This also makes me reflect on the nature of these threads. Are they here to confirm or to promote discourse for better or worse. When I'm in a thread dedicated to gear I like, I really like to hear others' positive opinions, bask in the shared enjoyment and walk away feeling better about my choices.
I've thought about this a lot. I've spent hours in just about every major online community relating to portable audio there is and while I think they all have their value and appeal Head Fi is probably the one I frequent most and it's for precisely this reason. Nobody in my immediate personal circle really cares about portable audio and some of them would probably have a heart attack if I told themr how much any of it costs. Given how emotionally invested we all are in our gear and in this hobby it's really nice to have a place to come banter with like minded enthusiasts who love the same things you do. Most audio communities have their quirks-- Reddit shames you if you spend more than $500 on something (and I would expect them to tar and feather me if I ever mentioned the Leo II Octa I just bought), SBAF is a great community and a great place to go for good to-the-point information, but it's not the best place if you want to banter about your gear, Discord can be a source of great info and is a great community, but the range of acceptable opinion tends to be much narrower in my experience. Head Fi is still the only real place where anyone can come to partake in this hobby in whatever way they want, be it through kilobuck cables, multiple IEMs, measurements, or whatever-- and find others of like mind to find fellowship with. It is the human side of something that always interests me the most and I'm really grateful this community exists.
Personally I think the individual product threads should be fundamentally about sharing the love of the gear in question...at least this is what I appreciate most about them. Anyone serious about investing in a piece of gear should get all the info they can, with an associated product thread being one of many resources. I personally get the best info from regular people who likes and tendencies I have an appreciation of and who i can consistently relate back to my own.
Edit: Just to be clear I'm not implying the threads should be just collections of people wanking over each other and their gear-- both extremes are problematic. The ideal to me is useful information in a climate of appreciation.
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