Is the audiophile history ?

soundfreak1

I don't think "audiophiles" are dying out per say ( new one come in all the time) but a lot of us are just plain dying!!!LOL. The term "audiophile" is a state of mind not particurly knoldge, "A lot of people listen to music! But an "audiophile" listen's to music reproduction! It's a state of mind!

LuSh

I always thought a greater appreciation for audio would always last and somehow break back into the mainstream. I made the mistake of reading a few threads over at avforums and sadly the tiny niche that exists is being splintered further.

I was amazed to find a collection of posters who have thousands of posts discredit anybody who says there are audible differences in amplifiers, digital sources and pre amplifiers. This mantra really resonates over there and countless (best guess - thousands) of people entering the hobby are being misled or pushed into one way of thinking. I believe avsforum is the single most influential website on the Internet and I believe a great number of people hear one side and really think much of this 'stuff' can not be perceived and therefore upgrade only when a new feature exists or Some type of room correction can enhance ones system...more so then amplifier or source quality. Audio has been dumbed down so much even the newer people now feel there is no need to seek better performance because it simply doesn't exist.

camp21178

I enjoyed the article very much. I'm glad that there are people out there keeping Hi Fi alive. I'm starting to think that I would like to get into tubes someday. I have some tube radios, but they only play AM or shortwave and they're 70 years old.

W WALDECKER

The Audio industry is claiming that there are less Audiophiles based on declining sales of brand New Audio gear.i belong to several Audio boards and there are no shortages of new members on any of these sites.but there is a trend towards DYI or 2nd or 3rd hand purchases from Audiogon or equivelent sites. trading posts or fleamarkets on all of the Audio boards that i belong to are always moving gear from one set of hands to another on a regular basis. the uncertain economy has made many people who in the past would have been more inclined to purchase brand new gear to be more frugal.for example i just negotiated the purchase of a beautiful pair of Rosewood Silverline Sonata mk III loudspeakers that retailed for $7200.00 per pair for a much more realistic $2700.00. the chances of me spending $7200.00 on a pair of loudspeakers is slim to none and slim just left town does it really matter to anyone what tag they place on you because you participate in this hobby of ours ? be it Audiophile,Audio enthusiast or Audiofool at the end of the day who cares ?

treitz3

Lush, that's one of the reasons I will never spend my time there. I think I'd rather count the popcorn on my ceiling. You know, at least do something productive.

polkfarmboy wrote:

This statement implies that you are not an audiophile if you like anything other than 2 ch ?

Pretty much.

polkfarmboy wrote:

Audiophiles just a word meaning lover of sound so the articles a load of crap :cool:. Back in the day there was not anything cool like videogames , 3d movies or 9.1 surround systems controlled by advanced micro chips . If the article means the old audiophile who had nothing better to do than spend a crap load of money for not very good sound then yes that old audiophile chumps long gone . Today we have forums to bust the myths of some high end and you can get great sound for being smart and wise with the cash

Sounds like you have been reading the forum that Lush was referencing.

polkfarmboy wrote:

There is a particular buttmunch who has a better sound system in his car than you probably do in your home treitz3

Hehe....this just makes me laugh. It really does. It's a shame that anyone would think that a vehicle system would sound anywhere near that of a home system. There are way too many reflections and variables to achieve high fidelity within the confines of a vehicle. Good sound? Of course. High fidelity, I think not.

Let's look at the definition for high fidelity for a moment, shall we? High Fidelity: the reproduction of an effect (as sound or an image) that is very faithful to the original. You can nail the frequencies and one may even be able to get some sort of an image out of a vehicle but it will be nowhere close to that of what a home system can do.

Maybe you have a different aspect of faithful reproduction than an audiophile or myself, that I can not say for sure. What I can tell you is that there is a vast difference between that of what you can achieve in a vehicle and that which you can achieve in a home setting.

What makes me laugh is you actually think some car can beat what I have sitting at home. I'll be the first to admit that I do not have the be all to end all system but I can say with COMPLETE certainty that my rig will be more accurate in the faithful sound and image reproduction than any vehicle.

Let me ask you this.....I am listening to Boston as I type this. I played "More than a feeling". Can you tell when the clapping starts down to within the second? Can you tell down to the second when it stops for the first time? Can you tell if there is only one person that is clapping? Can you tell where on the stage they are and whether or not they are positioned more to the right or left?

See, the thing is, on a high fidelity system, you will be able to accurately answer all of these questions. In a mobile system, I would venture to say that you might be lucky to hear somebody clap in the first place.

When listening to Rob Wasserman's Trilogy, disc 2. Can you tell what is different [special] about this recording? I won't tell you what it is but I very seriously doubt one would EVER be able tell what it is within the confines of any vehicle system. FYI, the song is called " The moon is made of gold" by Rickie Lee Jones.

When listening to Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem", something breaks during the recording. What is it? Where is it located on the sound stage? More so on the left or right? Once again, I will not tell you what it is but on a high fidelity rig? It stands out and all aspects are undeniable.

What I'm trying to get at is that high fidelity is not just frequencies. It's not just stereo. It's high fidelity.

asindc

kappclark wrote: »

Reminds me of the $65,000 turntable --

a friend's reaction was for that price he would hire the musicians and listen live !

Yes, how often would they play for him?

DON73

I got my first "stereo" in 1973 at the ripe old age of 36. It was a 45watt Kenwood Receiver, Dual 1229 turntable with a Shure M91ED cartridge and AR2ax speakers. The next item I bought was Pioneer 1010 receiver not that I thought the Little Kenwood was bad but we were returning to the US an I could get it at less than what dealers in the US were paying for it from their distributors. I really loved listening to music through the AR speakers and never went out looking for anything newer and better. We went into a store in Austin to get a new stylus and thats when I first heard the ADS L710s and I knew that someday I'd have a pair but I still enjoyed my ARs. I didn't go looking for something that sounded better because I was very happy with what I had. I did get the 710s (used) a couple of years later on and again I was happy although I did like some music better on the ARs than I did the ADS. A few years later we were once again in a store looking for a cartridge for a second system for our bedroom. In this store I heard the old Polk Monitor 10s and ordered them. My point is that we never went looking for something better than what we had because we were listening to the music and not worrying about whether the soundstage was broad, where the guitar was or whether Little Richard was ****. Not long after that my wife passed and while looking for a reason to get out of bed I started visiting audio stores and I ran into my B&Ws. Although I love my B&Ws I've turned what was a simple enjoyment of listening to music into what has been a most unsatisfying quest for something better than what I had. I didn't say I don't enjoy it......I do but it's not satisfying. Knowing that I don't want to be sitting in some hospital (or worse) wishing I'd just gone that little step further and tried XXXXXX. I didn't have to be trained to love the sound of music and I have to admit the more trained I become the more I read these forums and find out just how much I've learned I wish I could go back to the Kenwood and AR speakers and sit there dumb as a rock but enjoying John Prine or Beethoven.

kappclark

Great post -

My first set of speakers were AR 4's, and I was sure that there would never be anything better (that I could afford) .. then came the advents, KLH, PSB and Polk (I am using a pair of Polk Monitor 60's and love them) .. a few years back, I went to a fancy audio place, and listened to the B&W's - almost did it, but decided the Polks were just fine .. I am just enjoying the music too much now, thanks to the Squeezebox and Napster music on demand...Even though I don't have alot of $$ tied up in my equipment, I have a TON of time invested in the music.