So true, with your assessment of AK. It is all of that, and, this is very important, one of the nicest communities on the WWW (and certainly the nicest audio community). Anything I can do to help "revitalize" AK, I am more than willing.
Revitalizing AK
- Thread starter arcorob
- Start date
The question may be the same (or similar), but the viewpoints are different. Also, why should folks have to sift through old answers (some many years, if not a decade or more) old? Good discussions, even if some get somewhat heated, are a lot of fun.
Chris Brown
Super Member
You seem locked into this "old vs new" paradigm:
You know, an audio system is composed of more than one piece of equipment. Even if someone has, for example, a vintage receiver, that doesn't automatically mean that they are listening to Vinyl, or even that they are powering vintage speakers. The need some people have, to make the forced distinction between "new" and "old", is what I consider to be part of the problem. What I see on this site is not people who cling to old gear, but rather people who evaluate each piece of gear based on it's own merits, regardless of age or other irrelevant forced categorization.
You should see what happens over at that AK site when someone recommends something new
If you're implying that there is backlash here when people recommend new gear, I'm just not seeing it. When someone asks for a recommendation about JBL speakers for example, the #1 recommended speaker is usually the JBL 590, which is certainly not a vintage speaker. I received a lot of help here when I decided to add subwoofers to my system using kits from partsexpress, again completely unrelated to vintage. And it was this site that first turned me on to the miniDSP which has improved my system tremendously.
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Good hi-fi gear wasn't cheap in the past and I think it's now cheaper than ever. There are many good current speakers available for under $1000 a pair, even under $500 a pair and good sounding integrated chip amps come in at $300 or less.
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I'm happy for you.
And neither of our comments are wrong.
jayvis
Addicted Member
Your response to my post is a pretty good example of what others have pointed out. You now seem to be making an effort to read too much into and twisting very simple and undeniable experiences. I'm sorry that my experiences on other audio forums differ from yours, but taking a low road exception to it is, well, I'll leave it there. These pretzels are really making me thirsty.
malden
Lunatic Member
I don't know if AK needs to be "revitalized", but I think the forum can be improved.
It seems to me that there are far too many members looking for answers without putting much work into their questions, and the same goes for those who respond with short, uninformative answers.
A common scenario is someone finding a set of vintage speakers for a good price, they start a thread "what should I do?", the knee-jerk answer is "recap them". The OP may give the model of the speakers but rarely post photos or listening impressions or equipment used to listen to them, etc. These threads are all too common and very boring.
As seasoned members, we need to encourage someone starting a thread to provide pertinent details regarding the components in question and any associated gear. Photos should start with overall views as well as detailed shots. This will provide context and allow for more insight into the system as a whole and hopefully would stimulate more meaningful discussions.
For the most part, we need to answer questions with more questions.
It seems to me that there are far too many members looking for answers without putting much work into their questions, and the same goes for those who respond with short, uninformative answers.
A common scenario is someone finding a set of vintage speakers for a good price, they start a thread "what should I do?", the knee-jerk answer is "recap them". The OP may give the model of the speakers but rarely post photos or listening impressions or equipment used to listen to them, etc. These threads are all too common and very boring.
As seasoned members, we need to encourage someone starting a thread to provide pertinent details regarding the components in question and any associated gear. Photos should start with overall views as well as detailed shots. This will provide context and allow for more insight into the system as a whole and hopefully would stimulate more meaningful discussions.
For the most part, we need to answer questions with more questions.
arcorob
Addicted Member
Hey Hey Hey...was not seeking debate and in many ways, I am encouraged that thus far, 9 pages of posts in just a few days meaning, people are still around...things just have to peak their interest.
As to old vs new...I myself am the epitome of blend. Every one of my systems in fact (if I am recalling) except one is a blend. Vintage receivers with newer speakers, Vintage receiver, vintage speakers, new streamer, modern TT...etc etc ...I am a fan of Marantz, Pioneer and JBL and am very impressed with FOSI. None of the gear era is relevant, What is relevant is that all of us have a love for music, the way it get reproduced and th e"toys" we get to play with.
THANK YOU AK for being the best !
As to old vs new...I myself am the epitome of blend. Every one of my systems in fact (if I am recalling) except one is a blend. Vintage receivers with newer speakers, Vintage receiver, vintage speakers, new streamer, modern TT...etc etc ...I am a fan of Marantz, Pioneer and JBL and am very impressed with FOSI. None of the gear era is relevant, What is relevant is that all of us have a love for music, the way it get reproduced and th e"toys" we get to play with.
THANK YOU AK for being the best !
arcorob
Addicted Member
malden
Lunatic Member
haha
malden
Lunatic Member
Brilliant post !
justin_r_23
Active Member
For a decent amount of time (late 2002 to possibly 2015) I was on a message board set up by Penguin Random House for William Gibson. Vibrant community, for a while, with a core of … 20 members? In 2016, Penguin Random House decided they didn’t want to maintain the forum and shut it down. Luckily, some of the members scraped the site and set up a clone, but most of our interactions come from being friends on fb, twitter, or instagram.
We did manage to develop a bond, though. We had a thread that counted up the years we had been on the board. There were occasional IRL meet-ups (two that I couldn’t attend where Gibson himself was in attendance. Book tours.)
All this to say: count your lucky stars that this site is independent of a corporate entity. People will find AK interesting or not. Even though I’ve only joined recently, I’m enjoying poking around and seeing what’s up and what is in AK’s past.
We did manage to develop a bond, though. We had a thread that counted up the years we had been on the board. There were occasional IRL meet-ups (two that I couldn’t attend where Gibson himself was in attendance. Book tours.)
All this to say: count your lucky stars that this site is independent of a corporate entity. People will find AK interesting or not. Even though I’ve only joined recently, I’m enjoying poking around and seeing what’s up and what is in AK’s past.
It's complicated.
daveshel
Super Member
If there's a problem here, I think It's that there is too much non-audio content here. I like the smile of the day and the potpourri threads, but some of the other off-topic forums dealing with other hobbies are diffusing the energy. We don't need to be all things to all people. The popularity of the gaming forum suggests that members are not finding what they came here for and go off on tangents waiting for it to arrive. At the same time, calls for additional brand-specific forums are not answered. I think we should be re-focused on our core interests. Depth, not breadth.
I think there are too many sub forums and as a result much useful information isn't spread around. That said I think the Lansing and Klipsch forums should be killed off and replaced by a general horn or high efficiency forum in which information among horn and single driver enthusiasts would be more widely spread. As it is the Klipsch forum is actually largely a DIY horn forum with some pretty creative people there and they shouldn't be hidden, so to speak, in a forum with a narrow focus on which it's not focused anyway. Know what I mean?
Chris Brown
Super Member
I agree that the large number of sub-forums can result in some users not ever finding threads that they would otherwise contribute to. I will say though, that the Lansing Legacy section includes JBL, which includes a lot of speakers that don't use horns/waveguides, and aren't particularly efficient either.