4 ms·

That's one of the great things about a good subreddit. A good subreddit, for me, often ends up helping me to know how to spend a reasonable amount of money in t

by japhyr 7y ago

That's one of the great things about a good subreddit. A good subreddit, for me, often ends up helping me to know how to spend a reasonable amount of money in that area and come away with high-quality products. I have been lurking on r/chainsaw, r/budgetaudiophile, and others for a while. I was quite comfortable buying a $400 chainsaw, knowing what I was getting that I wouldn't find in a $200 saw, and what I didn't need in a $600 saw. The same goes for the $130 pair of speakers I just bought. I had no idea what to get from looking at Amazon, but a little time reading r/budgetaudiophile led me to an affordable pair of speakers that gave me the best listening experience I've had in decades.

johnbrodie 7y ago
I'd be careful here, you have to _very_ carefully assess the domain of the subreddit visitors. My own anecdotes: r/miata - Useless for the entire subgroup that takes their car to the track, and will very likely still give advice, it'll just be bad or outright dangerous. r/cigars - Totally jump on bandwagons, and generally are "new" to the world of cigars. To highlight another point, a lot of more niche subs largely cater to those new to the niche. Those are the same people commenting and giving others advice, whether they really have the knowledge to or not. This mechanism over a few months seems to turn everything into an echo chamber, and you end up with new people jumping onto a bandwagon without enough info. Same goes for Amazon reviews, to a large degree - That $50 set of sockets might be great for someone who wants to change their oil filter, but will literally shatter for someone doing more involved work. I think this is where the traditional forums are much better. I want my info from "serious" people who hang around the community for years, not from someone who came into it a few weeks ago, and really just want some upvotes/points/whatever.
- japhyr 7y ago
  Oh, absolutely. People occasionally post videos demonstrating really unsafe chainsaw operation, or demonstrating really inexperienced operation. Those videos are quickly downvoted, or even better dissected for what the person is doing wrong and how they could improve. Same goes for the audio subs, and r/motorcycles... I find it easier to sort out on a subreddit who's an experienced, knowledgeable person, who's inexperienced, and who's a shill. I can sort that out on Amazon reviews, but I have to do that on my own each time. In a good subreddit, the community is doing that, both participants and moderators. You do have to keep an eye out for poorly-moderated or overly-shilled subs.
- dageshi 7y ago
  r/cigars was sadly gutted after reddit banned trades on their platform. Pre ban it was probably the best general purpose cigar forum on the internet, it's essentially turned into instagram for cigars nowadays which is a real shame given what it once was.
  - japhyr 7y ago
    Yes, I've seen that evolutionary decline in other subs as well. There seems to be a general increase in photo-based submissions, and fewer substantial discussions. People seem to think the photos will inspire discussion, but they often inspire only minimal discussion.
- tayo42 7y ago
  I think almost as a rule reddit has a really shallow level of expertise in any subreddit topic. I get really skeptical if someone recommends a subreddit as an authoritative community.
- jacoblambda 7y ago
  I've found decent success with /r/MechanicalKeyboards/ and a good chunk of the "classy" liquor subreddits (i.e. /r/scotch et all) since you tend to have a number or regulars who you can pick up a fairly solid taste from (how close they are to your own tastes) and can pretty reliably make decisions off of that.
  - sk5t 7y ago
    I wasn't going to say anything here, but MechanicalKeyboards is IME the absolute worst--it's an impenetrable echo chamber for keyboard OCDism, and I say that as someone who owns several mechanical keyboards and has nerded out in more than a few related categories.
    - jacoblambda 7y ago
      I'm not going to deny that but if you just filter for content that your goal from the subreddit like I mentioned in my comment then you can pick up some meaningful information and have some good discussions. MK is such a wide field for discussion and of course there are going to be OCD elitists but there are also a lot of people who are just going for ergonomics or function. As long as you keep that in mind and just ignore the posts that don't serve your interest in the subreddit then you'll have a good time.
MadWombat 7y ago
Can you share your wisdom related to speakers? I need a new set and I am a bit puzzled by my choices.
- japhyr 7y ago
  Here's the post I made this morning. I'm happy to answer any questions you have, here or over on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/dq5d9c/i_am_hooked/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/dq5d9c/i_...
  - MadWombat 7y ago
    Hmm... interesting, these are half the price for pretty much the same specs as my last (and regrettably expired) ones. How are they in practice? The reviews I looked at say that they lack in the highs a little.
    - japhyr 7y ago
      I've only had them for a couple days, and I haven't listened carefully to many speakers in a long time, or ever really. So I can't really say too much specifically, other than they sound significantly better than anything I've listened to in the last decade. There's nothing more I'm wishing from them at the moment.
    - erikschoster 7y ago
      FWIW I've had the version of these that doesn't come with bluetooth (R1280T) for three years and I'm still happy with how they sound.
awinder 7y ago
Oh this, a thousand times. I took a job where I had to do office casual dress for the first time (I had a nice run) and there’s these great series of “your favorite ___ for ___“ posts. People breaking down in price tiers what & why they like stuff, it’s such a fantastic resource.
thrower123 7y ago
Chainsaws are one thing you do want to spend money on and buy the best. Most of the cheaper homeowner saws are, in my opinion, unsafe garbage that should just be tossed. Especially for somebody that doesn't use a saw all the time. A heavier saw with more distance between the handgrips is going to be easier to control and kick back less if you do get in trouble, and that's one of the biggest ways people get hurt. Or if you try to do something that the saw isn't big enough to handle, which is another thing that people do all too often. You can still find some of the cheapest trash that don't even have chain brakes... If you buy a Husqvarna 372 or a Stihl 441, you'll probably never need to buy another saw in your lifetime. I prefer the Husky 372 (and older models like the 262 and 288), because it has a separate on/off switch and choke, whereas most saws have a one-piece switch/choke, with an off, on, and choke position - if it's cold and I've got gloves on, it's too easy to flip the lever down too far when starting, and shut Stihls and the cheaper Huskies off.

by japhyr 7y ago

johnbrodie 7y ago

I'd be careful here, you have to _very_ carefully assess the domain of the subreddit visitors. My own anecdotes: r/miata - Useless for the entire subgroup that takes their car to the track, and will very likely still give advice, it'll just be bad or outright dangerous. r/cigars - Totally jump on bandwagons, and generally are "new" to the world of cigars. To highlight another point, a lot of more niche subs largely cater to those new to the niche. Those are the same people commenting and giving others advice, whether they really have the knowledge to or not. This mechanism over a few months seems to turn everything into an echo chamber, and you end up with new people jumping onto a bandwagon without enough info. Same goes for Amazon reviews, to a large degree - That $50 set of sockets might be great for someone who wants to change their oil filter, but will literally shatter for someone doing more involved work. I think this is where the traditional forums are much better. I want my info from "serious" people who hang around the community for years, not from someone who came into it a few weeks ago, and really just want some upvotes/points/whatever.

japhyr 7y ago
Oh, absolutely. People occasionally post videos demonstrating really unsafe chainsaw operation, or demonstrating really inexperienced operation. Those videos are quickly downvoted, or even better dissected for what the person is doing wrong and how they could improve. Same goes for the audio subs, and r/motorcycles... I find it easier to sort out on a subreddit who's an experienced, knowledgeable person, who's inexperienced, and who's a shill. I can sort that out on Amazon reviews, but I have to do that on my own each time. In a good subreddit, the community is doing that, both participants and moderators. You do have to keep an eye out for poorly-moderated or overly-shilled subs.
dageshi 7y ago
r/cigars was sadly gutted after reddit banned trades on their platform. Pre ban it was probably the best general purpose cigar forum on the internet, it's essentially turned into instagram for cigars nowadays which is a real shame given what it once was.
- japhyr 7y ago
  Yes, I've seen that evolutionary decline in other subs as well. There seems to be a general increase in photo-based submissions, and fewer substantial discussions. People seem to think the photos will inspire discussion, but they often inspire only minimal discussion.
tayo42 7y ago
I think almost as a rule reddit has a really shallow level of expertise in any subreddit topic. I get really skeptical if someone recommends a subreddit as an authoritative community.
jacoblambda 7y ago
I've found decent success with /r/MechanicalKeyboards/ and a good chunk of the "classy" liquor subreddits (i.e. /r/scotch et all) since you tend to have a number or regulars who you can pick up a fairly solid taste from (how close they are to your own tastes) and can pretty reliably make decisions off of that.
- sk5t 7y ago
  I wasn't going to say anything here, but MechanicalKeyboards is IME the absolute worst--it's an impenetrable echo chamber for keyboard OCDism, and I say that as someone who owns several mechanical keyboards and has nerded out in more than a few related categories.
  - jacoblambda 7y ago
    I'm not going to deny that but if you just filter for content that your goal from the subreddit like I mentioned in my comment then you can pick up some meaningful information and have some good discussions. MK is such a wide field for discussion and of course there are going to be OCD elitists but there are also a lot of people who are just going for ergonomics or function. As long as you keep that in mind and just ignore the posts that don't serve your interest in the subreddit then you'll have a good time.

MadWombat 7y ago

Can you share your wisdom related to speakers? I need a new set and I am a bit puzzled by my choices.

japhyr 7y ago
Here's the post I made this morning. I'm happy to answer any questions you have, here or over on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/dq5d9c/i_am_hooked/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/dq5d9c/i_...
- MadWombat 7y ago
  Hmm... interesting, these are half the price for pretty much the same specs as my last (and regrettably expired) ones. How are they in practice? The reviews I looked at say that they lack in the highs a little.
  - japhyr 7y ago
    I've only had them for a couple days, and I haven't listened carefully to many speakers in a long time, or ever really. So I can't really say too much specifically, other than they sound significantly better than anything I've listened to in the last decade. There's nothing more I'm wishing from them at the moment.
  - erikschoster 7y ago
    FWIW I've had the version of these that doesn't come with bluetooth (R1280T) for three years and I'm still happy with how they sound.

awinder 7y ago

Oh this, a thousand times. I took a job where I had to do office casual dress for the first time (I had a nice run) and there’s these great series of “your favorite ___ for ___“ posts. People breaking down in price tiers what & why they like stuff, it’s such a fantastic resource.

thrower123 7y ago

Chainsaws are one thing you do want to spend money on and buy the best. Most of the cheaper homeowner saws are, in my opinion, unsafe garbage that should just be tossed. Especially for somebody that doesn't use a saw all the time. A heavier saw with more distance between the handgrips is going to be easier to control and kick back less if you do get in trouble, and that's one of the biggest ways people get hurt. Or if you try to do something that the saw isn't big enough to handle, which is another thing that people do all too often. You can still find some of the cheapest trash that don't even have chain brakes... If you buy a Husqvarna 372 or a Stihl 441, you'll probably never need to buy another saw in your lifetime. I prefer the Husky 372 (and older models like the 262 and 288), because it has a separate on/off switch and choke, whereas most saws have a one-piece switch/choke, with an off, on, and choke position - if it's cold and I've got gloves on, it's too easy to flip the lever down too far when starting, and shut Stihls and the cheaper Huskies off.