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

I’m personally not bothered by a little back and forth on these sites, even if it parts from audio for a while. It’s a forum and sometimes they take funny shapes.

There is one communication style that I find annoying. I’m not sure what it’s called but tits when member speak of a component as the best, incredible, an end game, but it’s not far from what they had last time it was the best, end game, etc. It’s like they will get money for selling others on the product. Deep down you know it’s junk (compared to the wide world of audio) and they will soon list it for sale, if it’s not listed already.

Next they move to something else that’s "the best". It’s most likely from the same dealer that got them hooked on a slight "endless wallet" discount, and it’s cyclical. This annoys me because I’ve seen people earlier on in their journey listen to this and follow, only to find themselves back to square one again. It’s likely not even intentional but when we are in forum where some are looking for guidance it’s best to be realistic and have a strong foundation before having the fullest glass ever, lol.

Audio is such an individual pursuit and for me the path has been a big part of the enjoyment (except boxing heavy speakers) and is anyone really ever wrong? It's just often the tone, or way it said, and that's probably as hard as finding a warm system with great presence and detail.

The site seems calmer than ever but I haven’t been on as much lately.

Personally I thank you for dropping the all caps in your thread titles.  All caps tend to fire my adrenal glands

This

I've noticed a couple of things. 

The more technical or narrow-focused a forum or thread is, the more likely the conversation is to be friendly and informative always. There are long-running threads on here that are oases of courteousness and incredible fonts of knowledge. They're like that favorite hole in the wall joint you retreat to when you need a little haven of quiet.

It seems that the more inconsequential the topic, the more likely the discourse is to devolve into nastiness. People fight a lot more readily about audiophile fuses, Ethernet switches and digital streamers than about amplifiers and speakers.

Yes, ignorance and stupidity breed animosity, but in fairness that's true everywhere. An irritating trend of late has been some folks dropping politics into just about every thread they visit, like cows dropping cow pies every three steps. Fittingly for a stereo site, I guess, it's just as loud from the left as it is from the right, but still. You know who you are. Please stop.

@whart thank you for a very thoughtful post.

@curiousjim man I had a customer once was a good dude.  Got mad because I didn’t send him speaker cables to demo fast enough and went off on me. Man he was a good dude till that happened. Started going bad on me on this forum and others.   Man our cables made his system sing. Then he got mad and it all went bad.  Man I’m at a point where I want to help audiophiles.  That’s why I do free cable demos.  I give people opportunities with Infigo cables to try stuff. If they like it cool. If not then cool.   I listen to the music and our systems to make us happy. I’m not here to argue. I’m here to enjoy the tunes and the brotherhood. We just left Southwest Audiofest.  We were playing some blues. Lightnin Hopkins and just having a blast. Telling stories and nodding our heads to the great sound. That’s why I do this! 

The only person you have any control over is yourself. When dealing/conversing with others, set a positive example, don’t assume bad intent, and grant the other person some grace.

When buying and selling it matters who you deal with. If it smells bad, it probably is so, move on. There will be other opportunities. Since this is your business, find your own balance between sales and risk.  Consider your expectations and treatment of actual customers (who regularly purchase from you) vs. prospects.

When posting, if you have something to say then say it but, once is enough. Disagree respectively. If things deteriorate, step away. I would probably reserve the term brotherhood for my friends, but I certainly appreciate respect and maturity and I try to remember (not always successfully) that those qualities can start with me. At the end of the day, it’s just a stereo. Enjoy the music.