I'm guessing it is this bit "to look at forum life and relate it to music and hi-fi is to view these subjects through a very specific and distorted lens" that is a bit confusing? What I meant there was intended for those that look at forums and extrapolate that to the greater world of audio equipment and music. I'm just saying that the popularity, or otherwise, of a forum (or forums in general) has little to do with either the popularity of hi-fi or music. By "distorted lens" I meant that forums can give a very unrealistic impression. A piece of equipment may receive a lot of apparent interest on a forum but may actually sell in very low numbers. The opposite is also true where items that sell in quite large numbers receive little Internet coverage."My point wasn't really to criticise the non hi-fi/audio content of forums (and certainly not this one in particular) but to point out that forum contribution often has little to do with the apparent subject of the forum and more about the 'club' element. Therefore, to look at forum life and relate it to music and hi-fi is to view these subjects through a very specific and distorted lens (which is pretty much what you said)."