[Natsuiro]

I was just wondering what percentage of people are willing to recommend something they have never heard before and if people have any issues with this.

 

[1UP]

I think it's important to distinguish between recommending a can (i.e. vouching for the quality based on personal experience) and helping someone compile a shortlist of cans for a given price-range (for which nothing more is required than keeping abreast of this forum).

Confusing the two is bad.

A corresponding poll could be: do you buy headphones without auditioning them first?

 

[BowerR64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1UP A corresponding poll would be: do you buy headphones without auditioning them first?

All the cans recomended from this site and the people here i have liked.

 

[BigD]

1up sums it up for me.
Definately recommendations based upon experience. And certainly shortlist based upon learning or short experience.

 

[hentai]

1up i like your avatar . are you a super mario fan?

 

[Jahn]

I do, but I always couch it in terms of "based on the search engine" or "I've never heard it, but folks say" or something like that. In fact, in my profile I list everything I've ever heard in a paragraph after I list what I've owned, just for reference.

BTW I've bought all my cans without auditioning them first. Pretty lucky so far - but that's because i used the search engine and did my homework to find a consensus.

 

[pbirkett]

I do. I dont have much experience with Grado's but if everyone says they are good for rock, they may have a point eh?

 

[jpelg]

[size=xx-small]Do you recommend Headphones (or other equipment) you've never tried? [/size]

No. It would only be giving an opinion of a read opinion (many of which are opinions of even fewer opinions based on actual experience, repeated until they become 'fact'). I think it is a disservice to do so, even if it is well-intentioned. If you must, any such reco should definitely be appropriately qualified.

 

[Earwax]

I have no problem with people saying " Grados are often recommended for rock" but it really bothers me to see someone say "Buy Grado 225s! " when you know they've never heard them.

I try to be very clear about what I'm recommending based on 1st hand vs. what I'm mentioning based on reading (shortlist information, as 1up said)

 

[S_Dedalus]

I recommend auditioning things that I've never heard, and I occasionally recommend higher models in a product line that the ones I've heard.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg [size=xx-small]Do you recommend Headphones (or other equipment) you've never tried? [/size] No. It would only be giving an opinion of a read opinion (many of which are opinions of even fewer opinions based on actual experience, repeated until they become 'fact'). I think it is a disservice to do so, even if it is well-intentioned. If you must, any such reco should definitely be appropriately qualified.

What he said.

One example: Mr A says headphone X is good. Mr B reads the post. Mr C asks for a certain headphone and Mr B says that "although I've never heard headphone X, Mr A said that they are good" (ok, so Mr. B apparently did the "right" thing). Then Mr D asks about a headphone and Mr C will say that headphone X is said to be good according to "various posts" (which is true because of Mr A's and Mr. B's post). However, in the eyes to Mr D, "various posts" could mean multiple posts implying mulitiple recommendations. The fact that Mr. B never heard them disappears in the context although everybody remains honest about the source of information. And so on. Eventually only Mr A will have actually heard the headphone. This is an extreme example but there are many alterations to it. The problem will become even more apparent when "credible" (e.g. people with many posts) talk about headphone they have never heard. Certainly, the intention is good but the outcome may not be overly so.

Shortlisting headphones is a different issue though.

 

[Jahn]

This is what I have listed in my profile:

Equipment I've heard, so if I talk about anything else without a caveat, shoot me:
The Grado Reference Series and Prestige Series cans, the Alessandro MS-1, MS-2, Grado SR-200 with HP-1000 drivers, the Koss KSC-35, the Senn 280, AKG K501 , K271 and K1000, the Ety ER4P, the Sony MDR-V600, Beyerdynamic DT770Pro/80Ohm and 600 Ohm with Headphile cable, Sony R10, Sony CD3000 and Qualia 010, tons of nasty factory buds and cans, Cmoy amp, X-Canv3, Modded GSPAudio Solo Monitor Amp w/PSU-1, Ray Samuels Emmeline SR-71 and The Stealth, Xin Superdual, Grado RA-1, Krell Amp, Monster Melos amp, RKV amp, The Rat Shack Boostaroo, Sik Imp and Pocketdock lineouts, 2G/3G/4G Ipod, Aiwa and Sony MDplayers (F70? RZ55?) D-777, DEJ715, D-465, Creative Jukebox C and 2, SB Live! Soundcard, Sony 9000ES, Voodoochile's Modded "Tushie" Toshiba 3960.

 

[ipodstudio]

I think it's fine as long as you give your qualifications:

If you say:" I've read alot of good things about the ------," then you're simply passing on that info to the person posting. No harm done.

If you say: "-------- is a great can, just what you're looking..." when your opinion is based solely on what you've read on the net, then you do the community a disservice, IMO and tarnish your own credibility.

But there's a big difference between the 2 above examples.

 

[cosmopragma]

No, never.
That would only mean spreading rumours.
It's no problem at all since I've listened through many cans, and I own half of the amount I've listened through, look at my congested profile.
I'm currently involved in a flame war with a guy on a german audio forum who constantly recommends stuff he has never listened through.He has only read lots of head-fi threads

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipodstudio If you say:" I've read alot of good things about the ------," then you're simply passing on that info to the person posting. No harm done.

Actually, I think this is where the problem starts...

Edit: So far, it's quite unsettling that 14 out of 31 people voted that they would recommend a headphone they have never heard before.