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\ | Rec.Audio.High-End | /
\ | Newsgroup Guidelines | /
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/___________) . revision date 03/06/13 . (__________\


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Table Of Contents:

1.0 Newsgroup Moderation
1.1 Moderating Team
1.2 Moderator Rules
1.3 Article Processing Time
2.0 Definition of High-End Audio
3.0 Topics Appropriate for rec.audio.high-end
| 4.0 Posting Guidelines
4.1 Posts Lacking Substance
4.2 Posts with a Limited Audience
4.3 Basic Questions
| 4.4 'For Sale' and 'Wanted To Buy' Messages
4.5 Duplicate Posts
| 4.6 Cross-posting and Multi-posting
| 4.7 Anonymous Posts or Posts with Spam-proofed Addresses
4.8 Inflammatory Posts
4.9 Commercial Posts
| 4.10 Announcements
4.11 Music-related Posts
| 4.12 Formatting of Posts
4.13 Quoted Text
4.14 Signature Files
4.15 Meta-discussions
4.16 Revised Posts
5.0 Administrivia

[Changes in this revision are denoted by a `|' in the first column]

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1.0 -- Newsgroup Moderation

rec.audio.high-end is a moderated Usenet newsgroup. All articles
posted to the newsgroup are first reviewed by a moderator to verify
that they are suitable for publication. The guidelines defining
what is appropriate are set out in subsequent sections of this
document.

1.1 - Moderating Team

The newsgroup currently operates with a team of moderators. The
present members of that team a

David Bath
Renaud Dreyer

The moderating team may be contacted by sending e-mail to the
address listed in the Administrivia section.

1.2 - Moderator Rules

Moderators will subject their own posts to the same moderation
procedures applied to other posters to the newsgroup. The lone
exception being for posts of an administrative nature.

Moderators will not edit any new text in articles. They may
delete or edit quoted text or gratuitous signatures. They may
also add a comment to, for instance, provide information that
will limit unnecessary follow-up posts. Moderators may reformat
new or quoted text to improve readability.

All moderator alterations, with the exception of reformatting and
deleted quoted signatures, will be identified according to the
following convention (where 'xyz' are the moderator's initials):


[ ..... -- xyz ]

1.3 - Article Processing Time

There will be a delay between the time when you post an article
to the newsgroup and when that article actually appears on your
local news server (or you receive a rejection notice). This
delay will usually be no more than 24 hours. Posts submitted
late on Friday and on weekends may not be processed until
sometime on Monday, resulting in delays of up to 72 hours. The
moderators do try very hard to process your submissions as
promptly as possible.

Please realize that when a moderator approves a post to the
newsgroup it goes to their local news server first, and must then
propagate from that server (across the net) to your local news
server. This process usually takes from several minutes to a few
hours, although it may take up to a day if network traffic is
heavy or key systems (like your own) are down.

As different moderators process posts at different times, posts
may occasionally appear out of sequence from when they were
actually submitted. This should cause no appreciable problems
for posts containing reasonable 'Subject' and 'Reference'
headers.

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2.0 -- Definition of High-End Audio

The working definition of 'high-end audio' under which this
newsgroup operates is

a) audio equipment whose primary and fundamental design goal is
to reproduce a musical event as faithfully as possible; or

b) audio equipment which attempts to provide an electromechanical
realization of the emotional experience commonly called music;
or

c) any relevant issues related to the use, design or theory about
a) or b).

Price is generally not significant in determining whether or not a
given component may be considered 'high-end'.

Products from mass-market corporations are less likely to be
considered high end insofar as such mass-market gear is designed
with apparent priority on things other than absolute sound quality.

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3.0 -- Topics Appropriate for rec.audio.high-end

Within the realm of high-end audio, as defined previously, any
topic is permitted. Theories, opinions, and questions are all
appropriate if they are concerned with the reproduction of music.

Please realize that the objective of this newsgroup is the
substantive discussion and exchange of information related to
high-end audio. Posts that do not further this objective, even if
peripherally related to an appropriate topic, will not be approved.

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4.0 -- Posting Guidelines

Beyond addressing appropriate topics, articles must also conform to
| the restrictions listed below.

4.1 - Posts Lacking in Substance

In submitting a new post or following up on a previous post,
attempt to provide as much concrete substance as possible, in
order to make your post most useful to the readers. This also
applies to requests for opinion and to technical questions;
queries that are vague or offer no content will not be accepted
for rec.audio.high-end.

Examples of complete posts not adhering to this guideline a

- "Tube amps are best."

[ No basis given. Please state *why*. ]

- "I don't agree."

[ Why not? Offer alternative or complementary info. ]

- "What do you think of xyz?"

[ Please include the context of the rest of your system, your
taste in music, or aspects of reproduced sound that are
important to you. ]

- "Check out http://my.neat.audio.page"

[ Please include a useful description of the site's content ]

Admittedly, this can be a grey area. Moderators will deal with
posts on a case-by-case basis. A moderator may suggest that the
article be directed as private e-mail to a previous poster in the
thread, posted to another newsgroup instead, or be revised and
resubmitted here.

4.2 - Posts with a Limited Audience

Posts that request highly specific information that is likely of
interest to few readers other than the poster, are best directed
to one of the other, more topic-specific, rec.audio newsgroups.
Such posts include (along with the more appropriate newsgroup):
requests for addresses and phone numbers (r.a.misc); queries for
equipment pricing and sources (r.a.marketplace); references to
product reviews (r.a.opinion); and calls for spec sheets,
schematics, and circuit diagrams (r.a.tech).

Responses to posts appearing in rec.audio.high-end that would be
of interest only to the original poster and not to the group as a
whole, should be directed to that poster as private e-mail. This
provides a more efficient way to deliver the information to those
who are most interested.

4.3 - Basic Questions

Very basic audio questions that likely can be answered quickly by
any number of readers are best posed elsewhe technical queries
should go to rec.audio.tech and more general ones to
rec.audio.misc. More complex technical issues, along with other
substantive audio-related questions, are certainly welcome here.

4.4. 'For Sale' and 'Wanted To Buy' Messages

| 'For-Sale' and 'Wanted To Buy' messages will not be accepted.
| Posters will be directed to rec.audio.marketplace for Usenet
| coverage. There are sufficient outlets, both on-line and in
| other media, for the buying and selling of audio-related items
| that it does not make sense for rec.audio.high-end to handle such
| traffic as well.

Post that fall into this category will not get rejection notices
since they obviously violate the guidelines.

4.5 - Duplicate Posts

Do not submit a post more than once. Duplicate posts will likely
go to different moderators, causing unnecessary headaches in the
moderation process.

As we realize there may be glitches in some news readers, when an
individual first submits duplicates, all but the first copy will
be removed. Repeat offenders, however, will have *all* copies of
duplicated postings removed from the group.

Sometimes, due to system problems anywhere between the poster's
system and the moderator's, submissions may get lost. This does
not happen very often, but the potential exists. We thus
encourage posters to save copies of their submissions,
particularly if they are long articles that were time consuming
to write. If you believe that a post was somehow lost, please
send e-mail to the moderators (at the address listed in the
Administrivia section) describing the problem *prior* to
submitting another copy of the article. It may simply be that
the post has not yet been processed. Please see the section "1.3
- Article Processing Time" for a description of the typical time
required for a post to go through the moderation process.

| 4.6 - Cross-posting and Multi-posting

In general, any post which has been, or is being, posted to other
newsgroups is not eligible for inclusion in rec.audio.high-end.
Please do not use the cross-post feature in your news reader for
submissions to this group as they will not be accepted.
| Multi-posted articles may be canceled from this newsgroup
(removed from rec.audio.high-end on *all* Usenet news servers) by
the moderators.

| Exceptions to the guidelines against multi-posting will be made
for announcement posts that are of interest to the rec.audio
readership at large and that unlikely to develop into lengthy
discussion threads. Refer to section "4.9 - Announcements" for
further information. If you have an post other than an
| announcement that you feel warrants multi-posting, contact the
moderators directly to discuss the situation.

4.7 - Posts with Spam-proofed Addresses

| Anonymous postings are discouraged, and posts with spam-proofed
| or other invalid addresses are not accepted. Posters are
encouraged to provide both their name and email address. At a
minimum, though, articles must contain a valid email address
belonging to the author. That address must be in the 'From:'
header field, unless a 'Reply-To:' header field is used, then it
must have the valid address.

Posts with invalid addresses will not be processed (approved or
declined) and their authors will not be contacted about the
problem. The posts will simply be discarded.

Posters with address-related problems that are truly beyond their
control are encouraged to contact the moderators to make
arrangements for appropriate long-term handling of their
submissions.

4.8 - Inflammatory Posts

Any content-free, personal-attack articles will be sent back for
revision. Flames must be directed toward the substance of an
article and not the author of the article. Posts containing
appreciable content and personal attacks will be returned to the
author for removal of the latter. The words "liar", "lie", or
"lying" are always considered to be inflammatory and posts
containing them will not be accepted.

The moderators may, at their discretion, decline a post which
recommends a Web site that is deemed to be inflammatory.

4.9 - Commercial Posts

Posts of a commercial nature are prohibited. Do not use this
newsgroup as a forum for propaganda or promotion of a product or
service. Usenet is not intended as a vehicle for free
advertising. Such a practice is harshly frowned upon and will not
be tolerated in rec.audio.high-end.

If you are a dealer or manufacturer of audio equipment, or work
for any audio-related businesses, it is expected that you mention
your affiliation in any post directly or indirectly regarding a
product you sell or manufacture (e.g., if a post concerns a
competing product to your own, it would be appropriate to include
your affiliation).

If in a moderator's opinion a post is intended more for promotion
than for information, that post will be declined.

Please keep in mind: 'information not persuasion'.

4.10 - Announcements

Posts announcing events, services, or information that may be of
interest to the newsgroup's readers are encouraged. Examples of
this type of post include: the formation or meeting of an audio
club; a visit of a manufacturer to an audio store; the creation
or update of an audio-related web site; and the availability of
software, plans, or other information of interest to DIYers or
audiophiles in general. Such announcements are subject to the
following guidelines:

- Unlike other posts to the newsgroup, announcements *may* also
| be multi-posted to other rec.audio newsgroups. Clearly, such
information may interest a wider audience than that served by
rec.audio.high-end. As these posts are unlikely to spawn
lengthy threads, the practical restrictions on cross-posting
to both moderated and unmoderated groups don't apply.

- In announcing meetings, public demonstrations, and the like,
please don't continually submit announcement posts. An
initial announcement of the event, along with a reminder a
week or so before the event itself, should be sufficient. If
you feel additional posts are required (e.g., significant
planning may needed in order for readers to attend), please
contact the moderators to arrange something appropriate.

- Web site announcements (i.e., WWW URL listings) should be
accompanied by a short description of what is contained in or
accessible from that site. Posts from commercial sources are
allowed, provided the site contains information, other than
strictly product promotion, that will be of use to the
group's readers. Sites with commercial content must be
indicated as such, including company and relevant
affiliations (e.g., if you're a dealer for a company's
product, say so). Site accessibility and content will be
verified by the moderators prior to approving the
announcement.

Repeated announcements of a web site's availability are
discouraged. Please limit posts to an initial one announcing
the site, and follow-ups *only* when the site has moved or
its content significantly changed.

4.11 - Music-related Posts

Posts that discuss music (e.g., recommendations for particular
compositions or musical genres, discussions of the relationship
between music and high-end audio, and other music-related issues)
are welcome in rec.audio.high-end. The newsgroup's goal,
however, is not to replicate the content of the groups within the
rec.music newsgroup hierarchy. While such discussions outside of
this newsgroup may focus solely, or at least primarily, on the
quality of the music and its performance, music-related
discussions within rec.audio.high-end should consider the sound
quality of the recording as well.

The general guidelines regarding substantive posts apply equally
well to music-related discussions. It is fine to post a brief
query such as "Can anyone recommend a natural sounding recording
of Banglewinkler's 4th Symphony?" A reply that simply suggests
"Try The Musicmeister Philharmonic on Really Loud Records." isn't
sufficient. If you're suggesting the recording, there is
certainly a reason. Describe the attributes of the performance
and/or sonics that recommend the particular recording(s).

4.12 - Formatting of Posts

If an article requires formatting to be readable, it may returned
to the author to be reformatted. Formatting problems include:
unclear citation of quoted text, indistinct division between
quoted text and new text, and lines of new text longer than 70
characters. Try to make each post esthetically pleasing; long,
unruly letters are often skipped by readers.

The 70 character limit is not arbitrary. Most news readers
operate within a real or virtual 80 column screen. Lines
extending beyond 79 characters are typically wrapped or
truncated, making posts difficult to read as a result. Keeping
new text to no more than 70 characters per line allows that text
to be quoted and requoted several times in follow-up posts
without the quoted text extending beyond the screen's boundaries.

The moderators reserve the right to return posts for revision due
to lack of readability, even if said post technically conforms to
this guideline. As an example, a post consisting of alternating
lines of 68 and 7 columns will be returned for reformatting,
despite the fact that no line is over 70 columns. Moderators may
also choose to accept posts that contain new text with lines
longer than 70 characters if it is unlikely that the post's text
will be cited in followed-up articles (e.g., announcements for
audio club meetings).

Moderators may, if the formatting problems are minor and if they
have the time, reformat the article themselves rather than return
it to the author. Please do not rely on this happening though
(i.e., do not use the moderators as a text formatting filter).

Any articles received that contain HTML or MIME text formatting
will be immediately returned for revision. Most news software do
not support articles in this form. The newsgroup is administered
so that it is readable by everyone, not just those using specific
| software. If your news software sends HTML or MIME encoding by
default, please turn the feature off.

4.13 - Quoted Text

In follow-up articles, please limit the amount of quoted text.
Excess quoting wastes bandwidth and makes an article difficult to
read. Additionally, some news software will not accept posts
that contain more quoted text than new. Do not quote
'signatures'.

In dealing with this situation, a moderator may either return for
revision a post with quoting problems or edit the article by
deleting excess quoted text.

If you are quoting a person to build an argument, please quote
that person verbatim with references. Do not merely rely on
memory or paraphrase.

4.14 - Signature Files

Article 'signatures' (of the type automatically appended to a
post from a 'signature file') can serve a variety of purposes.
They may provide reliable contact information (particularly for
e-mail), list an affiliation with some organization or company,
serve as a copyright notice, say something interesting about the
poster, or any of a half dozen other tasks of note. However nice
or useful signatures may be in the abstract, they get
tremendously tedious in practice when they grow needlessly long.
This is particularly true when you consider that they are
appended to each and every article, and are placed (along with
the article) in expensive permanent storage in the
rec.audio.high-end archives.

You are *strongly* encouraged to exercise restraint in 'signing'
your posts to this newsgroup. Even though it may interest you,
no one else wants to look at your ASCII rendition of the Starship
Enterprise or read the entire lyrics to Stairway to Heaven.
Please keep your signatures to no more than four lines in length
(for most purposes, one or two lines should easily suffice).

Articles with excessively long signatures will either have the
signatures deleted outright by the moderators prior to approval
or will be returned to the author for revision.

Exceptions to the signature restrictions will be made, provided
that the poster has a very good reason for the format of their
particular signature and that they communicate that reason to the
moderators. One example of such an acceptable reason would be
legal disclaimers required by the poster's organization (company,
university, or facility providing their Internet access).

4.15 - Meta-discussions

The focus of the newsgroup is the discussion of issues related to
high-end audio. A 'meta-discussion', within the context of
rec.audio.high-end, refers to the discussion of how these central
issues are themselves discussed within the newsgroup. In a
sense, they are analogous to the "Letters" (to the editor)
section of a magazine.

To the extent that such meta-discussions further the
understanding of the group's operating practices or attempt to
enhance its ability to serve the needs of the readership, they
are welcome. Among the topics appropriate for meta-discussions
are comments on the newsgroup's guidelines, questions regarding
the inclusion/exclusion of certain categories of articles, and
suggestions as to how the substance and/or style of the
audio-related discussions might be improved. Not all topics,
however, are appropriate. Among the topics best dealt with
outside the newsgroup (e.g., via private email to the moderators)
are complaints about the handling of a specific post, and
inflammatory remarks about the conduct or motivations of a
specific poster or a group of posters.

The moderators will necessarily need to exercise some degree of
editorial discretion in deciding which meta-discussion posts are
acceptable. Posters will certainly be provided a reasonable
degree of latitude to express themselves. The moderators do
reserve the right to return for revision any posts that are
highly unlikely to further the goals described above. Posts
should not mix audio-related discussions and meta-discussions,
unless the the former is included for the purpose of
illustration. Posts received that do mix discussion categories
will be returned to their authors to split into separate posts.

Articles in this category must adhere both to the above
guidelines for meta-discussions and to the newsgroup's general
guidelines. The category is not intended as a mechanism for
openly attacking other posters, circumventing posting policies,
or other goals that run counter to the productive discussion of
high-end audio topics. As meta-discussions have demonstrated a
propensity to rapidly escalate, the moderators reserve the right
to terminate these threads if they fail to maintain a minimum
level of civility or if the volume of posts becomes excessive.

So that readers may conveniently deal with meta-discussion posts
as they see fit, these posts will include a common, easily
identifiable marker. New meta-discussion posts (i.e., the first
in a thread) should include "[Meta-discussion]" as the first word
in their 'Subject' header field. Posts lacking this marker will
be modified as necessary by the moderators prior to approving the
article. Any follow-up posts should be handled correctly by the
poster's news software without special intervention.

4.16 Revised Posts

When asked to revise a post by one of the moderators, please
delete any "" or any other text that has been added as a result
of the revision request. But do add a note to the moderators that
this is a revised post, it makes the moderation process simpler.

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5.0 -- Administrivia

To submit an article to rec.audio.high-end, either

a) post to the newsgroup using your local news reading software

or

b) send as e-mail to

.

To contact the newsgroup's moderators, send e-mail to:

.

A discussion list for discussing the moderation of RAHE and
moderation policies can be subscribed to by emailing:



Note that subscriptions to this list are by approval only and even
though there will be much more leeway in the content of messages on
the list, overt flaming and abusive messages will not be tolerated
and the individual will be removed from the list.

Past RAHE articles may be found using Google Groups:

http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search

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