Forums - where do you visit and why

Mainly PFM, others if they turn up in search results for reviews etc. I like PFM because of the fast turnover of subjects. And the active music, classifieds, classic and off topic sections. It's a bit quiet here for me to check regularly. A more active music section would help a great deal in this respect, for me at least.

 

quote

who is fit enough to do reviews on behalf of all of us? are their ears better then ours? or their pockets bigger,! forums are exactly whait says on the tin, latin for FORUM,

 

The majority of what I post is on pfm (less than I used to as there is a lot of political posturing evident). I do post on the Linn forum occasionally, but this is only on the LP12 section of the forum.
Until recently, I did post quite regularly on one other forum but they seem to have taken back one of the more 'eccentric' members of the audio world and I don't believe in arguing with idiots (they only drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience, as the saying goes).

Rarely, I will post on a number of other forums.

This does seem like a nice (but very quiet) forum, but I admit that I am not sympathetic to the 'all things can be measured' stance that it has adopted. I am not necessarily 100% subjective based, but I am certainly not all 'double blind tests' either and find such a position quite alienating.
The second hand section does seem very active though (not that this holds any interest for me).

 

They have made the effort. That in itself is to be applauded. Because believe or not, that is what sustains a forum. The feeling that your contributions are valued, not people making judgement calls on your fitness to post an opinion or review.

 

Quite right CM

 

Indeed, I entirely agree.

 

We certainly don't want to prevent anyone from posting a view that runs against the general slant. It is only a slant.

On measurements, I think we simply want to emphasise their importance when much of the forum world and certainly the press have been down-playing them over the years. The users have largely determined this state of affairs, not the owners.
There might be things that we can't yet measure, but certainly the vast majority of differences heard between equipment can be attributed to measurable differences - that's the only point i think we want to emphasise.
To give you some examples, TT sub chassis made from different materials (a subject close to your heart) sound different on the same deck. I'm sure you could write a piece explaining why, the resonant behaviour of the materials, the mechanical impedance at any joins etc.
Or take different phono stages. RIAA curve differences explain a lot, or seriously flapping bass cones because the stage has no LF filter and so the amp runs out of power...
Then take amplifier impedance and the way it interacts with the load and makes loudspeakers sound different. High capacitance cables making amplifiers sound brighter et etc.

Shed loads you can measure, some won't matter at all in some situations but lots does - and it rarely gets mentioned.

We also want to encourage problem solving.
So for example if a user connects a 'wide-open' amplifier with no protection circuits to some loudspeakers and a fire ensues, we'd like to offer some practical advice on avoiding such things, and no I don't mean the purchase of a smoke alarm

That position will inevitably mean we remain quiet relative to say Wigwam or AoS.
Bluntly, when you remove much of the subjective noise, whats left can be rather matter of fact and tends to appeal to a hard core. A bit busier would be nice though, but these things can change.

Anyway, I'm rambling.

When can we have a nice article on TT set-up for our reference room?

 

I haven't been posting much as I've been working hard on making product! I hope to invest some more time in the forum after the next few weeks.

 

Well, the truth is that I am almost entirely in agreement with what you have written above; I am not against measurement in any way - it's just that I don't believe it necessarily tells us everything and ultimately I would rather trust my ears if the perceived results contradict the measurement.

As you suggest, I do actually approach my own design in quite a technical matter and would indeed consider the issues you mention (amongst others).

I'm entirely on board with the concept of problem solving and in the particular case you mention I think the root cause is poor, or ill-considered, design- it's not difficult to build in protection that is not in the signal path (detection of heatsink temperature for example). When I first started to post on the internet I had already been heavily involved with hi-fi for more than 20 years and my primary interest was in turntable and arm design (it still is). I suppose I had hoped to find a wealth of knowledge on these areas, but the truth is that the majority of forum members (not specificaly on this forum) have no experience in the design of such components. It is true that some are happy to postulate and armchair theorise, whilst others like to repeat the party line of certain marketing departments - but very few have any real experience of making actual design alterations, or how these changes impact upon other areas. Most of the people whose opinion I have grown to value know me well enough o PM or email me.

Do you mean from me? What kind of article would you like? It's not easy to write a reference for all turntables as they vary so much; if you mean for the LP12, Peter Swain of Cymbiosis has written a long thread on the Linn forum relating to this.

 

Hmm, that should not happen in amp that is designed to EN60065 standards to meet CE approval.

 

Thanks I'll take a look.
If you have or could pen something re general TT set-up that would be good.

 

http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=9941

There isn't a lot one can say about turntables in a generic sense. Make sure the arm is set up correctly, use a strobe to set the platter speed and mount the whole thing on a rigid surface, free from wobble (preferably low in mass).

 

Excellent thread.

Might ask if we can condense the main bits into a single piece and shove it up in the reference room.

 

I go on a few forums, here the PFM I quite like as well, I do spend more time on the airgun bbs which is about shooting not just airguns but all sorts and i have some very very close friends on there, i did like the wigwam years ago but got banned because of a few who liked slinging mud but didn't like it comming back at them, i'm better of without the place anyway iv'e left a few forums because of people with attitude problems, this place is chilled and pfm can be chilled as well,
I use forums a lot cause i'm disabled and don't get out very much so it keeps my mind active and i can talk to people about subjects I like

 

ah sad to see you got banned, wondered where you had got to!!

 

Not looking good for hifiwigwam

 

Yea what's going on there?
Gruppenfhurer thrown the toys out again?

 

Oh dear, just says forum is now closed.

I don't participant on WW but it would be sad to see it gone.
I hope whatever is the problem gets sorted soon.

 

Something to do with google asking for the forum to ban swear words in order to get the advertising revenue.

The natives were not happy about having their 'freedom of speech' curtailed by the big bad corporate machine, and vented their spleen accordingly

 

Ah I see.

Just got some background from the thread on pfm.

Someone should buy it quickly before the rot sets in. It was clearly a popular place for many.