Suggestion: ban all cable debates

[Keith_W]

The tone of this forum is really dragged down by all these stupid debates. It seems as if some posters have nothing better to do than to start threads to sneer at their fellow audiophiles. I don't think they even think of other audiophiles as "fellow" audiophiles, sharing a common hobby. Rather, a target of derision to be harassed and bullied. This is a good example. What purpose do threads like these serve? How does it benefit the community? Does it do anything but boost the narcissistic tendencies of those who endlessly create such threads? And why is it that they are not satisfied with only creating one - they have to do it over and over again.

 

This forum is called computer audiophile. There are plenty of other forums where these people can go and scorn those whom they perceive are inferior to them. I think it is time to get this forum back on track - discussion of computer based audio.

[Keith_W]

Counter suggestion: Don't read or participate in those threads.

 

Actually, I don't. I open them every now and then and marvel at how unproductive these types of threads are. If you want to hear something objective, how about this: cable debates are as old as the internet itself. There will be no resolution. There will be no way forward.

 

Tell me again why people object to others buying cables? They think it is a futile waste of time? I can think of something else that is a futile waste of time.

[Keith_W]

Let's take it one step further: Ban everyone you disagree with or don't approve of. Why not start by making a public list of people who do not hold acceptable opinions. It of course would be a great service to everyone, and could really help the audio-ideology police force to enforce your brilliant ban suggestion.

 

Certainly that's what I would do if I was running this forum. People who constantly stir up trouble get banned. Simple as that.

 

I might come from the same side of the objective divide as you, but I roll my eyes every time I see someone sneer at others. I am a member of many other audio forums, and I have stopped visiting quite a few - either because they have turned into cable/DBT cesspools or they have gone to the other extreme where they extol the merits of mysterious cable risers. I hang around CA because CA is something different - the only and best forum dedicated to computer audio.

 

I would hate to see this place turn into another cable/DBT cesspool.

[Keith_W]

When I started this thread, I knew that all the usual suspects would turn up in here and pour bile on everyone. It really is a rogue's gallery. I have been attacked personally, called a troll and all sorts of pejoratives for merely suggesting that cable debates are a waste of time and have been going on for almost 30 years with no sign of stopping. And this is even coming from someone who is skeptical about cables.

 

I am not going to take the bait. Those who have called me names - well, you have only proved my point. Please keep doing so, I think you are doing an excellent job of confirming what I have said.

 

Chris, what you should realize is this: every forum has its contentious topics, and moderators on those forums know that some topics are unproductive and will forever cause problems. This is why Canon vs. Nikon debates are banned on photography forums, Mac vs. PC banned on computer forums, iOS vs. Android banned on mobile forums, Star Trek vs. Star Wars banned on sci-fi forums. You can see why - all it takes is for a newbie to turn up to a photography forum and ask if he should buy a Canon or Nikon. The resulting flood of replies opens up all sorts of enmities and old wounds and the result is not unlike what you are seeing on CA.

 

What you should also see from Jud's thread Poll: Where are you on the cable divide? is that the vast majority of members on CA believe that well constructed cables do make a difference to the sound, with only 15 members saying that cables are snake oil. This position is even outnumbered 2:1 by those who think that as cable price goes up, so does sound quality. Yet look at this thread (and all cable debates) - this minority of 15 seems to dominate these threads whilst the majority of CA remain silent. I am one of those who very rarely bothers posting, or even looking in cable debate threads.

 

How you run this forum is of course, up to you. But I am not like Jud (who is an optimist). I am a realist, and what I see is that adults will not be adults and that some people really enjoy creating thread after thread with the sole intention of ridiculing others.

[Keith_W]

(a) Teresa is not Jud.

 

(b) If the cable believers are the "vast majority" and it is the sensible opinion, why are you so frightened of the small amount of dissent?

 

© Since you linked my thread in the OP, I can only assume your intent was to troll me and any others who happen to approach the topic with a bit of humor and skepticism. You need to get over yourself, and stop whining for intervention if you don't get your way.

 

(d) Please send Alex my best. We miss him.

 

a) Oops, mea culpa.

 

b) It is not dissent that I dislike. It is how threads get derailed with predictable regularity and thread after thread gets created to flog the same old dead horse. Like I said before, these cable debates have been going on for 30 years. I don't see anything new being said by anyone from either side of the debate. I suspect I am younger than many here (I am 45) but even I am fed up of them. Let alone people who are older. Ask yourself, what will be your great achievement in life? That you spent 50 years of it arguing about cables on internet forums?

 

c) Yours was the most recent one. I could have dug up a dozen if I had bothered to look.

 

d) Who is Alex?

[Keith_W]

As the OP, I have changed my mind. Rather than ban all cable debates, let's put them all in one thread. Any new cable threads get merged into the existing thread. That way, these 15 or so posters can get up to 4,000 pages and find themselves arguing in circles. It will be fun! Given there is never anything new to say from either side of the debate, after a while everyone concerned can save time with their posts and write replies like this:

 

Yes it does.

No it doesn't.

Yes it does.

No it doesn't.

 

Or:

 

BS.

I call BS on your call of BS.

I call BS on your call of BS on your call of BS.

I call BS on your call of BS on your call of BS on your call of BS.

I call BS on your call of BS on your call of BS on your call of BS on your call of BS.

 

Essentially - that's what cable threads are about.

[Keith_W]

The only reason you think I am a troll is because I do not get upset by all your name calling and bullying. You think i'm out to irritate you. I'm not. I have seen enough cable debates to know that how you guys respond is absolutely stereotypical. The more you do it, the more you prove my point.

 

If you really as smart as you say you are, you would have better things to do than vent at anonymous people on internet forums over a matter as trivial as whether cables make a difference or not. Get a grip man, it is not important! Yet even pointing this out provokes some kind of existential crisis!