Is this forum becoming tired?
Posted by: Bob the Builder on 16 May 2018
Do you sometimes find it a struggle to find something new and interesting to discuss on this forum. Of course we are a niche forum and there is only so much that can be discussed but still to me it seems that more is being said by less people (the same people) about the same old subjects.
Even in my short time here about three years it feels like some of the more interesting and eclectic members seemed to have either left or have slowly posted less and less leaving us a very agreeable but sometimes less interesting forum.
For a company that was built upon free thinking that wants to push itself forward and attract new customers it feels perhaps this forum doesn't reflect this. I cannot imagine any of the new Uniti customers coming to Naim Audio for the first time rushing to post on this forum.
This isn't a dig at anyone in particular and I am a regular poster and so as much a part of what I'm describing as anyone. Perhaps it is just me and all of the rest of you are inspired and super enthusiastic about what you find posted here but for me some new and dare I say younger posters would be great and very welcome.
I have noticed in the few years I've been around, that the forum can take a turn for the worse whenever Naim bring out new products. You would think that the forum would be a buzz with excitement, but most likely reflecting others disgruntlement that they can't just drop into their local Naim dealer with a fat wallet. 
I suppose mainly it is the same questions, concerns, interests, problems, excitements that get exercised again and again, often simply because someone else comes up with it, but that is rather inevitable at least on the hifi and streaming forums given the nature of the forum and that it is the go-to place when people want help or information or just to discuss something of interest that is hifi related. Consequentially it is also probably inevitable that after having in some cases contributed N number of permutations of the same responses tailored to each new occurrence, people sooner or later may start to feel they’ve had enough of going round on what might seem like circles, even though it is usually a new varient of the theme, and that said people may drift away, either for a short or long time or permanently, resulting in gradual ongoing evolving of the active contributors.
Whether that is the forum getting tired is another matter - I would interpret tiredness as being fewer and fewer people participating, rather than evolving active participants, and fewer new topics, but I’m not sure that is the case. However topics do change: while at one time there would have been a glut of people trying to find out how to get into streaming or fix network problems, it is perhaps inevitable that the proportion of streaming newbies will reduce as more poeple are now doing it, so the topics shift. Maybe at the moment thare is a bit of an increase in the number of people wanting advice on starting or re-starting with vinyl, perhaps a predictable consequence of it having become more fashionable.
Meanwhile Naim’s product line evolves, and that provides no end of genuinely new topics, if unfortunately recently perhaps rather more negatively than hitherto because of the problems that surrounded them.
And it is interesting in some cases to see individual members’ systems and contributions evolve, as they pursue journeys that some seem to do deliberately but others seemingly almost without realising.
As for the padded cell, well what happens there depends on the whim of members, and with Brexit being the biggest single and still ongoing thing affecting the British economy and politics its longevity is perhaps hardly surprising, but if not interested one can simply ignore it, meawhile the ‘what are you listening to’ goes from strength to strength, albeit sadly with rather limited response to the second part of its name.
my own impression: some days the forum seems a bit dull and lifeless, on other days overly excitable and lively. A bit like the human participants, perhaps?
Now, where was I? Oh yes, Zzzzzzzzzzz....
I certainly don't post as I used to a couple of years ago but then I was excited with new equipment and the prospect of more upgrades.
Now I am kinda resigned to not replacing anything until it breaks since prices are just too crazy for my middle-class retired status so have little to contribute except on my current equipment.
However I still read the forum quite often on threads describing the boxes I still dream about and desperately try to find some reason why what I have is somehow deficient … still trying 
I would like to do more in the music room but it is still full of graphics referring to the music and I cannot read the graphics (I use a screenreader) so most of the posts are, to me, empty.
Padded cell just reflects its name … crazy … I'd rather keep my opinions for a face-to-face discussion with none of the entrenched positions I see when I do very occasionally dip into it.
... but on the whole, the forum is a valuable asset and at least a couple of items a week are worth reading … more than you can say about a lot of TV news and newspapers … so keep on posting.
Allan