[Failed Engineer]

Maybe this is available, but is there an easy way for searches to exclude classifieds? Most searches I try from specific gear ends up being drowned in classified listings, making it harder to find meaningful content.

 

[AxelCloris]

It sounds like what you're looking for is more granular control over your searches, and for times when you want to ignore sections of the forums I recommend using Head-Fi's Advanced Search. You can access Advanced Search any time using this link or clicking the "Advanced Search" button in the search menu.

When you're on the Advanced Search page, you'll see a number of different ways to control where and how you search the site. For example, say you want to search the forums but ignore Head-Fi Classifieds, Members' Lounge, and the blogs. In Advanced Search, choose the "Search Threads" tab and then highlight the forums you want the search to include. Advanced Search will then only look in those sub-forums, ignoring the rest. You can also customize how you want your results to be displayed in Advanced Search, something the quick search boxes don't offer.