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Re: Newbie view: have to be 'politically correct' to assylum insiders or beat up

Posted by Jon Risch (B) on November 23, 2001 at 15:14:39

In Reply to: Newbie view: have to be 'politically correct' to assylum insiders or beat up posted by karen on November 23, 2001 at 13:00:06:

karen,

Any message board is bound to develop a culture, some regulars who visit frequently, and some who have strong opinions. People are sharing a common background, and in many cases, a common experience.
On this particular board, it is audio, and specifically, audio cables.

Audio cables are one of the most controversial and disputed aspects of an audio system. In many cases, the mere presence of postings on audio cables is enough to wreck a board, this has occured in several cases, and their are some boards that either do no exist anymore, or have become something other than what they started out as because of postings about audio cables. Witness the wasteland that AR and some of the newsgroups have become, much of which is due to such postings or the attitudes behind and POV's inherent in the stances of certain groups and individuals that argue about audio cables and other audio components in a similar manner.

At this board, we have a rule that forbids discussion of DBT listening tests, and related subjects, so that instead of hundreds and thousands of posts going round and round without reaching any conclusion or resolution of the issues, folks can post in relative freedom from hassle and flaming about thier cable experiences. See:
http://www.AudioAsylum.com/audio/dbt.html
This is in additon to the regular rules for the Audio Asyulum board in general, see:
http://www.AudioAsylum.com/cgi/d.pl?audio/rules.html

A lot of the people who post here have experienced that using better cables in their system, makes their system sound better. They post about their experiences on the matter, and get feedback from other's who have done the same things, perhaps they have the same brand or model of cables, or similar components, and find a common point of reference. After posting here awhile, they are a 'regular', other 'regulars' have come to know their POV, what they have for a system, what changes they have gone through with their system and cables, and so on. This makes for a familiarity and understanding that is more casual than some message boards.

I think one of the reasons that this occurs here, is that without the flames and death spirals of DBT to deal with, folks can be more relaxed and enjoy posting and reading things more, discussions are more likely to lead to an exchange of information and opinions, it is just an easier place to go to for opinions, and information and experiences with cables.

I also think that many of the regulars or 'insiders' have come to value and cherish this atmosphere and culture. It is quite an oasis of friendly exchange compared to many message boards. These folks are understandably anxious to keep things this way, and can sometimes become a little zealous in responding to posts that either seem to, or are clearly posting statements that are in opposition to the basic premise that audio cables do make a sonic difference. They may be defensive or antagonistic towards such posts, and since a very large number of regular posters feel this way, it is not an easy thing to get past or overcome at times.

I think that one thing is clear: if you firmly believe that cables do not have any sonic effects on a home playback system's sound, then I would suggest that there is very little reason to post here, or to try and 'convert' anyone via some sort of post concerning such belief's. This is going to be seen as counter productive and a waste of bandwidth. One can go to rec.audio.opinion or rec.audio.high-end for affirmation of such beliefs or over to AR and do some subjectivist bashing if that is your bag. Not here.

As for the moderators, I am the primary moderator for this AA board section. The secondary moderator is in the way of a backup to me, and typically does not intrude unless there is a violent breaking of the rules that I do not see as soon as he does. I try to moderate the board with a very light hand, and sometimes this leads to a thread that may get past the bounds of civil behavior or of reasonable taste. Trolls, flaming, defamation, and the more obvious rules violations of DBT, slander, cuss words, etc. will all be dealt with summarily, hopefully in an appropriate manner.

I am not a machine, or an artificial intelligence program, I am a human being, and like all humans, I have emotions, I have feelings, and I make mistakes. I will be the first to admit that I make mistakes, and that this can sometimes lead to a less than perfect situation with posts or threads. I do feel that I do an adequate job, and that considering that the entire AA board is run by, and moderated by volunteers, that the place does pretty good overall.

RE Mr. Eddy's recent posts, there is more going on than meets a casual look perhaps, and perhaps this is one instance where I should just have turned the other cheek and refused to answer, and closed the thread. There certainly is very little purpose being served by allowing it to continue at this point. We can not seem to agree to disagree.

RE manufacturer's, there are no favorites played or allowed, and if someone is acting as a shill for a manufacturer, it is usually going to be noticed pretty quickly, and denounced. At the bottom of each post, there is a "Comment" option that will send an e-mail to the moderator and certain other AA bored members, to alert them to possible violations, flames, personal attacks, etc. Believe me, folks do not hesitiate to use this feature!

If you are that new to the AA Cables section, or to intense audio discussion on any audio message boards, then I propose that what goes on here is WAY toned down compared to other sites, and that it is not that bad. Perhaps unfamiliarity with some of the situations is leading to such perceptions, or the fact that audiophiles and music lovers are passionate about their hobby. Give it some time, perhaps read through the archives (down at the bottom of the page, they go back to 1999, you just have to keep clicking on the oldest one, and then scroll down to the oldest one in that archive) and get a better feel for the place.

Jon Risch
(also Cable Asylum Moderator)

Jon Risch

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