Who Turned Over all the Rocks???

ND13 · October 2005

MacLeod wrote:

Nothing wrong with a worthless thread. We dont have to be discussing the theory of relativity in order to post.

This forum is a lot more friendly than most others and so we chat more casually. Im a member of the Carsound.com forum and its much bigger and impersonal so I post there about twice a week, only when I have something realitive to say. Here is different. This place is much more familial and unlike any other forum on the internet.

If you go to posting only things realitive to speaker power ratings or THD specs, this place will become impersonal pretty quick. I personally hope it stays the way it is.

Mac +1

spwuinmk67 · October 2005

I agree with you Mac, but only to a point. It seems, to me anyway, its becoming more and more worthless posts, and less and less of the worthwhile stuff.

audiobliss · October 2005

spwuinmk67 +1

There is a delicate balance to be acheived (or at least constantly desired).

Mike682 · October 2005

MacLeod wrote:

Nothing wrong with a worthless thread. We dont have to be discussing the theory of relativity in order to post.

This forum is a lot more friendly than most others and so we chat more casually. Im a member of the Carsound.com forum and its much bigger and impersonal so I post there about twice a week, only when I have something realitive to say. Here is different. This place is much more familial and unlike any other forum on the internet.

If you go to posting only things realitive to speaker power ratings or THD specs, this place will become impersonal pretty quick. I personally hope it stays the way it is.

Exactly Mac...nothing wrong with the forum. Wasn't this the intent of the "Clubhouse" forum anyway??? This place is fine..

spwuinmk67 · October 2005

Mike, I think the overall discussion was all of CP, not just the clubhouse.

VR3 · October 2005

This forum has made me grow up alot more than I like to admit...

If I never joined this forum - I would not be where I am right now. I wouldnt be on the level I am right now. The people on this forum, some of the "hardcore" members have done a part in helping me grow up. People will tell me that this is an online community - and it is. But quite a few of people on this forum are friends to me, a guardian of sorts that have helped me grow along the way...

I dont need to call out names, people know who they are. I would like to think I have come a long way in this forum and have contributed back enough to over-shadow my earlier years on this forum.

Do I still make useless posts? You better believe it. I've answered so many questions on this forum - I just get to the point of thinking... "someone else will answer that..."

And most of the time they do... but sometimes you can only answer the same questions so much...

But I don't plan to leave the forum anytime soon. You better believe that no newbies will violate our little group here - it will take alot to bring this forum down...

This forum goes through this spell every year and it eventually fades away.

nadams · October 2005

Haven't you guys figured it out? It's **** spawning season...

Same time every year!

spwuinmk67 · October 2005

Summer's over, and everyone has to start cleaning the sand out of their...naughty bits.

F1nut · October 2005

Sorry Mark, my comment was uncalled for and has been deleted.

Polk65 · October 2005

I have seen that there is a time when everyone feels like stepping back and even losing interest though the denial is blinding. To see so many veterans stepping back in my first year here hurts me like a hemorrhaging wound. Sometimes people just get tired, others need some time to recuperate.

My start in home audio was an accidental visit to a friend of a friend listening to M&K satellites with one wall shaking sub. After that experience I sought out a HI-FI store and found one that had three demo rooms. All the demo rooms had a decent mix of brands and the sound I fell in love with is Polk Audio.

If I did not have the chance to listen to a HI-FI lover's rig, I might be one of the sheep listening to a marketed product today. Veterans advice is needed if HI-FI is to have a future.

TroyD · October 2005

Here is MY personal slant to it.....

My participation on the board is driven by the amount of free time I have...which has become less and less. Working grave shift, 7pm-7am, well, there just aren't as many threads going at 3am.

The other thing is I've basically found the sound in my rigs that I'm looking for, I've pretty much established the core of my rigs that will probably go, fundamentally, unchanged for the foreseeable future. So, there is less for me to expound on with my rigs. I don't listen to a lot of new gear so I tend to stay out of conversations that I don't feel I have useful input for (save for the light banter, which, I can only rehash the same jokes so much, unlike Russ and Mark, I'm not that funny)

Those are the biggest reasons for MY dwindling post count.

Now, here is how I see the forum..

New folks. We've got the same issue with new folks that we've always had. It's not that 'we' are anti-FNG....we are anti-attitude. I think the more you hang around in any particular social setting, the less tolerant to static you become. That said, we've had some doosies over the years. Some will remember HUNTER and his Polk reengineering scheme, for example......

Worthless threads, again, that comes with experience as well. Having been the author of more than a few worthless threads and posts....again, the longer you hang around, the more selective you become in the things you participate in.

Controversy. We've ALWAYS had it. George/CHRIS (Snake)...wangotango/everyone....me/Dan/liv4fam. It's something that has ALWAYS been here, again, the past battles don't seem as bad because of the time elapsed. So, I think if you look at it in terms of escalation, the battles today aren't as bad as some of the old ones were. Do a search on CHRIS and read some of those doosies.

Now for the important part:

I really think in the past few years we've made some GREAT strides. TREMENDOUS.

When I came on the forum, there was always talk about forum gettogethers. Well, we've gotten past talk and had four MASSIVE polkfests with Polkfest '06 well into the planning stage. I honestly thought Carolina Polkfest '04 would be tough to beat and Mark picked up the baton and KICKED ****.

The collective knowledge level of the forum has risen exponentially. Four or five years ago, we had a guy come over from the Klipsch forum who was rebuilding some DQ-10's. WHOA, that was heady stuff for us at the time. I went over to the Klipsch forum on a recon mission. They were light years ahead of us in terms of technical knowledge. We knew what good sound was, but they were MUCH more technically involved than we were. Folks like Mark, Jesse, Russ.....even Sid (plug for you there little guy) have REALLY pulled the forum along to where I think ClubPolk is on par.

Gear.
When I joined club, the movement was to, exclusively almost, HT. RT, RTi....receivers. What is better, DD or DTS? That sort of thing. SDA was, I wouldn't say fringe element but a minority. The Bros. McGowan, madmax and a few others (hoosier, stubby, john strong etc) were hardcore SDA nuts but most hadn't HEARD, let alone owned SDA. In fact, myself, Russman and some others, debated (sometimes heatedly) if SDA was all that and a bag of chips. NOW, a good number have 2ch rigs. I'd say that it's a pretty even split with even a good number discovering vinyl. There are a hell of a lot more SDA owners participating than there ever was. Vacuum tubes....five years ago, who would of thought any on CP would own tubes?

As a result of what goes on here, Polk pays attention. They support Polkfest, avidly. SDA.....maybe not what we envisioned but SDA HAS been revived (In a platform that I think gives it a shot of being revived even further).

Lastly, we are like family around here. We will bicker and squabble amongst ourselves, even the 'senior' members, but where else can you find this comraderie? Now, folks like me, you will see our post counts decline but many of us can't go away for good. Look at Bob McG, he's back, chipping in his immense knowledge from time to time. I think it's a good thing to rotate blood around here, it keeps it from getting stale for everyone else.

Club Polk ROCKS. Keep it that way.

BDT

cfrizz · October 2005

Outstanding post Troy!

Here is my view of this forum from a womans perspective that I have picked up in my year & 10 months on it.

I knew I would probably have a tough time of it, being a woman on a predominately male board, but I love my Polk speakers so I was willing to risk it. I didnt let it be known that I was a woman for quite sometime.

So I lurked a lot & got to know how the board worked. I asked a few questions to stuff I wanted to know & got helpful answers.

Someone finally asked if there were any women on the board & I finally let it be known that I was one. Shortly there after I made a request and some let me know by their responses that they did not appreciate having a woman on their turf.

I almost withdrew. However, at the same time I got PMs from other senior members that I was welcome here & to just ignore the others. So I stuck around.

The board has changed a lot since I got here. There are now 2 other known women on the board, one of whom we helped put together a slamming first system! WAY TO GO LAURA!!!

It is very tough for new people to join an established forum and it is essential that respect is given on BOTH sides. I have noticed that an attitude flows both ways on this & other boards.

If someone new comes on & breaks one of the unspoken rules of the board, (as in the case of Crazythump) I & some others tried to politely educate him as to his error. Others immediately snapped at him. He wasnt interested in either opinion & got obnoxious. When that happens, by all means we then have the right to come down on the offender like a herd of elephants. But I dont think its cool to do so at the outset.

The issue with the Acculab speakers has just gotten ridiculous! 9 pages & growing! It was not very helpful starting right off the bat telling him to just dump the junk. It might be true, but it is not helpful. Now it has simply degenerated into a sewer of overblown egos wanting to have the last word. This thread should have died 7 pgs ago! Granted some of it has been funny, but most of it is just sad.

The rules of the board should be followed by everyone, newbies & established members alike. That is one of the best ways to get, keep & maintain the respect of all members.

It probably does get very tedious repeating the same info over & over again, but that is how others learn. And as some have cut back on their posts, others have stepped up to fill the gap so that the board continues to learn, grow & expand.

This board is in many ways like a family, and there will be conflicts from time to time, but eventually things settle down for a bit, before something else pops up.

It also reflects peoples changing lives, nothing stays constant & as other priorities pop up, the board has to take a back seat, as it should.

My brother, his fiancée & I had a great time at the Polkfest 2005! I never would have dreamed that it was possible to get to go check out where my speakers came from & to make such good friends from a internet forum! I loved talking with Matt Polk & Ken Swauger, who told me that they appreciated having a womans point of view when it came to audio!

I love this board, I have learned more in the past year & 10 months than I have in the 20+ years that I have been into audio. I have made significant upgrades to my system thanks to the info I got from this board! I now try to share that info with others whenever I can.

So the board will continue to change and grow & learn. Hopefully, everyone will continue to stick around and contribute to it, but even if some leave, & the loss will be felt, the board will continue, because life continues. It will only stop if Polk Audio itself ceases to be.

Cathy

CrBoy · October 2005

Applauses please...!

Really nice post Cathy...

ND13 · October 2005

I love you Cathy(like a Sister). You are no doubt a class act, and one of the many reasons I decided to register and quit lurking, like I did for several months.

It's members like CFRIZZ, DORO, F1, RuSs, BDT, Shack, Hoosier, Lou, Al, Madmax, RonP, Darqueknight, BobMc, even Mr. Grand, and of course many others that make this a very special board to me. I'm not even involved in any other boards, but from what I've gathered, from the members here and the few times I've clicked on a link to another board that one of you posted, this is VERY unlike any other board out there.

It's very disheartening to me to see one of our dearest and most respected members deciding to leave us. I hope he just needs a break for a while and will come back to enlighten , humor and just plain shoot the **** with us in the very near future. I also hope that none of the rest of you gals and guys decide to leave us, either. This "IS" like a family, sometimes disfunctional

, but family nonetheless. As with any family, there will always be differences of opinions, but let's not let those differences get the best of us. Those differences are what makes our POLK FAMILY special and dear.

I know that I've only been a registered member since April, but I feel as though I've known some of you for years. Sometimes personalities just mesh well, and sometimes it takes time, a little effort, and compromise before mutual respect occurs. PolkFest was a great way for me to put faces with the names. I didn't drive over 500 miles, one-way, and stay up for 44 hours straight to just go to HQ. I did that to meet you people.

I don't come here everyday just for my passion for Polk Speakers, but for the comraderie of the members. This is a fun place, with very unique individuals that happen to have the same passion for audio that I have. The VAST wealth of knowledge at CP is overwhelming at times and ya'll have helped me to catch back up to today's audio experience, although I really only use Vintage gear for the most part.

I for one, don't want to see Club Polk change very much(if any at all). And I definitely don't want to see any of the core members leave the ranks. Like I said in an earlier post, there are only about 100 regularly contributing members out of over 32K. These are the hardcore family members that will defend our little corner of cyberspace from any and all would-be saboteers and/or just plain **** with big chips on their shoulders.

Just my .02

Frank Z · October 2005

Someone finally asked if there were any women on the board & I finally let it be known that I was one. Shortly there after I made a request and some let me know by their responses that they did not appreciate having a woman on their turf.

I'd be namin' names....but then again I have a pissy attitude.

cfrizz · October 2005

Frank Z wrote:

I'd be namin' names....but then again I have a pissy attitude.

It's not worth it Frank, it was over a yr ago. However, I will say that YOU were one of the first to send me a PM encouraging me to stay & to ignore the ones that disrespected me!

You earned my unending respect & admiration that day.

From the bottom of my heart...THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

You are a tremendous asset & credit to this board!

Cathy

Frank Z · October 2005

You're very welcome...We need a little class around here.

okiepolkie · October 2005

I've enjoyed reading this thread(at least most parts) more than any other thread so far. I enjoy this forum immensely. I've seen changes too, but I have changed as well. I came here asking as many questions as possible, with little to actually contribute. They may have seemed trivial at the time, but they got me where I am today. Those that have far more post than me have taught me a lot, even if they are several years younger than me(and I'm not that old yet). I try not to post in heated topic threads, and if I do, I am not trying to flame anyone or anything. I realize that everyone has opinions, and I know my opinion may not always be the majority consensus. However, I don't get my panties all in a wad when someone doesn't agree with me. They can't force me to do anything, so why get upset. At the same time, I can't force anyone to have my same opinion, so I give advice and leave it to them to decide what to do with it.

I'm glad we have a variety of people here on the forum. I teach a variety of students every day and everyone has something to bring to the table.

I hope to be among the elders(not elderly) on this forum one day, so I am going to try to keep my bridges as unburned as possible.

Have a good one everybody.

Zach

Who Turned Over all the Rocks???

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