrestling event at your local National Guard armory is entertaining, but at the end of the day, nobody got hurt.

if somebody is new to this, they might ask a question that seems elementary to you, but it’s not to them. Don’t condescend.

people can have differing opinions, and it’s not any reflection on their character or intellect. People who believe cables don’t make a difference are not inherently evil and those who think they do are not inherently gullible. Take issue with someone’s position, don’t attack their character or intelligence.

how pleasing a system sounds is, at the end of it, subjective because we all hear differently. what is soft and veiled to me might be musical to you
 

don’t judge someone by how much they have invested in their system. People have different resources and different priorities. Just because someone has a more modest system doesn’t mean they enjoy the music less  or know less about whatever topic is under discussion. And just because someone has invested more, it doesn’t mean they are a “fool.”  You can define the price of something, but you can’t possibly define what represents value to another person. 
 

no matter how good you think your system is, or how much you paid for it, there are folks out there that would consider it “mid fi”
 

Keep politics out of Audio discussions

realize that your experience may often be instructive for others seeking help but the solution you chose isn’t universally right or wrong, it’s just what worked for you.

something that bugs me to no end - never rain on somebody’s parade. If someone just bought something new and they are happy and proud, don’t be the one to tell them they made a terrible decision, paid too much , or could’ve bought X, which is much better. Why would you want to trample on someone’s joy?

realize that there are very few of us as into Audio as those on this forum. Everyone else thinks we are a bit strange by devoting so much time and money to this. So we really should stick together.

I enjoy reading this forum it’s something I do every day. I’ve benefited from the advice of some very smart people here which I appreciate. This is for fun and if you find yourself attacking someone personally, it might be a good time to turn off the computer and listen to music for a while.

it’s a great pursuit and wonderful to have the chance to share ideas with others who have the same appreciation for the music