Audiophile

simphiwes

1) By the definition of the veterans of this forum or anyone for that matter what is an audiophile? (personal opinions will be accepted as well)
2) What is audiophile grade equipment?
3) How would an audiophile typically listen to music or movies(treble /bass) do tonal knobs have any use to him/her?

danger boy

1. audiophile-opolus the human being who spends gobs of $$ on any piece of gear he/she thinks will improve their sound, but isn't sure if it did or not. They think they hear a difference.. but who really knows.

2. audiophile equipment - is equipment that is beyond your reach pricewise.. whatever your limit is.. audiophile gear is just beyond that.

3. tonal knobs should be removed from all future stereo/audio equiment.

simphiwes

thanks dangerboy. i was on the "upgrade it" streak, for a while and always thought my rig had something wrong with it, but actually nothing was wrong with it. i was the 'thing' that was wrong with my rig. i was constantly looking for short-falls, and for some reason thought that by using the treble or bass knobs would be able to add more bass or add more clarity but in actual fact wasnt adding but actually loosing resolution if i could call it that. i have since started listening to my discs using the direct switch, i would never in my life do this but i did it. It sounded flat and dead in the beginning but as the week went by and my ears got used to it, it definately sounded a lot better than the treble 100% and bass 50% set up i had, there is now just enough bass and the clarity came through without the use of the famous treble knob. i started to hear a little more detail than i did before, detail from the mid to higher frequencies, i dont know how but it happened. Even freackier my stereo set up never sound so 3-D, so real. It just didnt sound so exaggerated as before, not strained but real.

i did a no dead line experiment and went to a couple of music cafe's church, informal bands, to get a good idea of just how do the actual instruments sound, and believe me what i though they sound like and what they actually sounded like what very different. i was fooling myself half the time thinking by playing with the treble button i was making it sound better, not a chance. in the end i realised, i am actually waisting my time looking to make my rig sound better because it already sounded better and was busy looking for errors instead of enjoying the music which is why i bought the stuff anyway. Another thing, bad recordings are bad recordings tonal knobs or no tonal knobs. In my opinion by using either tonal knobs one is distorting the sound. If it aint broke dont try to fix it.

Any more views will be appreciated, i'd like to read some newbie experiences some of you guys have had that when thinking back now you'd probebly laugh and think how crazy some of the myths you believed were true. i am not totally over the newbie myths myself but it would be nice to know if some of y'all went through the same stuff.

danger boy

simphiwes wrote:

thanks dangerboy. i was on the "upgrade it" streak, for a while and always thought my rig had something wrong with it, but actually nothing was wrong with it. i was the 'thing' that was wrong with my rig. i was constantly looking for short-falls, and for some reason thought that by using the treble or bass knobs would be able to add more bass or add more clarity but in actual fact wasnt adding but actually loosing resolution if i could call it that. i have since started listening to my discs using the direct switch, i would never in my life do this but i did it. It sounded flat and dead in the beginning but as the week went by and my ears got used to it, it definately sounded a lot better than the treble 100% and bass 50% set up i had, there is now just enough bass and the clarity came through without the use of the famous treble knob. i started to hear a little more detail than i did before, detail from the mid to higher frequencies, i dont know how but it happened. Even freackier my stereo set up never sound so 3-D, so real. It just didnt sound so exaggerated as before, not strained but real.

i did a no dead line experiment and went to a couple of music cafe's church, informal bands, to get a good idea of just how do the actual instruments sound, and believe me what i though they sound like and what they actually sounded like what very different. i was fooling myself half the time thinking by playing with the treble button i was making it sound better, not a chance. in the end i realised, i am actually waisting my time looking to make my rig sound better because it already sounded better and was busy looking for errors instead of enjoying the music which is why i bought the stuff anyway. Another thing, bad recordings are bad recordings tonal knobs or no tonal knobs. In my opinion by using either tonal knobs one is distorting the sound. If it aint broke dont try to fix it.

Any more views will be appreciated, i'd like to read some newbie experiences some of you guys have had that when thinking back now you'd probebly laugh and think how crazy some of the myths you believed were true. i am not totally over the newbie myths myself but it would be nice to know if some of y'all went through the same stuff.

you get it.. be content for now with the gear you have.. there will always be time for upgrades later on down the road. That's where i'm at now... sure a new set of kick **** speakers would be great.. but for now i'm just going to sit back and enjoy the system as it is.

BTW, is your system a 2 channel or home theater. or both? from your discovery of the 3D sounds you found.. it may be stereo you were listening to. stereo can sound very open, and wide and even 3D some times.

simphiwes

i have 2# 2 channel rigs(B&W 602 S3 pioneer DV366 SONY STRDB 780, lounge area, Polk Audio Monitor 40 ONKYO 501e Sony DVP N530 bedroom, though no true 2CH but i will get there)which i am contect with, never thought stereo could sound so good. when i started out i wanted a HT rig hence the AVR's but i've since lost interest and stuck to Stereo. maybe later i will upgrade but for now i am happy.

dream system - ROTEL 2ch pre and power amp and any Rti or LSi series floor stander or B&W 700 or 800 series floor-stander or bookshelf.

reeltrouble1

You need to get the Kinks disc and listen to Attitude, its about attitude.

F1 has all the info on the proper pipe, jacket, and tobacco. He got me mine, but their was a goodwill tag in the pocket of the jacket?????

Then you need to learn about air and floating, and suspended in space and such audio terms, you need to apprentice for a time and then to speak in hushed tones and whispers, my very favorite was the mastering of the audiophile approval grunt.

After that you go to a 12 step program.

RT1

wingnut4772

To me , audiophile just means 'lover of audio'. Unfortunately it has become associated with a bit of elitist snobbery in this hobby.

Early B.

For the record, there are no audiophiles on the Polk Forum. They would not stoop to our level, you know, with babe threads, car audio, and DIY discussions. We're the real deal, though. Besides, audiophiles don't really love audio -- they love buying expensive audio equipment and showing it off.

shack

wingnut4772 wrote:

Unfortunately it has become associated with a bit of elitist snobbery in this hobby.

So...what's your point?

wingnut4772

shack wrote:

So...what's your point?

ummm...I guess I am an elitest snob?:D

reeltrouble1

I think we are audiophiles in terms of our honest enjoyment of the hobby, as far as this place, yep, its the sort of place with something for everyone, lots of different gear if your a gear head and music talk as well for the sound guys like me.

Nothing wrong with raising the bar either, I owe alot to the fellows that were here well before me for some advice on the better gear. We have a wide diversity in the members, very cool. So I think this is what Simp wants to know, rest assured we are a very enthusiatic bunch.

He should come to PFO6 and hang out with the audiophiles, waaaaaa....there is going to be some great gear there and good times, also get your learn on, find out how things inside those black and silver boxes work if your not sure, there is tons of information on the net and in this forum's pages.

Its cool Darla we need elitest snob's with flexcuffs.;)

RT1

madmax

An audiophile is one who places great importance on the reproduction equipment he plays his music on. If other things are more important then you are probably not an audiophile. The equipment is generally very expensive because to get that last bit of improvement you have to go to extensive lengths.
madmax

wingnut4772

I have to admit that I may just be a bit guilty of snobbery. I cringe whenever my Seargent talks about his BOSE system.

reeltrouble1

yes, MM, that last little bit, where the magic lies, can really cost and it's worth it to me, still though I just cant yet imagine dropping 70 G's for a set of mono-blocks and getting much more sound wise than a 10 G set, and so on. Looks and higher price casings yes, but the techno does have limits? Those superconducters that have near zero energy loss are still not viable over what 100 above absolute zero?

F1nut

The cleaners must have mistakenly placed that tag in the jacket. I will have a word with them.

my very favorite was the mastering of the audiophile approval grunt.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.......but so true.

Shizelbs

danger boy wrote:

2. audiophile equipment - is equipment that is beyond your reach pricewise.. whatever your limit is.. audiophile gear is just beyond that.

Nice.

Always something just out of reach.

HBombToo

I believe if you aspire to reproduction that is slightly better than Bose you have become an Audiophile.

HBomb

steveinaz

simphiwes wrote:

1) By the definition of the veterans of this forum or anyone for that matter what is an audiophile? (personal opinions will be accepted as well)
2) What is audiophile grade equipment?
3) How would an audiophile typically listen to music or movies(treble /bass) do tonal knobs have any use to him/her?

1) Audiophile: One who stalks and sexually assualts/abuses audio equipment.
2) Audiophile grade equipment: See above. No gear is safe.
3) Tone controls can give the illusion of better treble, enhanced bass; but do more damage than good, affecting neighboring frequencies as well (unless a really well made parametric EQ is used, which can limit the affected bandwidth that is being adjusted) causing a "smearing" of tones. It's best to leave the levels of particular frequencies as they were recorded, for a more realitic tonal balance and less distortion.

Lowell_M

HBombToo wrote:

I believe if you aspire to reproduction that is slightly better than Bose you have become an Audiophile.

HBomb

Slightly better!!?? An Audiophile is one who realizes that BOSE is crap.

Lowell_M

steveinaz wrote:

1) Audiophile: One who stalks and sexually assualts/abuses audio equipment.
2) Audiophile grade equipment: See above. No gear is safe.
3) Tone controls can give the illusion of better treble, enhanced bass; but do more damage than good, affecting neighboring frequencies as well (unless a really well made parametric EQ is used, which can limit the affected bandwidth that is being adjusted) causing a "smearing" of tones. It's best to leave the levels of particular frequencies as they were recorded, for a more realitic tonal balance and less distortion.

I am actually quite enjoying the journey to Audiophilism, although it seems rather out of reach (minus the sexual assualt....well, accept that one time..those "power ports" can look quite attractive after a few beers). I have just recently joined the ranks of those who realize you should leave the treble and bass controls the hell alone.

joeparaski

simphiwes wrote:

1) By the definition of the veterans of this forum or anyone for that matter what is an audiophile? (personal opinions will be accepted as well)
2) What is audiophile grade equipment?
3) How would an audiophile typically listen to music or movies(treble /bass) do tonal knobs have any use to him/her?

To me, an audiophile is a person who has an interest in audio gear, purchases audio gear, listens to his audio gear, and wishes he had even better audio gear.


To me, audiophile grade equipment, is audio gear which is beyond the "regular" stuff sold to Mr. Joe Citizen who will typically purchase a complete "system-in-a-box" and be pefectly content with it for years and years. Audiophile grade equipment will be an assemblage of carefully chosen components to achieve the best sound within the established budget and WILL be upgraded.


When it comes to "tone controls", I'm from the old school where buttons and switches rule. I like to tweak the treble and I like to tweak the bass. To me, it sounds better than flat and direct.

wingnut4772

Here are some examples of 'Audiophile' grade equipment that might help to clarify things a bit:

danger boy

those are awesome. now maybe i will finally get a IPod... if it came with a tube output stage.

ND13

joeparaski wrote:

When it comes to "tone controls", I'm from the old school where buttons and switches rule. I like to tweak the treble and I like to tweak the bass. To me, it sounds better than flat and direct.

Joe,
You take tone controls to a whole other realm!!!:D

joeparaski

It is a monumental task for sure. I feel that I am the "chosen one" to lead the diminishing army of tone control junkies. Tonight, if I'm up to it, I will count all the buttons, switches, sliders, and controls on my rig and let you know.

Joey_V

Audiophile simply means "with love for anything audio". So in terms of what we do in this hobby, it means anyone who takes the time and energy to tweak/improve/enjoy his/her audio system.

I honestly dont think it's about spending the big bucks, although spending more is probably evidence of a more serious audiophile... it's all the same in the end.

There is a spectrum along the audiophile ideology, where we lie on it is something intrinsically measurable only by ourselves.

danger boy

joeparaski wrote:

It is a monumental task for sure. I feel that I am the "chosen one" to lead the diminishing army of tone control junkies. Tonight, if I'm up to it, I will count all the buttons, switches, sliders, and controls on my rig and let you know.

pictures, we need pictures of them dials, switches, knobs, levers, etc.

it's usually only the vintage gear that has all the knobs for tweaking.. it seems that back in the 80's is when stereo manufactures started doing away with them.

joeparaski

Most of my stuff IS from the 70's and 80's. My newest piece of gear is a Emotiva LMC-1 that I just got this week. So I have a nice mix of old and new..well, mostly old. Pictures of the gear have been posted on another thread...I'll try and find it, but I'm not sure how to link it here.

danger boy

i'm an audiophile.. and the rest of you all are just wannabee's :rolleyes:

madmax

a_mattison wrote:

I have just recently joined the ranks of those who realize you should leave the treble and bass controls the hell alone.

As you continue you may find that it is the mere existance of those aweful tone controls that causes a loss of enjoyment. Extra circuitry, phase changes etc. But yes, at least leave them the hell alone...
madmax

read-alot

joeparaski wrote:

It is a monumental task for sure. I feel that I am the "chosen one" to lead the diminishing army of tone control junkies. Tonight, if I'm up to it, I will count all the buttons, switches, sliders, and controls on my rig and let you know.[/QUOTE

My system has two knobs- input A or B and VOLUME
and two switches- mute(never used) and OPERATE

What the hell is a Tone control used for:)