DO NOT BUY anything from AV123

[zhimbo]

OK, so this is what I received back from him

Well, I have a Ph.D. in Psychology, including graduate-level work in neuroscience.

In my professional opinion, Johnson's a pompous **** who's trying to prop up his ridiculous opinion by waving his degree around.

I know the type.

 

[gonk]

Johnson's post finally bugged me too much to ignore, so I posted again and suggested that they do a little research into the situation.

You should ask him about the psychology of denial & rationalization.

Denial - it's not just a river in Egypt...

 

[Chu Gai]

Saw it Gonk. He could be cast as an English nobleman in Braveheart II or as a French aristocrat during the 1700's with very little coaching.

 

[bigwally]

I've always liked J.J., but it occurs to me now that I knew nothing of him.

 

[bigwally]

According to my join date here at Audioholics, I've been working on that last message for five years.

 

[Chu Gai]

I can think of no reply where I've ever laughed so hard. It was positively skewering.

 

[Stereodude]

I can think of no reply where I've ever laughed so hard. It was positively skewering.

I'll second this. That reply was so perfect I don't think it could be improved on in any way. I'm still smiling and laughing over it.

 

[bigwally]

And you're a man who knows skewering! I'm not completely up to speed on this shocking saga, but I'm getting there. I was in at the beginning as a Rocket beta tester and to me MLS was always a highly personable guy who treated me well, so this is a lot to take in. Ain't looking good. I'll say this, Mike Wallace had nothing on you when it came to investigative journalism. Edit: I've just been informed that Mike Wallace is not dead.

I can think of no reply where I've ever laughed so hard. It was positively skewering.

 

[Harmon]

His last post was deleted. He chose to respond to a harassing PM from the proprietor publicly.

FWIW, the post was rather brilliant.

Sorry I missed that post; Harmon's stuff is good.

Sorry to hear that, Harmon. For what it's worth, I saw your posts and thought they were well written.

Thanks, Seth, droht, & gonk. Seth is correct. I received a nasty PM from the site owner that I responded to on his forum. No name calling or personal attacks by me. The worst thing I did was call one of his suggestions "dumb".

I didn't really care about being banned (and told him so), but it did p*ss me off that he deleted my posts. Some people run scared from a rational debate of ideas.

 

[gmichael]

Some people run scared from a rational debate of ideas.

Hey

I resemble that remark.

 

[wshuff]

It is unfortunate that your posts were deleted because you, Harmon, corrected a misunderstanding about what remedies the prosecutor might pursue. Since that is what you do for a living, that was pertinent info.

 

[wshuff]

According to my join date here at Audioholics, I've been working on that last message for five years.

Proof that an economy of words requires a maximum of thought. Or that you procrastinate.

 

[wshuff]

And while I'm on a roll and getting my yearly quota of forum posts out of the way, I'll say this . . .

Despite the gnashing of teeth taking place over this mess and the salvos being lobbed between forums and the strafing runs members are making on other members, I'd just like to say no matter what MLS has done, there are some positives to come out of the whole AV123 experience. Because of Rockets, I met BigWally (I know, I've already lost most of you, because you're thinking, I thought he said it was a postive thing. Hang on . . .), got to know his dogs, and got to listen to the absolute coolest piece of audio gear anybody on any forum has, that being his Edison Phonograph, circa, I dunno, 1900? Sure, it is mono, and I think you have to hand crank it, but I wager that no equipment in my house will still be functional in 100 years. I'll be happy if most of it makes it for another decade. And there's something about hearing voices that were not only long dead before I was born, but probably dead before my grandfather was born, that is creepy, but in a good way. I mean, some of those people, if they said something about Honest Abe, they might have actually known the man. So, to recap, but for the Rockets, I would have never met the Edison phonograph.

 

[MinusTheBear]

A question for anyone that is fimiliar with intellectual property/privacy rights/property rights/public domain/state/fed laws regarding mugshots.

Is it legal to plaster a mugshot on a t-shirt/poster and sell it? I know we have all seen pictures of OJ, Sinatra, Madoff etc that are out there in the public domain.

This might seem absurd to some but I bet the audio community could raise a lot of money for some of these charities with something like this?

 

[Harmon]

It is unfortunate that your posts were deleted because you, Harmon, corrected a misunderstanding about what remedies the prosecutor might pursue. Since that is what you do for a living, that was pertinent info.

Thanks, wshuff ... to be fair I don't *think* that post about how restitution works was deleted, but I can't check right now (for obvious reasons).

The one that got me warned and ultimately banned was suggesting that he donate 1/2 of his sales that were derived from his association with MLS/AV123 to the agrieved charities. My "suggestion" was completely tongue-in-cheek to demonstrate how silly his suggestion was that people who won things from MLS/AV123 pay 1/2 the value of their winnings to the same charities ... not sure he comprehended the sarcasm.

Apologies for getting the thread off track onto a taboo subject, but didn't know where else to post it.

 

[myaudiocd]

I was hoping smoking gun would have it up by now but I guess he's not a big enough celebrity to enjoy the infamy, outside this small circle. They've been doing it for years and I've never heard of them being sued, but I don't know if they sell the image.

 

[bigwally]

You should hear the blacker-than-black background and pinpoint imaging since I drew on the wax cylinders with an audiophile marker pen. Incidentally, you'd be amazed at how astonishingly racist some of those old but mainstream Edison recordings are. The "good old days" were not necessarily all that good, but they were interesting. Sorry for the off-topic diversion.

And while I'm on a roll and getting my yearly quota of forum posts out of the way, I'll say this . . .

Despite the gnashing of teeth taking place over this mess and the salvos being lobbed between forums and the strafing runs members are making on other members, I'd just like to say no matter what MLS has done, there are some positives to come out of the whole AV123 experience. Because of Rockets, I met BigWally (I know, I've already lost most of you, because you're thinking, I thought he said it was a postive thing. Hang on . . .), got to know his dogs, and got to listen to the absolute coolest piece of audio gear anybody on any forum has, that being his Edison Phonograph, circa, I dunno, 1900? Sure, it is mono, and I think you have to hand crank it, but I wager that no equipment in my house will still be functional in 100 years. I'll be happy if most of it makes it for another decade. And there's something about hearing voices that were not only long dead before I was born, but probably dead before my grandfather was born, that is creepy, but in a good way. I mean, some of those people, if they said something about Honest Abe, they might have actually known the man. So, to recap, but for the Rockets, I would have never met the Edison phonograph.

 

[buzzardmountain]

I don't have my first post, but what I said to Johnson is that he didn't know what he was talking about and that he ought to read AH. Further, if he wanted more information he should email seeing as my membership there has my particulars. OK, so this is what I received back from him

Think he knows Schifter better than all of you know him?

It seems most of Schifter's "apologists" all think they have their own special bond with him.

 

[T2T]

It seems most of Schifter's "apologists" all think they have their own special bond with him.

Yet, none of them are offering to chip in towards bonding him out of jail?

 

[obie_fl]

I don’t like to get in the middle of mudslinging but I should confess what really drove me over here.

I’ve been on the AVSForum for almost 10years and AV123 since the start. In all that time never once have I had a post singled out and deleted by a mod. Now in the interest of full disclosure there were probably a few of my posts that got caught up in some flame war mass deleting which I have no issue with.

Now having said that I have had two posts that were singled out and deleted at TCA by CC. The first occurred shortly after the AV123 forum shutdown and I basically said I was surprised MLS hasn’t been investigated. I don’t have the post but I think I said something to the effect that “I’m surprised the FBI hasn’t knocked on his door yet.” The post was deleted and he said something about the legal liability of it. I was taken aback but hey it was his forum.

Then the other night he was spewing about how Chu was so vile and made the brownshirt comment. Up to this point I really hadn’t been following the Chu investigation that close and in fact I thought he was a bit of a crack pot. So I started reading what I like to now call the Chu chronicles and from what I saw Chu was very conciliatory towards CC. So I asked CC if Chu had done something illegal and if he did wouldn’t he have legal remedies? The post was immediately deleted and I won’t copy the PM but it basically said it was none of my business, Chu was a moron, and if I had something meaningful to post feel free or stay out.

Little did CC know up until this point I had respected him for the most part but with a single PM he blew any respect I ever had for him out the window. So in affect he drove me here where I could read the entire Chu Chronicles that I somehow had missed until now. So I guess I owe him some gratitude for finally getting me over here and reading the last 50 or so pages here and it all jelled with the things I already knew. I had just never stepped back and looked at the magnitude of it.