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Some of you reading this will
think, "Who cares? Screw 'em". We trust most of you have better
thinking skills and will understand YOU may not be able to purchase
a high quality printed manual in the future when you really
want one. If you care, YOU CAN HELP! The only way people
can usually find us is by internet search. We do not participate
with "link farms" or do other unscrupulous things trying to
increase our search visibility.
We really do want
to be here in the future to serve you, but WE NEED YOU TO HELP
US by mentioning us (with links to our site) in your web sites,
in your discussion groups, in your forums, and in your blogs.
If you are a small business owner involved in repair or
sales of audio or other consumer electronics, let us know. If
appropriate, we can perhaps help you with links on our site.
Small business owners should stick together.
If you
want to know why this public appeal, read on... |
We KNOW many treasure their
vintage audio components as do we. We are one of you in this
regard. One of the first
pages on our site was about loving the whole audio experience
back in the day. We also believe there are many who desire,
appreciate and similarly value owning a top-notch quality
printed manual for their electronic treasures. Nothing compares
well to having a clean, well-constructed, hard copy printed
manual in your hands. Without fear of contradiction, we are
one among few who can be depended on to consistently provide
excellent quality printed manuals virtually every time (or
tell you first if otherwise).
PDF files and scans have
their place and may be perfectly suitable or even preferred
in some cases. But they simply do not compare favorably with
an (analog) book (or electronics manuals) for many people. |
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A situation of recent years is causing an unintended effect
that may result in having no dependable (quality) printed manual
source (with large inventory) in the future. |
Well-meaning folks in audio
clubs, forums, web sites, and discussion groups are obsessed
with sharing manuals scans. Many are "on a mission" and actively
push, promote, help pay for and spend much time so that free
scans are available to all comers. Some are supposedly intended
only for "buddies" (by virtue of having joined a forum), but
of course, all those also become available to all comers. Some
people have made a hobby of collecting hundreds or even thousands
of manuals scans for stuff they will never own just to have
around to offer to anybody they run across who might ever be
looking for one.
Many web site and forum owners are being
praised, thanked and bragged about for providing free download
manuals. But many of those are making money from their forum
members and web site visitors by several means. They ask for
donations (to help cover the costs and keep the free stuff flowing),
And/or they sell CD's of the free manuals which were given to
them. And/or they sell advertising on their site/forum while
visitor traffic builds and more of a buzz develops about their
"selfless free sharing" of content which was given to them.
Some of the files are good quality, but many are lousy,
barely (or not) screen readable and a total waste of paper and
expensive ink to print, with maybe half missing... but... they're
FREE (so who could complain about quality). So in the end, some
of these sites and forums are actually businesses in disguise
being operated for the benefit of the owner, not necessarily
for the visitors and members. Some of the free manuals sites
are actually semi-scam operations designed to get you there,
then try to load spy-ware on your computer.
The above
is NOT just sour grapes, it's the truth, as is this... 80%
of manuals sales have traditionally been for perhaps 1-2 thousand
of the most popular models. Now, most anyone willing to
invest their time can find a free scan somewhere for those same
models. Now think about this... if 80% of potential customers
continue to opt for those free scans in lieu of a quality printed
manual, it very well may not be economically feasible to remain
in business. Contrary to what some may think, a quality
printed manual business has never been a get rich quick scheme.
Just think about it.
Here is an
Additional page on this site about
this topic by us and a couple of vintage audio technicians.
Send us a comment about this topic if you wish.
Thanks
for reading, and keep on hanging in there... I am.
Rick ("theman"
behind StereoManuals) Stout |
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| Click
for Full Size |
| No, it's
not a circuit board. It is Rick's Triple Stack Pioneer Silver-face
Audio gear. This business was started as a result of Rick's
personal passion for vintage audio gear and a desire to help
others with their collectible gear. |
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Pioneer Spec Bible
NEW 5TH EDITION
The Definitive 1970-1985 Pioneer HiFi Specs & other interesting info
Reference
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