The Monkey

Well done!

$30k? That is very upsetting. (Grange?) And your experience points out a very serious flaw in the current system. It is still way too easy to defraud people online, especially internationally, because of the highly frustrating process of trying to go after these people. And places like ebay and paypal don't help at all. And as we've all seen, this goes both ways. Vendors are regularly defrauded by the scamsters out there. Justin's recent detective work shows just how useful a tool the forums can be when information is freely exchanged.

"Cheating/skimming"? WTF? I hope you're not getting that from me because I certainly never implied it. To be perfectly clear, I don't think anyone at HF is doing anything intentionally wrong. But, HF, like many other similar websites, takes a risk with its business partners and that risk increases commensurate with the amount it sticks its neck out to protect them. Whether there are bigger fish to fry is debatable, but that is one point among many in a proper risk analysis. And it's so easily mitigated. What are these vendors going to do--walk? I doubt it. Walk where? There's no place else to advertise right now, at least in the headphone market. Big audio is a different story. I can't wait to see someone sue one of the cable manufacturers. That's going to happen. And if I ran one of the magazines that relentlessly feeds the hype machine surrounding cables, I'd be worried about that, First Amendment notwithstanding.

I think HF handled that incident pretty well all things considered. Wasn't it kind of the first major incident of that nature? And by someone who had been a valued member for years. iirc, nothing was suppressed and the information was pretty well circulated. Certainly there were things to be learned, though. And things like deleting negative comments or pictures of shoddy work or letting vendors continue to advertise who haven't communicated with customers for a year, all after the SP incident, strike me as kind of cavalier in the risk assessment department. Hell, even here we had someone make a stupid threat about using his name, which was indeed stupid, but out of an abundance of caution (and to get him the hell away from us) we stopped using it. So I guess my point is that doing business with unsavory business partners is a risk that, imo, should be seriously considered.

^This doesn't address the issue I highlighted (if indeed it was even meant to do so). That sites cater to the business end and not the hobby is manifest and has been for some time. That's fine and is a business decision I have no problem with. However, I continue to be mystified by how people who run such sites can get comfortable with their endorsements (express or implied) of vendors who are making false claims or who have outright committed fraud--in some cases using the forum as the medium, at least in part. I certainly would not be comfortable with that from a risk/liability perspective. We all say that "they don't care." In my opinion, "they" should. Not because it's "right," but because there's real risk. All it takes is one nasty AG with a bug up his ass. Accordingly, the notion that only one side (i.e., the positive side) can be presented doesn't make any sense to me.

I wonder how forums that allow ads, sponsored content, and shilling are not more concerned about their own liability viz. the veracity of their MOTs' claims and some of the serious vendor flameouts that cause people to lose money/gear. I know I would be.

Happy Birthday Marc!

^This, 1000 times, this. That line of thinking is truly absurd. Their thinking is basically thus: "If you really wanted to help, you would keep it a big secret." Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

I will take 1 Retina Mini for the win, please.

Happy Birthday!

I still love that video so much...Vic Colfari as Bobby, "The Rookie". lol.

So you're saying this is a case of sabotage?

How many race cars do you have?

I want a new leather briefcase for work.

Aw nuts, sorry I'm late, V, but...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

No.

Love it!

So I guess the step-by-step process will be the creation of a new model?

Can anyone confirm that the shipping models will need a tool to adjust the bass? I don't think I like that.

The www.head-fi.org is an excellent DAC/amp.

Aeeh! to you, too.

Head-Case: we conformists will not get on your fucking HYPE TRAIN.

My advice to you is--if you really do want to understand what you think are divergent opinions--to go back and read the last several posts carefully and get the not so subtle hint.

Aren't the CE regulations and associated testing/compliance complicated enough that we would need to know the actual directives applicable to this product, what exactly was tested, and what exactly was deemed "safe" about the product? I have no horse in this race about the product itself. Rather, my past experience with the CE mark (medical devices in a merger) is that it can be an enormous pain in the ass for something that has less than a straightforward meaning. Alex, please go ahead and post the report or at least a summary of it. I think people would appreciate knowing what the CE mark actually covers.

lol, I like the portion of your post bolded above. Nothing wrong with your English. Certainly better than I could do in another language.