Audiogon and the Hi-Fi Mags

Hi Raquel, I hope all is well. Whether or not a magazine writes about it, it would be very interesting to learn more about AudiogoN. I'm not sure that they've consciously avoided writing about the goN and if so, we can only speculate as to why that may be.

I'd like to learn more about the prinicipals, Steve and Arnie. Their backgrounds, how they got the idea for this site and how they started it. I'd like to see some stats such as how many how many registered users there are and breakdown by geography. It would be interesting to see
how many unique visitors there are daily, how many ads are posted etc. broken down by day of the week. Why? Just curious as this is my favorite place on the net.

This place may attract a somewhat narrower crowd than on AA; perhaps those with more interest in buying and selling.
How large an influence the commerce end of this site has on the high end marketplace might be overestimated by us denizens but I do suspect it is significant. I think the forums are even more influential as I for one have based buying decisions on info gleamed here whereas I do not recall ever making a purchase decision based on something I read in the mags.

So how about it AudiogoN? Would you be interested in letting us know a little more about yourself? I hope this post is appropriate.

Stereophile did write about the auction for 9-11, hosted at AudiogoN and promoted by Audio Asylum.

Regards,

If people are selling gear on Agon, wouldn't it be logical that they are doing so probably because they want to upgrade or at least replace it with other gear? The fact that they would either have to buy new gear or more used gear, possibly from their local dealer or here on Agon, should demonstrate to the "glossy rags" that such sites actually ARE beneficial to the audio industry & dealers in the long run.

The problem is that most dealers are piss-poor when it comes to customer relations, which turns potential customers away from them. This means that the increased turn-over in gear that might allow people to buy newer gear from them is being bypassed by others selling gear on the net simply because they want to avoid the "snob factor" that most "audio salons" bring with them to every transaction.

As such, the dealers with fair price structures and good customer service don't fear Audiogon, it is the shysters that could care less about their customers who are the "sworn enemies of Audiogon".

As to the glossy rags, you can be certain that they feel the heat from all of the internet forums AND the internet based magazines. While most of this has to do with the timeline of available information in print, a lot of it has to do with the ease that one can obtain info on the net, therefore negating the importance of the glossy rags and "guru" reviewers. The fact that many of the "reviewers" that are currently writing for glossy rags aren't worth the paper and ink that they are printed with only compounds the situation. This is not to say that the glossy rags and reviewers don't have their place, as some of them are surely worth the paltry sums that an annual subscription costs.

As far as "heavyweights" hanging out at AA or at Agon, i think that each forum has benefits and drawbacks. Quite honestly, the signal to noise ratio at AA is much, much higher on AA than it is here at Agon. As such, one ends up having to not only post in a different manner, but also take on a completely different mindset when posting there.

To be honest, AA surely has a greater volume of input, but at the same time, i don't think that it has the same "feel" that we can find in the threads here. As one of the founding members of AA, the first person to contribute funding to AA ( other than Rod, the founder of AA ) and someone that has sponsored several different "fund raisers for AA, quite honestly, i feel more comfortable here at Agon than i do over at AA. That's why i tend to post here more than i do there.

If any of you have seen my posts at AA, it's not because i can't stand "toe to toe" with the "heavyweights" over there either, as i've directly debated several different and very well known manufacturers of gear, quite a few EE's and even some of the "hi-fi mag" reviewers being discussed here. In fact, i like heading over to AA just to kick some heavyweight ass once in a while. Doing so keeps me sharper and on my toes for when it really counts, like when i post here at Agon : ) Sean
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If you go to the Stereophile Market Place you will notice that it is Audiogon.

Fatparrot: "just an audio guy with an unusual moniker". Actually, my wife's name is Raquel. She was standing by the computer at the moment I needed to come up with a user name.

Kleech: Hi Ken. Same to you!

Thanks to all those who have responded.