I started the WBF post as I find the concept of $$ destroying the culture of forum participation interesting. They took down my thread after my last post. They used the OP as the reason to kill it. It may be the simple fact the Greek is a lighting rod with a long history that has rubbed some the wrong way. But hey, I am my own set of issues. I have people that like me, and people the despise me. If your in it long enough, you get a reputation. But the topic is interesting.
I am going to start a new post on WBF and use my last thread, and a paragraph from the book, Precision Sound by Todd Binnix. Todd is the moderator that took my post down. The paragraph of interest to me is in the preface. He says.
Page xi
"Like most audiophile, while exploring the musical possibilities with a two-channel stereo system, I owned several different versions of each component-speakers, amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, CD players, DACs, and more. Each time I mde a change, I hoped to achieve a better, more engaging music experience. Unfortunately, many of these decisions were based on some magazine or online review filled with flowery descriptions: improved soundstage width, enhanced depth, warm but detailed vocals, ruthlessly revealing, and son on. lI thought if I could fid the right combination of components, the music would pour out and magic would happen - it never did."
I believe what I wrote on WBF and a lot of what the Greek is saying, and in a round about way, but not, that Todd is saying, is that $$$$ have ruined the audiophile culture. Big name brands with big price tags have coopted and corrupted the process of getting great sound. They have warped perceptions and made it seem that invested $$$$ equal a high end, satisfying stereo. I disagree. I think good power and a good set of speakers, well setup in room with modest electronics can make a fantastic playback experience.
To be fair. My personal experience is that many people engaged in the hobby are placing a stereo in a common living space in the home. That right there ends the ability to get great sound. WAF and even the owners personal decor taste place the speakers in a space where they do not couple properly with the room. No amount of $$$ is going to fix it. But the industry has skillfully convinced people that $$ will make the difference. Now you have a hobbled system in a living room that is comprised of $400K to $750K in gear, that still can't get there. A $50K system set up properly in a dedicated space is going to knock the socks off all that invested money.
That is what I got from the OP attached article and what I find of interest. I miss the days of people sharing. I miss learning. I am tired of the angst and vinegar post that have roots in ego tied up in large financial investments of equipment.
Thank you, Kingrex, for sharing your thoughts.
I agree that in the past there were certainly posts I could have handled better. I’d like to think I’ve learned from that. It is amazing to me how upset and irrational grown men become towards others if they don't agree that brand "X" is the best in the world.
But there is another part of this story that matters.
Axiss Audio is publicly listed as a paying sponsor of WBF, and Ron is a co-owner of WBF. Against that backdrop, Ron made numerous public statements concerning Axiss, me, and others—some of which are demonstrably false, and my attorneys have the screenshots and underlying evidence.
Both Ron and Steve have now received communications from our attorneys.
So when WBF says it doesn’t want to “get involved,” I have difficulty understanding that position. Ron - and WBF - CHOSE to involve themselves in this.
As we've seen in the past WBF has no problem deleting threads not helpful to their own personal goals. Heck - there are more people here than I can count who have posted their stories about being banned from WBF for daring not to love the WBF flavor-of-the-month sponsor.
Yet WBF chose to allow these clearly troubling threads to stand unchallenged, and
even went so far as pinning the thread as a sticky for maximum visibility.
If a forum hosts disputed statements about people, prevents those people from responding, selectively removes some posts while allowing others to remain, and simultaneously accepts sponsorship money from an interested party, then questions about how those decisions were made are entirely legitimate. They have very, very clearly chosen to get involved and it certainly has the
perception of being on the side of a company who they are receiving money from.
That doesn’t automatically prove anything improper.
But it absolutely makes transparency AND honesty relevant. Ron seems to be harping on that a lot lately yet he's still failed to simply tell us how much money he has received from Axiss as a sponsor while he took a clear side on this issue.
Who communicated with whom? What was said privately versus publicly? What role, if any, did sponsorship relationships play? Why were certain posts permitted while others were removed? Why were certain people allowed to speak while others were blocked from responding?
Those are factual questions.
And one of the interesting things about litigation is that communications and financial relationships relevant to the claims can potentially become subject to discovery.
If that occurs, the emails, texts and messages between the relevant people concerning me, Axiss, the litigation and the decisions made on WBF can speak for themselves.
Maybe the records show a series of completely independent decisions.
Maybe they show something else.
I don't need to speculate.
I want the documents. And we will get the documents.
Because after everything that has been said publicly, I think allowing the actual record to tell the story is the fairest outcome possible.
And if we're going to demand transparency from others in this hobby, that standard should apply equally to everyone.
