Thanks for stopping by the Bottlehead Forum. While this forum is hosted by Bottlehead Corp. it is not limited to discussion of Bottlehead products. We hope to create a haven for all things tube audio that you bottleheads might wish to discuss.
Bottlehead Corp. is a Washington corporation owned by Dan "Doc B." Schmalle and Eileen "Queen" Schmalle.
We have decided to implement a few rules that have worked well on forums hosted by our friends.
First, we require registration for the privilege of posting. Also, regardless of your chosen moniker everyone must sign their posts with their real name and any audio industry affiliation they may have. When we have to take responsibility for our actions we tend to show more respect for each other and keep things more civilized.
It's easy to set up your member preferences so that your signature is automatically added to each post as you see at the bottom of this one. Go to the Quick Links menu pull down in the upper left of this page and select Profile, then Modify Profile/Forum Profile Information. Scroll to the bottom of that page and you will find Signature. You can put your name in there (and your affiliation if you are in the audio business) and it will be added automatically to all your posts. Some members add an equipment list. That list is not required, just your real name is required.
Secondly, we require that any information offered about an experience be firsthand, that is, no "I heard that some guys/my friend/my enemy/my mom tried that and hated/loved it" posts. Only posts that are based upon first hand experience are truly useful in the Internet environment. If someone you respect told you of their experience and you are dying to share it, ask that person to post their first hand experience here themself.
Thirdly, no flames, no feuds, no whiners and no name calling. This is a privately funded commercial forum and as such we reserve the right to ban anyone who repeatedly acts like a jerk.
Fourthly, no for sale or want ads, and no "what's the best?" posts. For this forum to grow into a useful archive of tube audio design and construction info we need to keep the fluff to a minimum. Please ask specific questions about specific items in the forums designated for the subject, and please try to offer answers based on firsthand experience. If your answer is theoretical and not based on actual results, please be clear on this.
Fifth, please don't quote full posts again and again in a thread. Full posts quoted again and again simply junk up a thread and make it undesirable to read. Some of our most active members have impaired vision and use a screen reader, which - you guessed it - reads the quoted full post over and over again as they go through the thread. If you need to clarify what you are responding to in a thread, one simple way is to mention who you are directing your reply to with the @ symbol, as in "@Doc B. - I agree completely, your post is the most brilliant thing I have read all year"
Lastly, but not leastly, this is a community. Everyone is a beginner at some point, and that is not something to be shy about. If you have a question, please ask it. If you have experience and you can help out, please offer an answer. The original Bottlehead forum developed a reputation as one of the most friendly and helpful audio related forums, and the members of this community are largely responsible for that good reputation. Thanks to everyone for pitching in to keep the Bottlehead Forum a friendly and useful venue!
Doc B.
forum janitor
PS we do use the forum database to send out occasional notices of special offers. When you register for the forum there is a way to opt out of receiving this info - go to profile/my profile/notifications and email and uncheck the box "Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email."
