The wolf pack mentality/posting methods.

J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
True, I'm just trying to avoid having this thread go the way the one that inspired this thread went....I can be quite abrasive with my words at times.

Really to me, if it's not measurable within audio frequencies, or an octave thereof (for those that claim to have ears of god or some spiel), it's irrelevant and not worth the cash.

The only way I can see a cable making any difference is in an analog design, and that's through different impedance values....that would affect the way the electrons flow, and thus the sound (but to what extent is arguable as well).

I just don't get the "mysticism" you see about how one cable is designed with "insert some weird theorem here" or other "exotic sounding" methods. This is a world founded on science, and everything that happens here has a logical and predictable explanation (although we may not have stumbled across the answer yet)....but if we have stumbled upon something different, we have to be able to prove it's that way...I never see this in the cable market. It's all word of mouth.....yes most of these exotic cable people have amazing systems, but I highly doubt it's the cables (one day if I ever get the gall, I'd love to replace all the cables in a system like that with some phoenix gold car interconnects or some of my hand-rolled cables ($4 for connectors, and 19c/ft for a stereo pair...how's that for reasonable?) and see if they notice the difference).
I agree with your post steve. It is science that is involved in transporting signals. However, I'm a little confounded by your insinuation that I believe in the inherent qualities in mystical cables. I know I used that term, but nowhere did I state that I was confused in these matters. There are plenty of examples out there of hype and outright misrepresentation in some advertisments for cables. It is that to which I was referring.

Unless you are referring that statement to the op (of another thread...not highfi :)), then...nevermind steve. Cheers, John :)
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
I am glad this looks like it might be clearing up but I think I may drop out of the club, Audioholics has advised people to ignore me under my participation tachometer, so whats the point in sticking around? Chad
If it would make you feel better I will trade you my 2 green chicklets and my gear for your 1 red chicklet and your gear. Deal? :)
 
masak_aer

masak_aer

Senior Audioholic
If i were you, I'd stay put Chad. This thread isn't only about you or anybody in particular, i believe.

Although i am a fairly new member around here and haven't helped anybody in here (as long as i can remember), i think most members here are nice and resourceful and knowledgeable folks. I come here for help and new lessons and the truth is, I learn a lot.
I even come to AH for a wood disaster for crying out loud. Remember the financial lessons in the other thread? How in the hell you can get help and pointers for almost anything in one forum?..:)

I posted stupid remarks and got my hands slapped once in a while but i see it all in good intention. Oh well, what do i know?...
 
Halon451

Halon451

Audioholic Samurai
If i were you, I'd stay put Chad. This thread isn't only about you or anybody in particular, i believe.

Although i am a fairly new member around here and haven't helped anybody in here (as long as i can remember), i think most members here are nice and resourceful and knowledgeable folks. I come here for help and new lessons and the truth is, I learn a lot.
I even come to AH for a wood disaster for crying out loud. Remember the financial lessons in the other thread? How in the hell you can get help and pointers for almost anything in one forum?..:)

I posted stupid remarks and got my hands slapped once in a while but i see it all in good intention. Oh well, what do i know?...
There is also unspoken rules of etiquette here that seem to transcend the written posting rules as they are - I think it's something we all come to know after being around for a while, as we develop our ways of speaking amongst each other, and all the communications set forth. We're all guilty of stepping outside those lines from time to time, but you live and you learn. As you mentioned masak - this could possibly be one of the most well-rounded A/V sites out there, and no topic is off-limits or forbidden. Jeez, we even broached the taboo subject of racism without getting too bloody in the process. ;) What makes it great here is that we can get a bit rowdy if we want to, but respect has to come first. I think HH's intent was to remind us of that, not just defend his buddy who was swarmed.
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
this could possibly be one of the most well-rounded A/V sites out there, and no topic is off-limits or forbidden.
You know.
Now that you've mentioned it.
I have this rash....:D
 
J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
Well, the three of you can have at his rash, cuz I know of no doctor that precribes anything without first visually inspecting the malady. No thanks! :D:p
 
highfihoney

highfihoney

Audioholic Samurai
Really to me, if it's not measurable within audio frequencies, or an octave thereof (for those that claim to have ears of god or some spiel), it's irrelevant and not worth the cash.

I just don't get the "mysticism" you see about how one cable is designed with "insert some weird theorem here" or other "exotic sounding" methods. This is a world founded on science, and everything that happens here has a logical and predictable explanation (although we may not have stumbled across the answer yet)....but if we have stumbled upon something different, we have to be able to prove it's that way...I never see this in the cable market. It's all word of mouth.....yes most of these exotic cable people have amazing systems, but I highly doubt it's the cables (one day if I ever get the gall, I'd love to replace all the cables in a system like that with some phoenix gold car interconnects or some of my hand-rolled cables ($4 for connectors, and 19c/ft for a stereo pair...how's that for reasonable?) and see if they notice the difference).
Steve,this thread was never about cables or exotic audio,audiophiles,golden ears,mysticism,faith,botique,or any other catch word,this thread was about being a decent person & acting like a member of an online community,not a hunter & yes there are hunters,i'll explain.

Hunters look for CATCH WORDS from posters that they can innocently respond to with a "loaded question" which is the BAIT QUESTION,the questions posed have pourposefull intent,the intent of the bait question is to lead the member into saying something else that the hunter can respond to with another loaded question,if the member answers any BAIT question the hunters response will ALWAYS end with another BAIT question,this is called leading the poster or STEERING the thread.

Here is an example thread with examples of hunting,baiting & thread steering.

Thread title.

Need help deciding on a Krell amplifier.

The word (Krell) in the title will catch the hunters/trolls attention because it's a well known audiophile brand.

The thread starts with a question something like this.

Hi,does anybody here use the new Krell XYZ amplifier in their system & if so what are your thoughts & how does it compare to other amps you've owned.

A member responds to the exact questions posed by the OP who is only asking for information from owners of the Krell XYZ model.

Hi,i own the Krell XYZ & i love it,im running it with a Mark Levinson #16 preamp,Shanling CDT-200 cd player & B&W 802 D speakers,it's a fantastic combonation.

Before i bought the Krell i was running a Mcintosh Mc402 amplifier,i found that in my system the Krell delievered much better bass response over the Mcintosh,the Mac was good but in my system the Krell outperformed the Mac,hope this helps.

Pretty straight foward explaination from the respondant but the trolls now have windows & they will take advantage of them asap,the windows(catch words) in the members response being THE KRELL HAD MUCH BETTER BASS AND THE KRELL OUTPERFORMED THE MCINTOSH.

The troll/hunter will now join the thread by quoting the catch words,one statement at a time.

The krell had much better bass.The hunters loaded question (bait question) will be something along these lines.

How did the Krell outperform the Mcintosh.

Now the member responds to the Bait questionsomething like this.

When i swapped out the Mcintosh for the Krell i noticed an improvement in bass response with the Krell.

Now the troll/hunter will respond to this with another bait question, designed to lure the member into saying something that will allow the troll to come back with another question,this is called THREAD STEERING,something like this.

And how did you judge that the Krell had an improvement in bass response over the Mcintosh.

Another seemingly innocent question right ???,not so,it was another bait question & if the member answers the trolls question the troll will have control of the thread, but the member is not aware of bait trolling methods so he falls for the trolls bait & responds honestly.

When i was running the Mcintosh i always felt as if there was something missing from the low end response,the bass was strong & clear but it was lacking depth,once i tried the Krell the music seemed more dynamic & the bass no longer lacked the depth that i did not have with the Mcintosh

Now the troll is allmost where he wanted to be at the start of the thread,a little more baiting & he's there,a complete thread hijack,the troll's response to the members answer will assuredly be another bait question,sometthing like this.

Did you just use your golden ear's to tell the Krell had better bass over the Mcintosh or did you use an all levels matched dbt.

This is perfect for the troll/hunter,the troll knows full well that the member did not do a dbt or he would have said so in the first place,if the member answers back to the last bait question the troll will have more leading questions,if not the trolls use of the phrases GOLDEN EAR'S & DBT has now opened the door for THE WOLF PACK to join in & start the banter.

Keep in mind that at no time has the troll/hunter ever mentioned having any hands on experience with the Krell amp in question.

The banter will now start with a WOLF PACK member responding to the trolls use of the phrases GOLDEN EARS & DBT.


YUP,thats the way it is with the golden ears,they buy audio jewerly & want it to sound better,instead of being subjective & doing a DBT with the amps they hear what they want to hear, because they spent alot of money,its called THE PLACEBO EFFECT.

Now wolf pack member #2 joins in the fun.

Why is it that no golden eared audiophile will take a DBT the Audio Critic publishes a challenge issued by James Randy offering one million dollars to any audiophile who can pick a component 9 times out of 10.

Now the OP is gettin bummed out & asks,Can we talk about the Krell guy's,does anybody posting here have any experience with the Krell,if not please stop posting.

This request from the OP will either be completely ignored by the wolf pack while they continue their banter or will be responded to by the troll ,something like this.

MY experience with the Krell is "IRRELEVANT",this member made a claim of hearing a difference & were trying to establish if he used a biased controled dbt protocol in his listening tests.

Now the banter is free to continue from the wolf pack & is joined by more members of the pack, all who have nothing to offer about the amp in question,only rehetoric.

Wolf pack member #3 joins in & posts a response,the response is of no use to the OP & is directed at wolf pack member #2's comments.

Speaking of The Audio Critic,i was reading where he did extensive testing on bi-amped speakers with gold plated audiophile speaker wires & no golden ear could hear a difference.

Now the troll inserts himself into the thread again to expand on the non issues broght up by the wolf pack.

Of course none of the guys with ears of gold could hear a difference because the testing methods were properly controled,did you really think anybody could hear a difference.
Notice how the troll always leaves off his post with another question,this way he can get more responses & keep the thread going.

Now wolf pack member #4 joins in the fun with the most useless post of all to the OP.

I dont care how much money i had or how rich i was,i'd never spend that kinda cash on any amplifier,my Behringer A500 is just as good as either the Krell or the Mcintosh

Here comes the troll again.

Your right,anybody who spends that aount of money is just getting adio jewerly which is ok if thats why they want it,theres notthing wrong with owning audio jewerly they just cant go around thinking its better,because they cant prove it.

Now more banter from the wolf pack back & forth between them selves,posting various links to dbt's,abx's,The Audio Critic,pics of non relevant high end gear with a big price tag,funny pics of bunny rabbits with pancakes on their heads,pictures of their cars ect,anything but posting something of relevance to what the OP asked in the 1st place.

Notice how my example thread has been hijacked to the point to where it has nothing to do with what the OP asked in the 1st place, with 90% of the responses being from members with nothing to offer, except to expound on their personal beliefs about audio,or to make fun of others.

This type of hunting/trolling/hijacking is rampant,all one has to do to see this is go to the amp forum & look for threads with high end names in the title or threads with a high post count,most of the time a high post count & a high end name in the title go hand in hand.An even easier way to see recent thread take overs in action,look at the Shanling thread in the Amp forum.

Once again my point has nothing to do with anything except the inability of trolls/hijackers & wolf pack followers to let other members enjoy their self.
 
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J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
Wow. That's just about the longest post I've ever read here highfi.

Your point is not lost on me. I got it the first time, and so did most of the other members...I think.

I hear what you're saying, a poster with a serious question could get frustrated rather easily by that type of thing. I think the only way to counteract it is to stay on point, and not stray off. In the worst case, you call in the goon squad ("Regulators") to regulate.
 
J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
Here comes the troll again...This type of hunting/trolling/hijacking is rampant...
Do you really believe that highfi? I've seen some of it, and I generally steer clear. I visited the Shanling thread you've referenced for but a moment last week. I quickly saw it wasn't my cup of tea, and moved on. If what you write is true, I'd have no trepidation whatsoever to call in the Regulators ("Goon Squad" :D;)).
 
masak_aer

masak_aer

Senior Audioholic
Steve,this thread was never about cables or exotic audio,audiophiles,golden ears,mysticism,faith,botique,or any other catch word,this thread was about being a decent person & acting like a member of an online community,not a hunter & yes there are hunters,i'll explain.

Hunters look for CATCH WORDS from posters that they can innocently respond to with a "loaded question" which is the BAIT QUESTION,the questions posed have pourposefull intent,the intent of the bait question is to lead the member into saying something else that the hunter can respond to with another loaded question,if the member answers any BAIT question the hunters response will ALWAYS end with another BAIT question,this is called leading the poster or STEERING the thread.

Here is an example thread with examples of hunting,baiting & thread steering.

Thread title.

Need help deciding on a Krell amplifier.

The word (Krell) in the title will catch the hunters/trolls attention because it's a well known audiophile brand.

The thread starts with a question something like this.

Hi,does anybody here use the new Krell XYZ amplifier in their system & if so what are your thoughts & how does it compare to other amps you've owned.

A member responds to the exact questions posed by the OP who is only asking for information from owners of the Krell XYZ model.

Hi,i own the Krell XYZ & i love it,im running it with a Mark Levinson #16 preamp,Shanling CDT-200 cd player & B&W 802 D speakers,it's a fantastic combonation.

Before i bought the Krell i was running a Mcintosh Mc402 amplifier,i found that in my system the Krell delievered much better bass response over the Mcintosh,the Mac was good but in my system the Krell outperformed the Mac,hope this helps.

Pretty straight foward explaination from the respondant but the trolls now have windows & they will take advantage of them asap,the windows(catch words) in the members response being THE KRELL HAD MUCH BETTER BASS AND THE KRELL OUTPERFORMED THE MCINTOSH.

The troll/hunter will now join the thread by quoting the catch words,one statement at a time.

The krell had much better bass.The hunters loaded question (bait question) will be something along these lines.

How did the Krell outperform the Mcintosh.

Now the member responds to the Bait questionsomething like this.

When i swapped out the Mcintosh for the Krell i noticed an improvement in bass response with the Krell.

Now the troll/hunter will respond to this with another bait question, designed to lure the member into saying something that will allow the troll to come back with another question,this is called THREAD STEERING,something like this.

And how did you judge that the Krell had an improvement in bass response over the Mcintosh.

Another seemingly innocent question right ???,not so,it was another bait question & if the member answers the trolls question the troll will have control of the thread, but the member is not aware of bait trolling methods so he falls for the trolls bait & responds honestly.

When i was running the Mcintosh i always felt as if there was something missing from the low end response,the bass was strong & clear but it was lacking depth,once i tried the Krell the music seemed more dynamic & the bass no longer lacked the depth that i did not have with the Mcintosh

Now the troll is allmost where he wanted to be at the start of the thread,a little more baiting & he's there,a complete thread hijack,the troll's response to the members answer will assuredly be another bait question,sometthing like this.

Did you just use your golden ear's to tell the Krell had better bass over the Mcintosh or did you use an all levels matched dbt.

This is perfect for the troll/hunter,the troll knows full well that the member did not do a dbt or he would have said so in the first place,if the member answers back to the last bait question the troll will have more leading questions,if not the trolls use of the phrases GOLDEN EAR'S & DBT has now opened the door for THE WOLF PACK to join in & start the banter.

Keep in mind that at no time has the troll/hunter ever mentioned having any hands on experience with the Krell amp in question.

The banter will now start with a WOLF PACK member responding to the trolls use of the phrases GOLDEN EARS & DBT.


YUP,thats the way it is with the golden ears,they buy audio jewerly & want it to sound better,instead of being subjective & doing a DBT with the amps they hear what they want to hear, because they spent alot of money,its called THE PLACEBO EFFECT.

Now wolf pack member #2 joins in the fun.

Why is it that no golden eared audiophile will take a DBT the Audio Critic publishes a challenge issued by James Randy offering one million dollars to any audiophile who can pick a component 9 times out of 10.

Now the OP is gettin bummed out & asks,Can we talk about the Krell guy's,does anybody posting here have any experience with the Krell,if not please stop posting.

This request from the OP will either be completely ignored by the wolf pack while they continue their banter or will be responded to by the troll ,something like this.

MY experience with the Krell is "IRRELEVANT",this member made a claim of hearing a difference & were trying to establish if he used a biased controled dbt protocol in his listening tests.

Now the banter is free to continue from the wolf pack & is joined by more members of the pack, all who have nothing to offer about the amp in question,only rehetoric.

Wolf pack member #3 joins in & posts a response,the response is of no use to the OP & is directed at wolf pack member #2's comments.

Speaking of The Audio Critic,i was reading where he did extensive testing on bi-amped speakers with gold plated audiophile speaker wires & no golden ear could hear a difference.

Now the troll inserts himself into the thread again to expand on the non issues broght up by the wolf pack.

Of course none of the guys with ears of gold could hear a difference because the testing methods were properly controled,did you really think anybody could hear a difference.
Notice how the troll always leaves off his post with another question,this way he can get more responses & keep the thread going.

Now wolf pack member #4 joins in the fun with the most useless post of all to the OP.

I dont care how much money i had or how rich i was,i'd never spend that kinda cash on any amplifier,my Behringer A500 is just as good as either the Krell or the Mcintosh

Here comes the troll again.

Your right,anybody who spends that aount of money is just getting adio jewerly which is ok if thats why they want it,theres notthing wrong with owning audio jewerly they just cant go around thinking its better,because they cant prove it.

Now more banter from the wolf pack back & forth between them selves,posting various links to dbt's,abx's,The Audio Critic,pics of non relevant high end gear with a big price tag,funny pics of bunny rabbits with pancakes on their heads,pictures of their cars ect,anything but posting something of relevance to what the OP asked in the 1st place.

Notice how my example thread has been hijacked to the point to where it has nothing to do with what the OP asked in the 1st place, with 90% of the responses being from members with nothing to offer, except to expound on their personal beliefs about audio,or to make fun of others.

This type of hunting/trolling/hijacking is rampant,all one has to do to see this is go to the amp forum & look for threads with high end names in the title or threads with a high post count,most of the time a high post count & a high end name in the title go hand in hand.An even easier way to see recent thread take overs in action,look at the Shanling thread in the Amp forum.

Once again my point has nothing to do with anything except the inability of trolls/hijackers & wolf pack followers to let other members enjoy their self.
Form you post, the hunter/troll's way is so methodical and well-planned. I didn't know that it needs so much planning to be called a hunter/troll.

IMO, the OP has to be held partly responsible as well for a thread hijacked. He has the questions, he has the motive to start a thread in the first place. If he isn't ready for some off-topic online discussions, don't start it the first place. He, the OP, has to learn that in an open discussions like in AH, people from many different walks of life may chime in. Some may be on topic but some may not. A negative sentence/word (esp. the strong negative word: such as "retarded") is for sure asking for retaliatory remarks. You gotta be prepared for it, like it or not. If things got out of hand, the OP has also be ready to put it back on track. You are not serious about expecting everybody in an online community like AH to be ALL focused on one subject matter, are you?

Your wolf-pack theory is lacking proof as well. You know in a wolf-pack community, there is always a leader. AFAIK, there's no leader among the members here. If there is/are, he/they must be the mods...:D...
if you call several members here are as part of a wolf-pack for calling out a certain other member out for being ignorant, then i, for one, is guilty as well at some point. I am officially part of a wolf-pack..:)
 
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Halon451

Halon451

Audioholic Samurai


J/K - Couldn't resist. :D
Nice - made me laugh. Wow, this thing is getting rather complicated. HH, I would suspect that a large percentage of those who "troll/hijack" do so without really realizing it. As plenty of folks have stated before, we're all here on this site because we share a strong passion towards A/V, so therefore a certain degree of emotion will always be present when discussing brand loyalty. I really don't think there is any good, true honest way to avoid the trolling phenomenon, it's just something we all (who are regulars) have to take upon ourselves to not get drawn into the fray as soon as we realize what is occuring. The best way to shut down a troll is to ignore him completely, and take away what power he has to disrupt the flow of an otherwise good thread.

What happened on the cable thread (and a couple others I've been in on) is that we all jump right in, arms flailing, until the thread becomes so de-railed as to end in a train wreck and the mods have to close it down. Not one single person is to blame, but we are all to blame at the same time. ;)
 
T

trnqk7

Full Audioholic
I feel as if HH blames me in part for the whole "cable thread" as I was the one who initially said the word "troll" (I don't know that you do, I just have a bit of a feeling). I would like for everyone to know that I didn't say that in order to steer the thread or hijack it or anything else-I said it because of the feeling I had from reading the responses already posted and the from the tone of the question asked (well, the phrasing of certain sentences) that this was going to degenerate into exactly what everyone feared. And so it did. I apologize to all involved if I went about this the wrong way.

I value too much the help I get from this forum to try and upset people, I was just trying to call it as I saw it.

Chad, having been on the receiving end of some criticism on these forums before myself about the "accuracy" of my explanations (I was trying to keep things simple without overly complicating things) from a couple of members...I feel a slight sharing of the feeling you must have had when this happened to you. I also would advise you not to leave the forum-these same people that criticized me gave me some of the most helpful advice in another thread that I started. Nobody here dislikes you and all is forgotten/forgiven as soon as the thread is done and we move on to try and help out in the next one. I feel you have something to contribute and that we all should perhaps work on constructing our questions and responses a little more thoughtfully sometimes.

My two cents, for what they are worth.
 
majorloser

majorloser

Moderator
Wow, I feel like I just read through one of Mulester's posts :eek:
Could somebody post the Cliff Notes version? (just kidding)
Holy mackeral HF! That was intense.
Now you gave out the secret to wolf pack trolling.

Your truly,

Accused Wolf Pack Leader/Moderator
 
highfihoney

highfihoney

Audioholic Samurai
Do you really believe that highfi? I've seen some of it, and I generally steer clear. I visited the Shanling thread you've referenced for but a moment last week. I quickly saw it wasn't my cup of tea, and moved on. If what you write is true, I'd have no trepidation whatsoever to call in the Regulators ("Goon Squad" :D;)).
Hi John,i gotta say that i firmly believe that,it's just too much of a koinky dink that every last amplifier or cable thread takes on the same life force with the same people responding to every single thread,the same people who have no knowledge of said gear & express no interest in ever experiencing that type gear take over every thread,koinky dink ?? maybe, but me thinks not.

I cant be the only member here who see's a very disturbing pattern in these threads,even if i am being paranoid about the reasons behind the take overs the end result is still the same,thread disruption & not helping those who have questions about the gear at hand.

The Shanling thread is a classic example, with 90% of the post's being irrelevant & disruptive to the OP'S question,that thread is no longer a Shanling thread,it's now a thread for a select few to expound ad nauseam (spelling:eek:) on their veiws.

Posting off subject is one thing if the intent of the poster is help everybody have a more enjoyable visit to AH but when the intent is not to help others have an enjoyable visit its a bad pratice.
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
That's it, I'm selling my KRELL junk, I don't want to offend anybody, same for the Proceed, now as for the MUSICHOSE......well, jury is out on that one, though technically it will offend many as it is made by MIT (of black plastic- boxes-on-your-cables fame), I'll buy Yamaha/Denon/Onkyo and be politically correct and wires by Home Depot, now that should keep everyone in check.:)
 
highfihoney

highfihoney

Audioholic Samurai
Wow, I feel like I just read through one of Mulester's posts :eek:
Could somebody post the Cliff Notes version? (just kidding)
Holy mackeral HF! That was intense.
Now you gave out the secret to wolf pack trolling.

Your truly,

Accused Wolf Pack Leader/Moderator
Cmon now admit it,you miss mule too :D
 
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