norliss
pfm Member
I thought it might me an idea to start a conversation on a topic that has long-since baffled me. Many years ago, I remember having 'debates' (arguments) about which was better: the Commodore 64 or the Sinclair Spectrum. They were utterly pointless and childish but then I was and we were, children. 10/11 year old, children, to give a figure. Move forward only a few years when things had moved onto the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST and, despite only being a few years older, such arguments ceased to exist.
Similar arguments have existed and continue to do so to this day: Nintendo vs Sega, Playstation vs Xbox, Apple vs Microsoft and, in reading some of the ways in which proponents address each other with such mature and considered gems as:
"Typical brainwashed Mac zealot..."
"Idiotic Win-droid"
"You're just a Sony fanboy!"
etc
...you'd be forgiven for thinking it's still the same sub-12 year old age group that participate in this kind of discourse. Except that it's not. And more surprising, given that HiFi is in the main, something of interest to a somewhat older group of people, is that a similar kind of mindset exists within its circles.
I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen threads descend into embarrassing spectacles between people that argue for no other reason than that someone dislikes or prefers a piece of gear other than the one they own. A classic scenario being:
OP says "Hey, I'd like to buy a <insert component type> and have a budget of X". To which someone replies advocating that said person buys make/model X (usually because they have one) followed by someone else advocating something else, in small part because they've tried/owned make/model X and didn't like it and/ or preferred make/ model Y. Net result = a back and forth between 2 (most likely) 50-80year old males where they basically trade insults seemingly for no other reason than that they have opted for different gear. It's almost as if by saying:
"I heard the same amplifier you have and didn't like it"
is akin to saying
"I've seen your wife and she's as rough as a bear's posterior. Her cooking's terrible and she's the most boring woman I've ever met and I'd rather hook up with the ropey girl that hangs around the pub down the road!"
So tell me, why does this happen? Why do people care? What difference does it make to them if someone else buys/ likes the same gear as them? Is it because the gear is an extension of themselves and they find that if someone doesn't like their gear it's akin to them saying "I don't like you"? Perhaps it's a tribal thing? People feel like they belong to tribe X, tribe Y or tribe Z?
Personally, I couldn't give two f..... er.... figs if you like or dislike what I own. If you want to tell me that you think any/ all of what I own is crap, then that's fine. It makes no difference to me whatsoever! In fact, I almost take the opposite view: if anyone asks me to suggest what gear they should buy, I would be more inclined to suggest makes/models other than what I have because I like the idea of people having different gear. How boring would it be if you and your pals all had the same gear?
If I come around your house to listen to music, I want to hear a different turntable/cart, amplification, speakers etc to what I have as that's interesting to me. If you had the same gear as me I'd be less inclined to come around because it would be just like me listening to my own system (albeit the room would be different, of course). For me, variety is the spice of life but perhaps others just want to be like the Borg/Daleks and assimilate and conform?
Similar arguments have existed and continue to do so to this day: Nintendo vs Sega, Playstation vs Xbox, Apple vs Microsoft and, in reading some of the ways in which proponents address each other with such mature and considered gems as:
"Typical brainwashed Mac zealot..."
"Idiotic Win-droid"
"You're just a Sony fanboy!"
etc
...you'd be forgiven for thinking it's still the same sub-12 year old age group that participate in this kind of discourse. Except that it's not. And more surprising, given that HiFi is in the main, something of interest to a somewhat older group of people, is that a similar kind of mindset exists within its circles.
I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen threads descend into embarrassing spectacles between people that argue for no other reason than that someone dislikes or prefers a piece of gear other than the one they own. A classic scenario being:
OP says "Hey, I'd like to buy a <insert component type> and have a budget of X". To which someone replies advocating that said person buys make/model X (usually because they have one) followed by someone else advocating something else, in small part because they've tried/owned make/model X and didn't like it and/ or preferred make/ model Y. Net result = a back and forth between 2 (most likely) 50-80year old males where they basically trade insults seemingly for no other reason than that they have opted for different gear. It's almost as if by saying:
"I heard the same amplifier you have and didn't like it"
is akin to saying
"I've seen your wife and she's as rough as a bear's posterior. Her cooking's terrible and she's the most boring woman I've ever met and I'd rather hook up with the ropey girl that hangs around the pub down the road!"
So tell me, why does this happen? Why do people care? What difference does it make to them if someone else buys/ likes the same gear as them? Is it because the gear is an extension of themselves and they find that if someone doesn't like their gear it's akin to them saying "I don't like you"? Perhaps it's a tribal thing? People feel like they belong to tribe X, tribe Y or tribe Z?
Personally, I couldn't give two f..... er.... figs if you like or dislike what I own. If you want to tell me that you think any/ all of what I own is crap, then that's fine. It makes no difference to me whatsoever! In fact, I almost take the opposite view: if anyone asks me to suggest what gear they should buy, I would be more inclined to suggest makes/models other than what I have because I like the idea of people having different gear. How boring would it be if you and your pals all had the same gear?
If I come around your house to listen to music, I want to hear a different turntable/cart, amplification, speakers etc to what I have as that's interesting to me. If you had the same gear as me I'd be less inclined to come around because it would be just like me listening to my own system (albeit the room would be different, of course). For me, variety is the spice of life but perhaps others just want to be like the Borg/Daleks and assimilate and conform?
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