Audiophiles in Public?

madmax

Have you ever met a true audiophile out in public and had a great discussion? What a blast!

I was scrounging through the records at a local GoodWill and noticed some guy was looking over a pair of Avid Speakers for $13. They looked to be in pretty good shape. Having looked them up on the internet a few weeks before I told him what I read about them. I went back to looking at LP's and he walked over, went through a bunch of them and started mentioning which ones he thought sounded good sonically. Before you know it he was telling me about a few audiophile "must have" pressings and we got to talking about systems.

After about an hour I noticed we had both been engulfed in the conversation. It was like talking to an old friend I hadn't seen for years. We talked for another half hour or more and I finally left. I ended up with 17 used records from the GW and ordered the "must haves" he recommended later that evening. It was just really cool meeting someone like that out of the blue.

When I think back on it I find it amusing that two guys are standing in a GW for almost two hours talking about their audiophile systems while looking through $1 records. Of course the standard crowd was walking by hearing about DAC's, transports, Grado and Benz cartridges, record cleaning machines, tweaks etc.

madmax

disneyjoe7

A small world after all

BlueMDPicker

Cool! But, that stranger bet not get an invite over before Jesse and me!!

(cuz we're stranger than you could ever imagine)

BlueMDPicker

disneyjoe7 wrote:

A small world after all

Did your boat ever break down half way through that ride at Disney World? Every time I hear that phrase I start thinking of pump 12 gauges and 00 buck.

joeparaski

I think that's really cool! I've come across the same experiences...I'll be talking to a customer or a collegue and somehow the "audio" talk comes up and lo and behold, another person with the same interest!

BlueMDPicker

As to your original premise. No, they should not be allowed in public. I'm thinking a web-based registry is in order so we can take adequate precautions.

madmax

BlueMDPicker wrote:

As to your original premise. No, they should not be allowed in public. I'm thinking a web-based registry is in order so we can take adequate precautions.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I was thinking we should all wear t-shirts with our systems listed on them. That way when you walk up to a person with a HT in a box or a bose system you can just laugh and walk away...
madmax

wingnut4772

I was at a call tonight and some career criminal had on a T-shirt that said 'Stereo sucks! DTS Rules!" Go figure.

TroyD

Good cause for police brutality.

BDT

joeparaski

Hey Madmax, that idea isn't too bad you know. On the SAE mailing list, a guy has come up with SAE t-shirts. I ordered mine. I'm wondering if any other SAE'ers will say anything if they see me with it on?

madmax

Did you "educate" the perp?

I can see it now, the guy is in the back seat saying "this is not the way to the jail" while you are saying "I know, I know..."
madmax

BlueMDPicker

Hey! Wait a minute. This IS the web-based registry. Nevermind.

I-SIG

wingnut4772 wrote:

I was at a call tonight and some career criminal had on a T-shirt that said 'Stereo sucks! DTS Rules!" Go figure.

At least it wasn't DolbyDigital! :rolleyes:

Wes

wingnut4772

madmax wrote:

Did you "educate" the perp?

I can see it now, the guy is in the back seat saying "this is not the way to the jail" while you are saying "I know, I know..."
madmax

Actually we had a nice , in depth discussion about audio. I kept getting distracted by his gold teeth though...and the tattoos...and his warrants...:D

organ

Yup, I've ran into a few. We're very rare outside the internet.

Funny how two complete strangers can act like best buddies within 2 minutes.

halo

wingnut4772 wrote:

Actually we had a nice , in depth discussion about audio. I kept getting distracted by his gold teeth though...and the tattoos...and his warrants...:D

What's wrong with tattoos?

wingnut4772

Halo wrote:

What's wrong with tattoos?

Nothing. I think his cell mates did a nice job.:)

faster100

wingnut4772 wrote:

Nothing. I think his cell mates did a nice job.:)

.............

bikezappa

Has any one ever met a woman Audiophile in Public? I think the ratio must be some thing like 100:1?

Peter

Skynut

I had time to kill in Vegas while the wife shopped at the Coach store. I wandered into the Bose store for fun.
While the salesman is showing me thier top of the line cube system he asks what I am using now.
As I tell him what I have he is discussing the components like he totally understands what I am talking about.
Finally he asked me why I was there and I told him I wanted a demo to see what I was missing.

We both had a pretty good laugh.

He was a nice guy with good audio knowledge and we talked until my wife called to tell me she was done.

madmax

I corresponded with a female audiophile via email for awhile after an audio sale but never met one in person. She had just dumped her husband and was selling off all of their equipment. She wanted better quality stuff now that he wasn't an issue. My kinda woman!
madmax

PolkThug

Brokeback Goodwill A few words were omitted for consistency (no words added or order changed).

madmax wrote:

Have you ever met a true audiophile out in public? What a blast!

I was scrounging through the records at a local GoodWill and noticed some guy.. looked to be in pretty good shape. I went back to looking at LP's and he walked over, went through a bunch of them and he sounded good. Before you know it he was telling me about a few "must have" pressings.

After about an hour I noticed we had both been engulfed. It was like another half hour or more and I finally left. I ended up with the "must haves" he recommended later that evening. It was just really cool meeting someone like that out of the blue.

When I think back on it I find it amusing that two guys... for almost two hours... while looking through $1 records. Of course the standard crowd was walking by.

madmax

wingnut4772

bikezappa wrote:

Has any one ever met a woman Audiophile in Public? I think the ratio must be some thing like 100:1?

Peter

I never have and I bet it's more like 1000:1.

bikezappa

Well my wife when she was married to first husband liked to go together to listen to high cost Hi Fi equipment. They would bring their own CDs to various high end dealers and spend a few hours listening. But she would have never done this alone.

When dating her she talked about maggies and Nad equipment which impressed me. But she really doesn't have very good hearing anymore, sad.

Yeh 1000:1 is more like it.

wingnut4772

HA! Brokeback Goodwill!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!:D

madmax

PolkThug wrote:

Brokeback Goodwill A few words were omitted for consistency (no words added or order changed).

That is just wrong, oh so wrong... :eek:

unc2701

wingnut4772 wrote:

I never have and I bet it's more like 1000:1.

Yep, only one I know is my ex-gf and I'm responsible for that. Anyhow, I've never randomly meet any in public, but I have meet a few audiophiles answering ads on craigslist. Whenever something comes up (MF, krell, cain&cain, maggies, for example) where you can tell they care about their audio, it's worth it to see if they're down to have you come by & listen even if you're not buying. Most guys are happy to show off their system- I know I would be, too.


oh and don't knock the tattoo's!

amulford

I've got a couple of friends that really dig their music, but I don't think they would be considered "audiophiles" in the terms we are thinking of.

One of my buddy's brother is though, but he's an asshat and I don't really get along with him. Damn shame, too, he has a very nice rig...

HBombToo

madmax wrote:

That is just wrong, oh so wrong... :eek:

I'm still wiping the flem and spit off of my monitor:D

Funny stuff! ROFLOL

Holydoc

You guys definitely worry me.

BlueMDPicker

Holydoc wrote:

You guys definitely worry me.

Well, thank you! I'm glad we could be there for you.