Is the audiophile history ?

kappclark

comfortablycurt wrote: »

A lot of people seem to feel that to truly be an audiophile, you are required to have a truly high end rig...I disagree with that. You can put together a 2 channel rig for $1000 that will sound truly fantastic. I'd know, I have one. Does my rig stand up against the really high end rigs that many of you guys have? Absolutely not, but I guarantee you that I enjoy listening to my $1000 system every single bit as much as you guys that have truly high end rigs...whether you've spent $5000 or $100,000. That's really what it comes down to.

QUOTE]

Whether I am an 'audiophile' or not, I sure enjoy the hobby, and enjoy good sound..I won't obsess over it ($500 cables) .. one thing I have always enjoyed is finding gems in the used market, making a $1,000 system pretty easy to put together, which has excellent sound...

So, I don't think the audiophile is 'dead' .. witness this great forum..

Fongolio

Anyone who tweaks obsessively to achieve the best sound possible from ANY gear, regardless of price or pedigree, home or auto, two channel or multi, is in my mind an audiophile.

inspiredsports

Post #34 by nefs902 reported as spam

thesurfer

The term itself, has Bloated the thought, That Unless one has spent Thousands,, Or is not constantly upgradeing,,That there not one, I ended that dispute years ago, by simply saying im not one, After all, at one time, id be considered one,But now, If you dont have your own HT room, And Dont constantly upgrade, Your just a Hi-FI, Fan, I can live with that, The one thing we all have in common, is the love of MUSIC, and that needs no term to set us apart. Know matter what gear you have, if you love music, Your what was once called an Audiophile.

cfrizz

+10! This is exactly how I feel. I get what I want for the price I'm willing to spend. Now I sit back and enjoy it to the fullest. I have no desire to continually upgrade looking for some mythical sound that probably doesn't exist except in imagination.

I despise the term and want nothing whatsoever to do with it. And I'm managing to live and enjoy myself and my system quite nicely without it.

thesurfer wrote: »

The term itself, has Bloated the thought, That Unless one has spent Thousands,, Or is not constantly upgradeing,,That there not one, I ended that dispute years ago, by simply saying im not one, After all, at one time, id be considered one,But now, If you dont have your own HT room, And Dont constantly upgrade, Your just a Hi-FI, Fan, I can live with that, The one thing we all have in common, is the love of MUSIC, and that needs no term to set us apart. Know matter what gear you have, if you love music, Your what was once called an Audiophile.

reeltrouble1

An audiophile values a sounds reproduction over the sound.

RT1

heiney9

cfrizz wrote: »

+10! This is exactly how I feel. I get what I want for the price I'm willing to spend. Now I sit back and enjoy it to the fullest. I have no desire to continually upgrade looking for some mythical sound that probably doesn't exist except in imagination.

I despise the term and want nothing whatsoever to do with it. And I'm managing to live and enjoy myself and my system quite nicely without it.

Cathy I was right there with you as far as YOUR enjoyment of YOUR system......but then the highlighted part reared it's ugly head. It's fine if you are happy with where you are, but then to say what you did, that's pretty judgmental and you are actually taking a shot at those of us who do like to tweak and upgrade for ACTUAL better sound.

It's not my imagination when I upgrade an amp or go to my tube pre-amp or upgrade cables or modify my DAC. You yourself upgraded your amp and have stated hundreds of time how much better it sounds. Then you turn around and say you have no more desire to upgrade because the mythical sound doesn't exisit except in the imagination???

Perhaps you should get rid of your Sunfire (upgraded amp) and go back to your old amp (that you were perfectly happy with by your own admission until you demoed the Sunfire) because it's all in your imagination.

Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. Perhaps I'm reading something into I shouldn't.

H9

steveinaz

As long as there are hobbies, the serious hobbyist in those groups will always persue the holy grail. The "audiophile" LIVES.

heiney9

Audiophile is like Auto Enthusiast. I don;t believe one can be called an Auto Enthusiast if one has only owned a few cars in their life and the sole purpose of the car is for transportation.

This is not a comment about who is better or whose gear is better, etc. A label isn;t always necessary and as Cathy stated she wouldn't want that label, even if what she did within the hobby aligned with the label.

It's not a dirty word, but some of you shun that word like it's a disease. Who cares about the label.

H9

treitz3

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

An audiophile values a sounds reproduction over the sound.

RT1

How much are you willing to bet that some folks have no clue what this means? *reaches for wallet*

:biggrin:

DarqueKnight

thesurfer wrote: »

The term itself, has Bloated the thought, That, Unless one has spent Thousands,, Or is not constantly upgradeing,,That there not one,...

cfrizz wrote: »

I have no desire to continually upgrade looking for some mythical sound that probably doesn't exist except in imagination.

I despise the term and want nothing whatsoever to do with it.

To each his own, but I prefer to despise stereotyping. Sure, there is a deviant, lunatic fringe element in the audiophile world just as there is a deviant, lunatic fringe element in every hobby. Looking at every societal group, there are always members of that group who take things to unjustifiable and unrealistic extremes. Some people think all policemen are power-tripping sociopaths who frame and beat confessions out of innocent. Some people think all Catholic priests are pedophiles.

Using just a little common sense and reasoning, it should be easy to distinguish the lunatic fringe from the rational mainstream in any group.

The 1973 edition of the World Book Dictionary (p. 137) defines audiophile as:

audiophile - a devotee of high fidelity sound reproduction.

The term "audiophile" initially appeared in the first issue of High Fidelity magazine in September of 1951. The phrase "Devoted to the Interests of Audio-philes" appeared at the bottom of the magazine cover.

If someone wishes to ignorantly ascribe deviant, lunatic behavior to me simply because I am a devotee of high fidelity sound reproduction, then that is a problem with their perception rather than my reality.

I am an audiophile.

kappclark

DarqueKnight wrote: »

If someone wishes to ignorantly ascribe deviant, lunatic behavior to me simply because I am a devotee of high fidelity sound reproduction, then that is a problem with their perception rather than my reality.

I am an audiophile.

Guilt by association ? I get the same thing sometimes with my homebrewed beer -- some consider me some kind of beer 'snob' because I brew most of the beer I consume ... "Gee, Bill - all we have is Long Trail -- will you drink that ? " (!!!@) .. of course I will !

cfrizz

I say that because I have seen enough people on this board claim to have found nirvana & their quest was done, then a few months go by & they are back on the hunt for the newest nirvana.?

So I have to wonder, if you found it then why are you still looking for what you claim you have found? Or are you simply in it for new gear & tweaking claiming to be hunting for better sound that you supposedly already found.

I upgraded to my Sunfire amp to get all 5 channels amplified. (as opposed to just my LRC channels which were operating to their full potential already) The only speakers that showed improvement were my FXi3's since they were the only ones not amplified.

At what point is it enough? If it's the above to qualify as an audiophile, then I want no part of it.

heiney9 wrote: »

Cathy I was right there with you as far as YOUR enjoyment of YOUR system......but then the highlighted part reared it's ugly head. It's fine if you are happy with where you are, but then to say what you did, that's pretty judgmental and you are actually taking a shot at those of us who do like to tweak and upgrade for ACTUAL better sound.

It's not my imagination when I upgrade an amp or go to my tube pre-amp or upgrade cables or modify my DAC. You yourself upgraded your amp and have stated hundreds of time how much better it sounds. Then you turn around and say you have no more desire to upgrade because the mythical sound doesn't exisit except in the imagination???

Perhaps you should get rid of your Sunfire (upgraded amp) and go back to your old amp (that you were perfectly happy with by your own admission until you demoed the Sunfire) because it's all in your imagination.

Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. Perhaps I'm reading something into I shouldn't.

H9

heiney9

cfrizz wrote: »

At what point is it enough?

That's up to the individual. Some, like yourself have rallied so hard against making changes or seeking something it actually starts to have a negative effect and one can find themselves actually moving backwards rather than forwards.

Cathy, we've met before at PF and I'm not picking on you, just your POV, actually just the one statement. I get that some have no desire to move beyond where they are now, and I really do respect that. I just don't feel those of us who occasionally want to look for something more should be chastised and made to feel "dirty" because we want to explore more sound.

Audiophile is a label or a term to help describe someone's participation in a hobby. To me it simply means you are interested in good sound reproduction, you understand the basic differences and you can appreciate when you hear good sound reproduction. It's about enjoyment of sound reproduction. Whether it's through a different tube, cable, cdp, amp or even the purchase and enjoyment of different piece of media like SACD or Mo-Fi disc's, etc.

H9

steveinaz

Cathy is a "closet" audiophile. :biggrin:

DarqueKnight

kappclark wrote: »

Guilt by association ? I get the same thing sometimes with my homebrewed beer -- some consider me some kind of beer 'snob' because I brew most of the beer I consume ...

At least they don't consider you some type of "alcoholic".

cfrizz wrote: »

I say that because I have seen enough people on this board claim to have found nirvana & their quest was done, then a few months go by & they are back on the hunt for the newest nirvana.?

So I have to wonder, if you found it then why are you still looking for what you claim you have found? Or are you simply in it for new gear & tweaking claiming to be hunting for better sound that you supposedly already found.

Some people are just gear heads.

Some people hear something that is the best they have ever heard and they assume their quest is over. "Nirvana", or the highest state of happiness, is a term that is loosely thrown about in audio and often means the highest state of happiness possible with currently available funds.

Sometimes it's not a matter of money, but of experience and ear training. Sometimes that one piece of gear that is the "best ever heard" merely turns out to be the portal to new dimensions in listening pleasure with higher performance gear.

cfrizz wrote: »

At what point is it enough? If it's the above to qualify as an audiophile, then I want no part of it.

It is understandable that you do not wish to be associated with the negative stereotypical behavior ascribed to audiophiles. There are negative stereotypes associated with being an engineer (they are all nerds, freaks, social misfits, etc.). Some people, who would have made wonderful contributions to the engineering profession, chose another line of work because they didn't want the perceived social stigma. Other people choose to see through the derisive discourse and embrace an honorable profession. I've lost track of the number of people (from this forum, work, social activities, etc.) who, after meeting me, told me that they were surprised that I acted like a "normal" person. In their minds, all engineers are socially inept freakish nerds.

As defined previously, an audiophile is a devotee of high fidelity sound. There is no one standard method to practice this devotion. It's a matter of personal preference. For you, what you have is enough. For someone else, they may want to always have an audio system that is on the edge of technology and upgrade frequently. For someone else, it may not be a matter of upgrading, but going through a succession of "lateral" equipment changes as their interests change. For example, someone may prefer the sound of solid state amplifiers for years but then switch to tube amplifiers of comparable cost. There is nothing wrong with either approach.

kappclark

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Some people are just gear heads.

.

Way back in the early 80's, I remember getting invited to a friends place for the first time ..he was part owner of a local tire company. His stereo electronics were ALL mcIntosh (maybe the speakers were too, as well) ..easily $10K of gear right in front of me..here I was a poor little school teacher..

I was, of course, impressed, so I asked him about the gear - he said it was cool that he had it, but he complained he just didn't have time to enjoy it (because he travelled so much to make even more $$) ...

So what was the point ? I think ego and gear..some people just insist on the best ..but still impressive gear, and it sounded fine that night !

(Something tells me many of us on this board have had this type of experience)

cfrizz

heiney9 wrote: »

Cathy, we've met before at PF and I'm not picking on you, just your POV, actually just the one statement. I get that some have no desire to move beyond where they are now, and I really do respect that. I just don't feel those of us who occasionally want to look for something more should be chastised and made to feel "dirty" because we want to explore more sound.

Audiophile is a label or a term to help describe someone's participation in a hobby. To me it simply means you are interested in good sound reproduction, you understand the basic differences and you can appreciate when you hear good sound reproduction. It's about enjoyment of sound reproduction. Whether it's through a different tube, cable, cdp, amp or even the purchase and enjoyment of different piece of media like SACD or Mo-Fi disc's, etc.

H9

Ok I get where you are coming from. I don't mean to make anyone feel "dirty", but by the same token, I don't want to be derided or put down because my gear isn't considered "High-Fi, audiophile" quality either, and I have seen that happen and been subject to that mentality on this board. Hence my scorn of the term audiophile.

If this were how everyone truly felt was the definition of the term without the superior attitude that goes with it, I wouldn't have a problem.

steveinaz wrote: »

Cathy is a "closet" audiophile. :biggrin:

By H9's description above yeah I guess I could be one.

DarqueKnight wrote: »

Some people are just gear heads.

Some people hear something that is the best they have ever heard and they assume their quest is over. "Nirvana", or the highest state of happiness, is a term that is loosely thrown about in audio and often means the highest state of happiness possible with currently available funds.

Sometimes it's not a matter of money, but of experience and ear training. Sometimes that one piece of gear that is the "best ever heard" merely turns out to be the portal to new dimensions in listening pleasure with higher performance gear.

It is understandable that you do not wish to be associated with the negative stereotypical behavior ascribed to audiophiles. There are negative stereotypes associated with being an engineer (they are all nerds, freaks, social misfits, etc.). Some people, who would have made wonderful contributions to the engineering profession, chose another line of work because they didn't want the perceived social stigma. Other people choose to see through the derisive discourse and embrace an honorable profession. I've lost track of the number of people (from this forum, work, social activities, etc.) who, after meeting me, told me that they were surprised that I acted like a "normal" person. In their minds, all engineers are socially inept freakish nerds.

As defined previously, an audiophile is a devotee of high fidelity sound. There is no one standard method to practice this devotion. It's a matter of personal preference. For you, what you have is enough. For someone else, they may want to always have an audio system that is on the edge of technology and upgrade frequently. For someone else, it may not be a matter of upgrading, but going through a succession of "lateral" equipment changes as their interests change. For example, someone may prefer the sound of solid state amplifiers for years but then switch to tube amplifiers of comparable cost. There is nothing wrong with either approach.

Agreed DK. Thanks.

Toolfan66

Looks like all of Cathys big brothers are Audiophiles, and it looks like they all gave you a BIG HUG without being at your house... :-)

Way to go fellas!!!

victor. askew

Hmmmm, where to begin. I do not think that I remotely qualify as an audiophile. I know I qualify as a music lover and the gear that I own to play it on. The gear I own isnt considered audiophile gear. It damm good gear and sounds great to me but may not be up to the standards attached to audiophile level. The music that I listen to : 70's, 80's progressive rock, 90's grung and 60;s, 70's, 80's R & B may not be the main staple of the collection that most audiophiles own and play. It took me 4 yrs to put this system together and the base equiment hasnt changed over the last 11 yrs with the exception of spkrs. ( they seem to follow me home). I enjoy rotating spkrs in and out and I tweek them a bit as I rotate. I have never bothered with the cable debates, I have always used 10 guage copper spkr wire, I did install isolation cones and spikes on all of the gear except the tape decks but other than that its all the same as it came home . I dont consider anyone being a audiophile as an negitive at all. Me Im a lover of music and my gear as it is currently set up.

cfrizz

Welcome to Club Polk Victor!

jinjuku

Gulfstrings wrote: »

Tens of thousands for high end speakers. Thousands and thousands for a turntable, players, power equipment - wire. Adding up the pile of receipts that represent the gear in our house won't take us to "audio or videophile" status, but it all sounds good enough.

comfortablycurt wrote: »

An audiophile, loosely defined, is basically someone that has a great appreciation for audio, and is always trying to improve on that audio quality. Everybody goes about it in their own way.

Not sure were the final outlay of cash = 'audiophile'. I think they exists at all price points. It's what they do with the gear they have that is important.

I'm sure there is some one out there with some LSI 15's, a good amp, good source and properly treated room with proper placement of speakers and listening position giving some setups in the five figure range a run for it's money.

I have to go with C.C.'s definition on this one.

steveinaz

victor. askew wrote: »

Hmmmm, where to begin. I do not think that I remotely qualify as an audiophile. I know I qualify as a music lover and the gear that I own to play it on. The gear I own isnt considered audiophile gear. It damm good gear and sounds great to me but may not be up to the standards attached to audiophile level. The music that I listen to : 70's, 80's progressive rock, 90's grung and 60;s, 70's, 80's R & B may not be the main staple of the collection that most audiophiles own and play. It took me 4 yrs to put this system together and the base equiment hasnt changed over the last 11 yrs with the exception of spkrs. ( they seem to follow me home). I enjoy rotating spkrs in and out and I tweek them a bit as I rotate. I have never bothered with the cable debates, I have always used 10 guage copper spkr wire, I did install isolation cones and spikes on all of the gear except the tape decks but other than that its all the same as it came home . I dont consider anyone being a audiophile as an negitive at all. Me Im a lover of music and my gear as it is currently set up.

Being an audiophile is a state of mind, it's not dictated by what you own or your economic status...IMO. It's the desire to get at the truth, musically.

That young kid, building his 3 watt DIY tube amp---is an audiophile in the purist form. Though he may not have the bucks to buy mega-equipment, he desires better audio reproduction.

DarqueKnight

You can own an expensive Formula 1 race car and not know how to drive. Expensive race car owner does not necessarily equate to skilled race car driver.

You can own a multi-million dollar jet aircraft and not know how to fly. Expensive jet owner does not necessarily equate to skilled pilot.

You can own a $300,000 audiophile sound system and not know how to listen. Expensive stereo system owner does not necessarily equate to audiophile.

The inventor of the high fidelity stereophonic home audio system, Dr. Harvey Fletcher, said that it was invented so that music lovers could have an emotionally thrilling concert experience in the home. It was not invented so that rich people could have bragging rights about an expensive play toy.

It is important not to get carried away with irrational thoughts.

pearsall001

To me an audiophile is one's pursuit of great sounding music via a playback system. Trying to duplicate live sound is the goal but is a tough nut to crack. For some that pursuit never seems to end while others reach a point where they're happy & content. Both are still considered audiophiles in my book.

victor. askew

Im thinking that I myself fall into the happy and content bunch!!! Thanks for the welcome. Hope to learn something more about this audio hobby of mine frm others that share my love for music and the gear that reproduces it.

inspiredsports

For me, a portion of it is learning about the small, (relatively) inexpensive tweaks that work to enhance sound that many mainstream system owners don't even know exist.

Component Isolation and speaker coupling or isolation are great examples; cones, spikes, etc. Record clamps, various cleaning methods, static elimination. Acoustic panels.

Learning about, and then being able to pass on simple fine tuning tips that improve the listening experience to others when they have a problem is part of it for me.

tonyb

For me it's that never ending quest for the faithfull reproduction of music that one loves. Call it what you will.

organ

Gulfstrings wrote: »

I think the article has it mostly right. Though "high end stereo" spending may be down, what's the home theater spending look like? Heck, when I aspired to be an audiophile back in the seventies, there were no "videophile" aspirations to have!

Very interesting point. Let's also not forget that most of us started out with home theater set ups before going 2ch. With the HT boom this past 10 years or so, I'm sure many will move to 2ch or enjoy both.
Just like everything in life, I'm sure audio will experience many ups and downs. Just my $0.02.

RuSsMaN

I've been called worse, that's for sure.

The problem with the designation itself, is that there are no qualifications. Sure, you can say that about most hobbies, hot rods, model railroading, sailing, etc. The one difference I find is that most other hobbies or interests or even lifestyles if you choose to view them as such, require some sort of basic (or even advanced knowledge), or perhaps even actual certifications.

You can buy a hotrod, but to build one, it takes a lot of time and know how. You can buy a kit for an HO railroad and a sheet of ply from Home Depot and be done - but to make it cool, to make it really neat - you need to be able to craft, and paint, and design, and be familar with transformers and eletrical circuits. Sailing, you need to learn how to sail, you can't just buy a skiff and set out and hope for success.

None of that holds true with audio. All you need to be an audiophile is a credit card and self declaration of the fact. I think that 'mystique' is appealing to a lot of men. Men who may or may not be 'someone' in the eyes of their family, or in their career can suddenly take on a renaissance vibe, a kind of James Bond air by 'buying' into the hobby. And a lot of men do JUST that.

I'm not discounting those of us (most of us here), that take listening serious, or perhaps just find geniune enjoyment in it. Sure there are varying degrees of how far we go, but that doesn't change the fact for the real audiophiles, audio enthusiasts, music and gear lovers, whatever you choose to call them. I just think the group mentioned above is rampant, and there are some on this board. They have opened their wallets to fill a void. It's made them interesting, to themselves, and somewhat exotic to the ones around them. 'Oh this is Bob's listening room, no there is no TV, he just listens to music, he closes his eyes, he has tubes, he hears things we don't'.

I hope that doesn't ruffle any feathers, and I don't claim to be anything, or have a better ear, or some sort of audio sense better than most, but there are people, even in this membership that I genuinely feel (and hold nothing against) could have just as easily stumbled up a model railroading or classic car forum instead of Club Polk, and they would have the setup or classic car to show for it instead of a high end audio rig.

I would rather sit down and listen to a rig of any budget, that someone has setup, and lovingly tweaked vs someone who has just laid out the cash and bought the best they could. I've heard a lot of rigs in my travels, and some of them I wouldn't have in my home - but the ones that have been setup by someone who really cares, who is really into 'their' music experience - while I may not want it, most times I 'get it'. I can see (hear) what they were going for, and I respect that.

Cheers,
Russ