Stop recommending gear you've never heard: rant warning - Page 16

Originally Posted by catscratch

I disagree. Sound isn't magic, it's physics. If you understand said physics, you will be able to make general comments on how certain designs will sound. If you crack down on these kinds of comments you will start to foster the idea that design has nothing to do with ultimate sound quality.

Not encouraging criticism based on design is a lot more detrimental to the forum than discouraging impressions without experience. We have to be critical of what is sold to us, and it is even more important now in the wake of the Singlepower fiasco and various other MOTs generally cashing in on the goodwill, and if I may say so, ignorance of the community.

But it is a completely different story altogether to pretend that you have the technical knowledge and rely on other people not being knowledgeable enough to shoot you down. That sort of thing is fronting, same as recommending gear without listening, except that it is even more dangerous since it has an air of validity that needs some technical knowledge on part of the reader to dispel. So if this is what you and Elrod-tom meant, then I agree. And, if I may say so, there have been some awfully busy and visible threads lately that have done just that, and should have been deleted.

This is a tricky topic since only a few people are qualified to make sound quality comments based on design, and you have to have some knowledge to even understand who knows what they're talking about and who's full of it. We don't want to mistake the former for the latter - antagonizing people with technical skills is what the community really should try to avoid right now.