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Smear campaign?

Over the last week, I have seen a couple of products on Audiogon being abolutely TRASHED. And while I think praising or trashing a product on this site is certainly welcome, the manner in which these two products have been slammed raises the question of a smear campaign in my mind. The products include one I have been very impressed by, and one that I wasn't. However, in both cases, the methods have been the same. While I do like one, and am not crazy about the other, my desire to stand up and defend both of them equally is definite. Specifically, the products are the Electrocompaniet EMC-1 and the Talon Khorus speakers. It seems that the people slamming these two(with gusto) are people who use an e-mail address rather than a username. After a while, it raises the question of whether this is just the same person regurgitating his opinions over and over, using different e-mail addresses each time. As I said, praising or criticizing a product on this site is certainly welcome by me. By all means, I love to hear people's opinions. We all have different perspectives. But, BE A MAN and step up using YOUR OWN NAME and make your statements. I will respect you, whether or not I agree with you. I have been slammed for saying that I didn't like the sound of a certain component. Every time, I just stood up and took whatever comes. That's life. I have no problem being trashed by someone who takes issue with something I trash. I now see why many sites make you join BEFORE letting you join in on a thread. I believe the word is integrity.
trelja
khokugo
122 posts
 
Trelja is very right. I have been reading your post and whatever verdict you give, the method is reasonable understandable, and fair.

So, I hereby propose Audiogon to show posters' IP address, and gate name on the post. I believe it is technically very possible.

Ken
blkadr
731 posts
 
The same thing seems to take place in the review section of Audioreview. In those cases the agenda is usually transparent as they end up promoting the products compitition. Most of the slams here are not specific and are ignored by me. Some people just want to cause trouble.
If you stir up s#$%&, it stinks.
dekay's avatar
dekay
2,959 posts
 
Hi Trelja: I think that I know the EMC-1 poster that you are referring to. I had no comment to make other than that I did not care much for "their" favorite player (which I recently auditioned), so decided to pass.
jim
418 posts
 
Concur with the opinions regarding posters slamming and "hiding out". The Audiogon equivalent of hit and run. In retrospect, I seriously doubt that most of these
ass-wipes have any experience with the equipment they disparage. Too bad, as some people might discount certain gear based strictly on the misconception that these are informed and objective opinions. I too have often wondered what planet some of these guys are coming from.
macm
116 posts
 
I agree with Trelja that people should stand behind what they say about a product. But I'm not sure forcing registration would solve the problem of people smearing a product for whatever reason. Anyone can create an email address and register under whatever user name they like.

I like Khokugo's idea of listing the poster's IP Address. That's probably the best defense available. You can access IP Addresses yourself at Audio Review by pulling up "Source" under the "View" window of your browser. For some reason, it doesn't work at Audiogon. As Blkadr said, Audio Review can be bad when it comes to smearing. I've checked the IP Addresses there before and confirmed in more than one instance that a single person was posting numerous negative "reviews."
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