How much have forums influenced what equipment you've bought?

I think forums have an influence. A few months ago I was really interested to buy my first LP turntable. Ask all you trusted friends here for advise what price range is required to at least match a Linn Kairk CDP. Didn't expected the response. Most of you point out that against all audio mags suggestions there is really no good evidence that LP are really 'better' then CD.

Me think it was actually good advise especially when moment like this :tempted: comes along now and again.

 

:duck:

 

Or indeed that CD players can sound different ... jeez ... if you are looking for evidence and don't trust your ears you will spend a long time looking and little time listening.

Cheers

Jason

 

I was influenced by my hifi dealer for Sonus Faber speakers, REL subwoofers, Loewe TV and most cables, even if in the end I didnt pick some of the models he recomended...

Arcam DVD players and TAG processor where popular in Avforuns, I liked and bought them, TAG is gone now...

Proac CC2 was Merlin's recomendation in Avforuns...

The Krell processor I picked on my own, no one recomends it, actually I heard it in the local Audioshow a couple of times...

Bryston powers where always in my mind, since I lived in Canada, the Bel Canto eVo was recomended in this forum, as was Stillpoints...

Any way, I always try to confirm my choices in the foruns I attend, nowadays mainly here and at the Asylum...

 

Never. I always go my own way. Ive never felt the need to follow everyone else on hifi or anything else. Just the way i am. I always form my own opinions, by listening (or whatever if its something other than hifi). But I will listen to advice as a starting point. When i started, everyone loved marantz CD players and mission speakers. (very early 90s, late 80s). Personally i hated em. The missions were nothing other than dreadful to my ears. The tannoy 603s were what I chose, and i didnt regret it - great pair of little speakers.

 

Yes. Awareness of products can't help but be compounded by having them discussed in a forum.

Before I buy I need to hear it, but before I hear I need to roughly decide what to hear, part of that decision involves trawling the net to see what information there is on a product and that almost inevitably leads to peoples opinions on forums among other things. You'll take them with a pinch of salt, because you know that very few people would stick their hand up and say "Yes, I own one of those ... its rubbish", but you will be influenced, even if only a bit.

Mags are similar - even if you trust little of what the reviewers say, you are being made aware of the product.

The biggest influence on the what kit I currently own was without a doubt my ears (though in the case of the current record deck it was a fetish for shiny metal and black plastic - which luckily paid off aurally), but forums, mags, the dealer etc. have to have some influence, even if its a negative one and even if you deny it.

 

After my initial 'proper' hifi purchase - which was a pair of Mordant Short MS20's from Richer sounds, to replace midi system speakers - pretty much every purchase I've made has been influenced in some way by forums. Not in a 'I must buy this because so and so says so' way, more in a 'I've read from the forums that a few people use these and I can get one for less than I'm guaranteed to be able to sell it on for if I don't like it' sort of way, if that makes sense.

I've acquired all my present hifi (and I'm not going to list it here ala Top Trumps, Isaac ), effectively, for free, as each 'upgrade'(or change, depending upon how you look at it) to my system has been made using the funds raised from the sale of the bit of kit it's replacing. I've also discovered a lot of great music that I would probably not have discovered if it were not for the folks here and other places - who share some of my tastes and therefore whose opinion I value - recommending new stuff to me.

I will, therefore, happily put my hands up and say that forums have made a big difference to me in respect of hifi and music, and long may it continue.

Chris.

 

Giving it a little more thought, I think that since getting to know people on here particularly, and taking a little more time over things, the upgrades I've made have taken me in the direction I have wanted to go, whereas they didn't necessarily before.

 

Though I'm another victim of "the tireless evangelisation of CJRoss" and got one of those refurbished DAC20s from TAG (originally intended to upgrade my NAD-C540 - but then it turned out that the NAD didn't like the idea of being upgraded and refused to send a proper signal to the TAG - so I had to upgrade the CD player as well... ), otherwise there's also not too much influence here.
Head-Fi made me realize that there was something like Alessandro headphones when I was about to build up my headphone system. Saved me quite some $$$.

 

When I hear names I haven't heard before in the forums, I sometimes go and get a demo of these components. Though the only components I bought 'influenced' by any forum were my Pagode Master Reference racks. I had them here for test during a weekend before deciding to purchase them.

 

...most of it!...

Consonance Basie pre - reccomended by Lilolee, bought from 7v

Border Patrol 300BSE - SCIDB

Kontrapunkt cart - reccomended by SCIDB

N.A. Mentor - part me, part SCIDB

CAL dac - Lilolee

meridian 500 - reccomended by Tony, bought from ya-boo


So, thanks of course to all of the above, especially Dean, Lee and Tone.

Cheers guys
:beer:

Oh, and thanks to Ian and Dean for all the music reccomendations! nowwww you're talking!!!

 

Forums can give an insight, ideas and maybe options you may not of given thought too, but in the end, its down to your own personal lughole evaluation.

 

Interesting question
yes they have influenced me, mainly with 1 particular purchase
just goes to show reading all the info,reviews,chat and opinion
in the world is worth nothing if your own earholes disagree

That said, the forums are a wonderful way to disguss and get a feel of what estoric or specialised units sound like before you jump on your bike/car and travel halfway up/down the country
in search of musical Valhalla

 

Of course, but how else could you hear about all the "good" alternatives, not magazines, only mainstream and fashionable gear there, stores, well, we know...

 

It's had some influence, both positive and negative. Good example being the blind purchase of DAC20, which didn't live up to the hype for me. However, I'm still happy with certain kit that is generally frowned upon by a lot of the forum members.

OTOH, the forum has tempted me to spend more money and for that I'll forever hate you guys

 

interesting point that DEV.

If I hadnt spent the money on hifi that I have done over the past few years, Id have finished renovating my house by now..

:'(

but then, I would have had 4 years of crapper listening...

 

Dev looking at your sig, have you ever tried single wiring xa200's with a seperate pre?, the only reason I ask is for a few years I ran xa1 with xa50's when demoing the 50's with my current pre they performed WAY better than when partnered with xa1, and that was single wired on their own, seemed to have more grip and could go to higher levels than with xa1, just a thought!

 

well, in my case, i guess it is a great help to have the forums
but the influence is partial. it's great to read other people's
views, but i always have to have my own.

yet i rate the forums a lot higher than the reviews in the mags
(even though i read a fair amount of them).

i always take suggestions and helpful hints but i always try to go
and listen to the gear before i buy it and make my own
judgement. it's always difficult to find a person that has the
same tastes and equipment to pair the stuff with. For example,
i have an MF A3.2. if i went for the forum's opinions alone, i'd
never got it. i tried a number of amps myself and i love the
sound i have. it works for me.

forums are full of great, highly knowledgeable and very helpful
people. i rate that very highly, but never above my own ears...
and my friends ears that come along for the audition...

still, what a great thing to have these forums.

cheers!
:beer:

Jack

 

Hi Analoguekid,

I did and I settled on what my daughter and I thought was the best setup. My daughter knows absolutely nothing about HiFi but has better hearing than mine so I ask her to listen to any changes I make and as she doesn't know what I've changed, her opinions will always be objective. It's my idea of DBT

We just found that biamping gave us the best bass control and clarity. Also I use different cables for bass and treble. SA for HF and Avaya Cat6 for bass. Swapping the cables (SA on bass and Cat6 on treble) gave us the biggest change (for the worse obviously). I think the Tannoys just hungary.

I would like to experiment though perhaps with different pre/power combination just to see what I'm missing by using MF amps. Perhaps a bakoff is called for .

 

just the superdac really, and some software garyi pointed me to

al my purchases previously have been either: "that's cheap, i'll have that" in the case of my Yam DPL Processor/preamp; or simply liking what i've heard at my dealer.