blakey72 Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Ok. So if you were just getting into hifi or been in for a while and just wanted some educated advice on what to upgrade to from people that have been in the industry/hobby for a long time, would you be willing to pay for it? I've seen guys that have spent $15k on systems and hate them cause the shop said this will be good. Say you're spending $5k. would you give up $500 to get 10 suggestions on something that might work synergy wise from word go. Instead of chasing your tail. Or if you're after a budget ststem and want to spend $1000 would yoy spend $100 to get advice on second hand gear, say 4 choices? The company does the research, gives the links to the place new or second hand and you go listen and say yes or no? So basically it's like a dating agency and you pay the dollars, the research is done and you get the results to try....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakey72 Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 Hey let's face it. When you ask for advice people usually advise what they have or have had. It's a skewed way to go about advice sometimes. Wouldn't an opinionated advisory be of more help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakey72 Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 How about you went onto Whirlpool and got all the idiot suggestions off there? What's the flavor of the month? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extract Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 2 hours ago, blakey72 said: How about you went onto Whirlpool and got all the idiot suggestions off there? What's the flavor of the month? Given that you post on their site, i guess that makes your suggestions idiotic as well. After all you were recommending Adelaide speakers to people back when they were flavor of the month a few years back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup The Daft Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 I've just paid for a kitchen renovation - my DIY skills fall short of drilling holes properly or cutting anything in a straight line - and the process was actually pretty awkward. I was surprised at the number of decisions we were left to make for ourselves, and then most of the ones we did make were considered wrong by the "designer" but kept to anyway. It all turned out OK, but I didn't feel that anything was actually "designed" for us - we did the layout (apart from one feature), chose everything - surprisingly, people who "know" about ovens are every bit as opinionated as people who "know" about hifi - and then they ordered the cupboards and contracted a few tradies to put things in place. To be honest, I didn't really relate this experience to hifi until I saw your question, but it struck me straight away when I read it. I had to research ovens, cooktops, ,microwaves, my wife researched layouts and we argued so long about tiles it delayed finishing the job by weeks. And this was all with a "qualified expert" supposedly doing this for us. She disagreed with most of what we wanted but gave in to get our business - and it turned out fine. As it happens, it's OK to have trained designers or even architects when it comes to doing a kitchen. If you get into researching hifi before purchase, you will immediately find out a couple of things. "let your ears decide" "everything affects the sound" and the type of people who get into hifi always seem to want to get the absolute best for their personal tastes which they already know are "special" and not the simple idea of buying something that best reproduces recordings. It's all put forward as so personal that you have to do it for yourself. Maybe some rich, time-poor people will pay consultants to put together a home theatre. For the rest of us, we've already learned that the sort of expert you're talking about is no use anyway. The idea should have merit but at this stage in the evolution of audio it's a non-starter, from what I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup The Daft Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 I see that people on Whirlpool seem to be just getting out of Q Accoustic speakers, and a couple of threads there have comments just directing people to... stereo.net.au As for Adelaide speakers, like many other brands, they have their place. And some happy customers. If you've got a big room to fill and not so much money for speakers, they're as OK as when they were flavour of the month, aren't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irek Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 I agree with the statement for stereo hifi gear: "let your ears decide" "everything affects the sound" Advice for HT systems and cinema rooms makes much more sense. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted November 18, 2018 Volunteer Share Posted November 18, 2018 5 minutes ago, Irek said: I agree with the statement for stereo hifi gear: "let your ears decide" "everything affects the sound" Advice for HT systems and cinema rooms makes much more sense. Why ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaynin Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 I'll happily pay for many things in life, but advice isn't one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalhome Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 37 minutes ago, Kaynin said: I'll happily pay for many things in life, but advice isn't one of them. I take it you expect to get a lawyer free as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emesbee Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 While I'm certainly no expert, I think I've learnt enough about hi-fi over the years to be wary about paying for advice. How would you know if the advice was worth the money, and not just someone trying to sell you a particular product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 11 hours ago, Eggcup The Daft said: "let your ears decide" "everything affects the sound" Absolutely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joz Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 what if it's bad advice? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addicted to music Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 4 minutes ago, joz said: what if it's bad advice? There no such thing as “bad advise”. Like there is no right or wrong answer. The advise either works or it doesnt. If it doesn’t move on to the next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joz Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Just now, Addicted to music said: There no such thing as “bad advise”. Like there is no right or wrong answer. The advise either works or it doesnt. If it doesn’t move on to the next. Ok would you pay for advice that doesn't work? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleasantSounds Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Main concern for me is that this kind of service would take away the learning, experimenting and decision making processes, which many of us consider a big part of the fun. And where's the sense of pride in "I paid $$$ to a consultant who put this together for me". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted November 18, 2018 Administrator Share Posted November 18, 2018 I think StereoNET's forums' success is a reflection of the answer to your question. People don't want to pay for advice and do their research themselves - and in many cases that means coming to a forum that specialises in the topic as part of that process. I know I briefly join forums on various topics to do the same while doing research. I often don't revisit them once I have all the information I need, else it becomes an ongoing hobby (or journey) and I become part of the community as long as I am still interested in the topic. With all that said, even if am to pay for advice from a specialist (landscaper, architect etc), then I still do my research myself prior to understand it all and get an idea of what I want first. My point is, it depends what it is I guess. One could argue though that Hi-Fi is far more subjective and down to personal preference than other topics? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelw Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 what's whirlpool ? the consumer advice horse has long bolted. people are so used to free advice now, they are unlikely to pay for what they can get free, regardless of "quality". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 (edited) 11 hours ago, Sir Sanders Zingmore said: Why ? I agree with @Irek that HT is easier to advise about, as it isn't so much about outright tonal quality or SQ which is highly subjective, it's more about pretty well established design ideas and standards. Dynamics and amplification with ample headroom etc are more important too, as there are established volume standards, eq curves etc etc, whereas stereo is more "trust your ears" and more tuned to the purchasers ears and tastes in music, playback volume, room size... Edited November 18, 2018 by blybo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaynin Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 9 hours ago, digitalhome said: I take it you expect to get a lawyer free as well? Nope, and I would never want a free lawyer. In fact, my free advice to you is, avoid all free lawyers! BTW, lawyers do a whole lot more than just dish out advice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakeshiftAtlas Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 Why charge for advice when judging audio is subjective? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrews_melb Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 34 minutes ago, MakeshiftAtlas said: Why charge for advice when judging audio is subjective? A lot of things are subjective that can still charge for their services. Interior design for example. Or the kitchen that EggCup mentioned, he still needed to pick out appliances that suit his way of living. There may be ‘right and wrong’ ways to do things but in between those right and wrong designs there is a lot of middle ground. Hence why paying someone for their knowledge is a good thing. Although i would not be interested in it, i understand where it could come in handy. I just dont think it would be popular as to do it right it would require a home visit to check out the room and have a good chat to the buyer. Therefor probably expensive. Pretty sure some audio stores would do home visits, if your spending enough to make it worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jventer Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Interesting question. My view is that when one buy new, the advice is supposed to be given by the shop. I think a good shop/salesperson will ask the right questions and assist in the purchase of equipment to have a satisfied customer.(It may not be what happens in practice, but it is my view.) But read further. When buying new and especially used there is the problem of how the different pieces of equipment will work together. Then there is the Elephant in the room. Not really an Elephant but at the end of the day how it will all sound will depend on the room. To reply to the OP's question, with hindsight I would be willing to pay for advice when I purchase equipment. I still have a problem as who do I trust for the advice and what would the cost be for my individual circumstances? My answer would be that if you have unlimited funds: get a professional do it. On a budget I think it is trial and error with a lot of time invested by the purchaser on the journey. But then, it is all a journey and a lot of the hobby is to experience different things. For me it was and still is great to read Stereonet about all the equipment and music and experiences. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronal Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 (edited) I think the concept of of a 'hi fi consultant' might work, especially if you were putting together a high-end system costing many thousands of dollars. Spending some money for good advice could be a good investment to avoid highly expensive mistakes. How it would work, however, might be problematic if you lived outside of Sydney and Melbourne. Such a person would have to be extremely well-informed and have an extensive industry network , technically savvy and across all equipment available (or potentially available) in Australia. There is also the issue of objectivity - the person would have to be prepared to recommend brands that he (or she) did not personally favour to meet the client's needs and we all know how difficult that is. The client would also have to be assured of transparency - ie that the consultant was not receiving commissions or kickbacks from stores or suppliers in exchange for introductions (or, if such a relationship did exist, then it was stated up front). All in all, quite a difficult gig to pull off. Edited November 19, 2018 by bronal 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steam Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 I would suggest a new thread. - the distilled wisdom of stereonet - for newbys to checkout. The only problem is somebody wise would have to wade through pages of crap to find the gems of knowledge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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