Well, it took them long enough to get around to it, but Head-fi finally perma-banned me today, on some pretext out of the blue having to do with alleged "multiple logins." There I am, basically minding my own business, not having participated at the forum much at all lately (having become a little bored with it, to be honest) when I start getting attacked in the hotaudio thread by the same guy who started everything the first time in the PH100 thread. And then a PM shows up out of the blue from the site owner, Jude, demanding to know what my "affiliation" is with Hotaudio. Coincidental? I don't happen to believe in coincidences, but you decide for yourself. ;-)
Jude denies it has anything to do with Hotaudio, but then why make such an issue of it, and seemingly out of the blue like that? Why single me out? I told him that there is no "affiliation," aside from the fact that I bought a couple of amps and DACs from hotaudio and generally liked the products, which is exactly the truth, and then he banned me, with some big long diatribe about how they don't favor their sponsors' gear there (I think the lady doth protest too much ;-)).
But if it had nothing to do with all this continual flack over Hotaudio products, then why does he single me out to question me about it? Does he go out of his way to single out and PM anyone else who recommends gear to ask them what their "affiliation" is with the manufacturer? Kind of doubtful. And why does all this start right as that other guy is also chiming in out of the blue to attack me over the hotaudio gear, just like he did in the other thread? And why is Jude suddenly posting about it himself in the hotaudio thread? Again, it all seems like more than a coincidence to me (it all seems kind of pathetic, actually - don't these people have anything better to do with their lives?). He also denied that he knew anything about this blog, which I find to be very far-fetched and unlikely.
I think the truth is that they just can't stand real adults there at Head-fi, adults who speak their mind openly and without fear. Most of the members there appear to have what has often been identified as the "herd" mentality, but if you show no interest in being a sheep they try to beat you down to conform to what everyone else thinks. The "administration" there really is like little children, not really worth my time to deal with all their petty and childish games. Except for some of the senior members, and with a few other exceptions, I would be surprised if the average age of the forum is much above 16 or 17.
I might update this blog occasionally if I happen to see anything especially humorous or absurd over there, but as my headphone set up is pretty stable and enjoyable now, I probably won't be wasting much more time at that forum. Life is too short for petty squabbles about -- of all things -- headphone amps. I definitely also have noticed that I enjoy music much more when I don't frequent that forum, which seems to try to feed a kind of constant dissatisfaction, most likely so that you will buy more gear (more of their sponsors' gear ;)). As always, caveat emptor, and head-fier beware. ;-)
