Are You An Audiophile? Ha! Not according to this article...

[shadyJ]

sterling:
I think that last paragraph may get you some grief ! I am still laughing at it and its affecting my ability to type. I have been called mentally defective many times. Not over audio, but that really made me laugh.
I will wager however that a mild shitstorm may be headed your way. You may wish to close your windows and make sure there are no clothes outside drying on the line.

I can agree with what you wrote in your first two paragraphs wholeheartedly. I'm staying away from that last one however. I just put on a clean shirt.

I don't see why it would bring him any grief. A lot of the discussion in this forum is really just nitpicking over the finer points of sound reproduction, and that is fine. That is what I do, and the fact that it is kind of petty does not bother me. Speaker X sounds better than speaker Y because of a slight bump on a frequency response chart makes it sound a tad bright? In the grand scheme of things, that is relatively unimportant. I do enjoy talking about it and learning about it, not only because I like my music to sound good but because I think the science behind it is interesting.

Our systems can bring us varying degrees of sonic realism or immersion or whatever you want to call it. At the level of discussion we can get into here, we are just bickering over what separates the upper 99% from the top 100%. Most of the world is happy with HTiBs, blue-tooth speakers, and boomboxes. This is why it is surprising to me what someone says something like a Wilson speaker or Bowers and Wilkins speaker sound bad. Maybe for the price some super high-end speaker doesn't perform as well as it should, but I have never heard one of these systems sound abjectly 'bad'. The worst high-end setups I have heard at a trade-show was still much better than the best systems that you can get at Wal-Mart.

 

[eljr]

I am sorry for audiophiles, I believe they are mentally defective, exhibiting very compulsive and obsessive behaviors which keep them from any real joy that comes from relationships with people not things. Folks who have difficulty relating to people are very, very sad people who need help and prayers.

I am speechless.

All I know is that on high end sites I tend to see more talk about the music and ZERO talk about the objectivist. Many times I have challenged them on interconnects and power cords. Never a reply with malice, just respectful disagreement.

Nothing like this post, ever.

Can you really not see what motivates you to post such hate?

 

[eljr]

I don't see why it would bring him any grief. .

It's hate speech dude, that's why.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

I asked Siri "What is an audiophile" and the answer was 'Here's a list of audio file formats....'

 

[shadyJ]

Peng
Let me challenge that assumption as it applies to members of the AH. You used the word "should" so you are completely correct. Audiophiles "should" value music more than hardware. Let me show you what a brief search on the AH reveals.

CHALLENGE: I reviewed the last 200 posts of a certain SME on hardware. Not one post about music. Not one. I could expand that search of other frequent AH experts on various topics and while not a perfect 200 for 200, many are pretty close.

CHALLENGE: On the AH there are 23 categories for hardware threads of all stripes and flavors. There are 2 categories for threads on music. And to be quite honest, the 2 threads for music are not usually used for a discussion of music, just posts about what's being listened to or watched. And on those two threads for music, like I said, in any given month there are probably less than a dozen people posting there and far , far fewer than ever write about their music for a discussion.

CONCLUSION: While I agree, audiophiles (or whatever you label yourself in audio) should be more interested in music than hardware, the bulk of the activity on this forum isn't about music. I have only been coming here something less than 1 year. I love the forum. If there is a shortcoming of this AH forum its the dearth of actual interest and discussion of music as expressed on the forum itself.

There are lots of message boards out there devoted to music. This website is about the technical aspects of sound reproduction, so of course we will spend a lot more time here discussing that.

Music listening is a purely subjective experience, but accurate sound reproduction is quantifiable. Musical preferences are so personal that you can say what you like, but there is no way to resolve disagreements, recording X can never be better than recording Y. I don't talk about the music or movies that I listen to around here very much, because most people here would likely not ever have heard of the artists or even the genres that I enjoy. Most of our musical tastes are formed when we are younger and become ossified. A lot of the higher-end two-channel systems I have seen are really just shrines for some old rich guy's favorite albums of their youth. I am not even criticizing that, I can understand it, and I deeply love much of the music of my life as well.

But think about the significance of having a home audio system- music in general becomes more of a personal experience instead of a shared experience, and so we have less in common to discuss as far as actual music content goes. It is an inevitable drift of our culture, it will fragment, and the 'top 20 hits' don't mean as much anymore. How many of the current top 20 do you know? Looking over the current billboards top 100, I don't know any of them.

Anyway, just because there is not as much discussion of music around here doesn't mean that many of us are more concerned about our gear than our actual tunes. I have spent far far more money on music recordings than I have spent on audio gear, but if you only read my posts here, you might not guess that to be the case.

 

[shadyJ]

It's hate speech dude, that's why.

That is not even close to hate speech. He is right that there are audiophiles who exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors about their systems. He is right about 'audiophiles' who lose sight of the forest for the trees, and they get bogged down tweaking technical details and entirely forget the purpose of such a system to begin with. That is not all of us, but I am sure we have all seen it. He isn't saying that everyone who posts here is like that.

 

[lovinthehd]

I am speechless.

All I know is that on high end sites I tend to see more talk about the music and ZERO talk about the objectivist. Many times I have challenged them on interconnects and power cords. Never a reply with malice, just respectful disagreement.

Nothing like this post, ever.

Can you really not see what motivates you to post such hate?

I didn't get that at all, methinks someone read a bit too much into it. So you disavow your Audioquest cabling and challenge others now? LOL.

 

[MR.MAGOO]

That is not even close to hate speech. He is right that there are audiophiles who exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors about their systems. He is right about 'audiophiles' who lose sight of the forest for the trees, and they get bogged down tweaking technical details and entirely forget the purpose of such a system to begin with. That is not all of us, but I am sure we have all seen it. He isn't saying that everyone who posts here is like that.

maybe using 'audiophile' and 'mentally defective' in the same sentence pushed too many buttons in some minds.

 

[eljr]

I didn't get that at all, methinks someone read a bit too much into it. So you disavow your Audioquest cabling and challenge others now? LOL.

Don't troll.

At this point you know why I bought AudioQuest cables. It had nothing to do with expected sound improvement.

I support anyone buying anything they want.

Not being part of a tribe, being strictly reasoned, leaves me at odds with both groups.

Same problem I have in politics. I refuse to jump on any band wagon and play the same song if it's out of key. And they always are.

 

[PENG]

Peng
Let me challenge that assumption as it applies to members of the AH. You used the word "should" so you are completely correct. Audiophiles "should" value music more than hardware. Let me show you what a brief search on the AH reveals.

CHALLENGE: I reviewed the last 200 posts of a certain SME on hardware. Not one post about music. Not one. I could expand that search of other frequent AH experts on various topics and while not a perfect 200 for 200, many are pretty close.

CHALLENGE: On the AH there are 23 categories for hardware threads of all stripes and flavors. There are 2 categories for threads on music. And to be quite honest, the 2 threads for music are not usually used for a discussion of music, just posts about what's being listened to or watched. And on those two threads for music, like I said, in any given month there are probably less than a dozen people posting there and far , far fewer than ever write about their music for a discussion.

CONCLUSION: While I agree, audiophiles (or whatever you label yourself in audio) should be more interested in music than hardware, the bulk of the activity on this forum isn't about music. I have only been coming here something less than 1 year. I love the forum. If there is a shortcoming of this AH forum its the dearth of actual interest and discussion of music as expressed on the forum itself.

A long time ago I started a thread to collect high quality recordings experienced and recommended by AH members. My motive at the time was to try and acquire music media (vinyl albums, CD, SACD, digital files) that are of good sound quality in terms of transparency, dynamic etc. To be clear, if it wasn't that I wanted to enjoy music at home as much as I could in live venue, I wouldn't have started that thread that may have given people the impression that I valued sound quality more than the music itself. So I suspect audiophiles probably do value music a lot, otherwise they wouldn't have spent so much energy and money on equipment. It is like if one doesn't enjoy specialty coffee at home, one would not pay much attention to what kind of specialty coffee machine they should buy.

I used the word "should" simply because I know I could be wrong, or there is no right or wrong about this.

 

[Bucknekked]

There are lots of message boards out there devoted to music. This website is about the technical aspects of sound reproduction, so of course we will spend a lot more time here discussing that.

Music listening is a purely subjective experience, but accurate sound reproduction is quantifiable. Musical preferences are so personal that you can say what you like, but there is no way to resolve disagreements, recording X can never be better than recording Y. I don't talk about the music or movies that I listen to around here very much, because most people here would likely not ever have heard of the artists or even the genres that I enjoy. Most of our musical tastes are formed when we are younger and become ossified. A lot of the higher-end two-channel systems I have seen are really just shrines for some old rich guy's favorite albums of their youth. I am not even criticizing that, I can understand it, and I deeply love much of the music of my life as well.

But think about the significance of having a home audio system- music in general becomes more of a personal experience instead of a shared experience, and so we have less in common to discuss as far as actual music content goes. It is an inevitable drift of our culture, it will fragment, and the 'top 20 hits' don't mean as much anymore. How many of the current top 20 do you know? Looking over the current billboards top 100, I don't know any of them.

Anyway, just because there is not as much discussion of music around here doesn't mean that many of us are more concerned about our gear than our actual tunes. I have spent far far more money on music recordings than I have spent on audio gear, but if you only read my posts here, you might not guess that to be the case.

Shadyj
A remarkable post. I found myself nodding along with every thought you expressed. I rarely agree so completely with a string of opinions. Thank you for a great post

 

[Bucknekked]

A long time ago I started a thread to collect high quality recordings experienced and recommended by AH members. My motive at the time was to try and acquire music media (vinyl albums, CD, SACD, digital files) that are of good sound quality in terms of transparency, dynamic etc. To be clear, if it wasn't that I wanted to enjoy music at home as much as I could in live venue, I wouldn't have started that thread that may have given people the impression that I valued sound quality more than the music itself. So I suspect audiophiles probably do value music a lot, otherwise they wouldn't have spent so much energy and money on equipment. It is like if one doesn't enjoy specialty coffee at home, one would not pay much attention to what kind of specialty coffee machine they should buy.

I used the word "should" simply because I know I could be wrong.

Peng
Perhaps you might consider starting another thread about gathering up good quality recordings that are also good or enjoyable music. If you started such a thread, I am interested to see the response. I know I would read it because I am always looking for good recordings that are also good music. I would also contribute for sure.

 

[lovinthehd]

Peng
Perhaps you might consider starting another thread about gathering up good quality recordings that are also good or enjoyable music. If you started such a thread, I am interested to see the response. I know I would read it because I am always looking for good recordings that are also good music. I would also contribute for sure.

Rather than a new thread just revive one of the existing threads....

 

[lovinthehd]

Don't troll.

No more trolling than you were. The point was more about not supporting audiophool cable companies like Audioquest as I think you remember....

 

[Bucknekked]

Rather than a new thread just revive one of the existing threads....

Some of those old threads died from overdoses of pomposity. But Peng's original thread is really pretty good. I am only at the point of harvesting 30 recordings, but i think he gathers even more.

I am surprised at how many recordings I own now come off efforts like this. When someone who knows great sound, and Peng certainly would qualify and lovinthehd would too, picking up new selections becomes easier. Our tastes in music dont match , but the odds are greatly improved I will find something good to listen to.

I will test drive some of the selections on Pengs old post. There may be nuggets there

 

[PENG]

Some of those old threads died from overdoses of pomposity. But Peng's original thread is really pretty good. I am only at the point of harvesting 30 recordings, but i think he gathers even more.

I am surprised at how many recordings I own now come off efforts like this. When someone who knows great sound, and Peng certainly would qualify and lovinthehd would too, picking up new selections becomes easier. Our tastes in music dont match , but the odds are greatly improved I will find something good to listen to.

I will test drive some of the selections on Pengs old post. There may be nuggets there

If you just want to see the list, go to post#280 - List

There is no guarantee that they are all "high quality recordings", but the odds should be reasonably good.

 

[eljr]

No more trolling than you were. The point was more about not supporting audiophool cable companies like Audioquest as I think you remember....

Who are you to call people audiophools? or set yourself as the arbiter of what people should buy?

What is the derogatory term for insecure people who have small budgets who make wild claims?

I don't see that term brandished around here. I can think of several very descriptive names. But,that would be about as mature as calling everyone who cares to buy a more expensive product a audiophool.


As I said, you don't see these kinds of demeaning captions on better equipment sites towards those with smaller budgets. It does not take a Doctor of Psychology to understand what's going on.

 

[lovinthehd]

Who are you to call people audiophools? or set yourself as the arbiter of what people should buy?

What is the derogatory term for insecure people who have small budgets who make wild claims?

I don't see that term brandished around here. I can think of several very descriptive names. But,that would be about as mature as calling everyone who cares to buy a more expensive product a audiophool.


As I said, you don't see these kinds of demeaning captions on better equipment sites towards those with smaller budgets. It does not take a Doctor of Psychology to understand what's going on.

It's a term I think appropriate, but of course is my opinion, but they certainly do exist and there are many companies marketing exclusively towards them (such as most of the "high end" or "high budget" cable market)....and it annoys me when they buy and support silly audio companies nonsense, as that affects all of audio to some degree. It causes people to think that large budgets are a panacea. It is a term used occasionally by others here as well. YMMV.

 

[Pogre]

I think the term fits and I've used it. It is foolish to spend so much money on interconnects when it's been clearly shown in dbt's that people can't tell which one is which. It's audiophoolish.

 

[eljr]

I think the term fits and I've used it. It is foolish to spend so much money on interconnects when it's been clearly shown in dbt's that people can't tell which one is which. It's audiophoolish.

It is foolish to YOU, not to the person buying it.

As I said, who are you me or anyone else to dictate what another does? Or cast aspersions because they don't follow our moors?

Perspective please!!!!