Please Read and express your feelings and opinions....

cj1965

In Audiogon forums, the ratio of the clueless soothing their fragile egos with endless hand waiving nonsense to the knowledgeable citing proven science and mathematical evidence tends to be pretty high ... The fact that most of their contributions have been hand waiving BS intentionally or unintentionally misleading others doesn't seem to matter ...  The end result is often persistent ignorance ... with basic fundamental subjects that ... have been settled long ago and are considered trivial. This fiefdom syndrome is made worse when utterly unqualified salesmen are allowed to pitch their products without any deference to science or facts ... there are a significant number of influences that impede technical progress - causing issues to be constantly revisited that should have been settled long ago.

This rather reads as though you have appointed yourself judge, jury and executioner.  If your conviction is as resolute as you suggest here, I can only ask: Why do you participate in this forum? You've characterized it as an obstacle to the progress you apparently seek. Do you think your protestations will change the forum's content and the way it's moderated? Are you simply here to complain about how audiophiles pursue their hobby?

In any event, your assertion that this humble forum has been an impediment to "technical progress" is absurd. Progress inexorably marches on, driven by science and complex factors that dwarf whatever influence this forum and its members have - even in their dreams.

To a certain extent I think he’s right. It’s a little bit like when the inmates take over the asylum, as it were.

On a positive note, the best way to deal with clueless self proclaimed "experts" that argue incessantly with self aggrandizing, self promotional blather and nonsense is to simply ignore them. Every forum has them and for newbies, it can be a little daunting trying to decipher between those who are legitimate subject matter experts and the village idiots.  In general, the village idiots are the ones who never come up with solid information on their own but spend most of their time praising  the anointed "experts" while antagonizing any who offer "new" or "different" information. The other form of "village idiot" that constantly antagonizes others while no one ever seems to respond - it's pretty safe to assume that as most everyone has given up communicating with them, it's probably a good idea not to bother trying yourself. Another helpful hint in avoiding needless conflict with village idiots or people who do nothing more than contribute anger, frustration, and argument is to check other similar online forums with similar sounding member handles. A member search on forums like DIY audio, Stereophile, AudioHeritage will often reveal that such village idiots have a long, proven track record of unchecked stupid, aggravating, or otherwise annoying behavior.  Armed with these tools, we don't have to always get sucked in to the next stupid argument. As they say, it takes at least two....

I'd say if your desire is learning, there are better resources. Mr. Carlson's Lab on YouTube. Diyaudio.com. Passdiy.com. The Burning Amp lectures. Just to name a few. Reading people discussing the finer points of gain device characteristics is a much more fascinating endeavor than reading amatures rattling on about exotic fuses. 

There are quite a few people on this forum that come to learn.  Yes, often they are misguided while learning because they don't have a complete grasp or understanding of the original subject matter.  Several people have gained a real education here.  Probably not village idiots in the beginning, but definitely not as time goes on.