Am I right for this forum?

And yet...my system cost me less than $3,000 in total. I don’t lust after any particular "upgrade," even though I read reviews and all the many accounts of improvements in "SQ" documented in this forum.

So...am I an "audiophile," or not? Do I belong here, or not?

I’m listening right now to a wonderful bit of Mozart. I also love Tool. And Christy Moore. And Eva Cassidy. And so many others. I agree with Nietzsche: without music, life would be a mistake. But am I an audiophile? Do I belong on this forum?

Any sympathy here? Anyone else feel alienated from the "audiophile community" despite loving the miracle of audio technology?

Hmmm....I can really enjoy listening to a 100 dollar speaker on my deck. I can also enjoy listening a to 30k speaker in my listening room. But, since my 100 dollar speaker is so enjoyable, it didn't make the 30k speaker real stupid. I could give a rats-behind if some forum shrew  thought i didn't belong because i am able to really enjoy a 100 dollar speaker.

Nevertheless, this is an enthusiast forum. 

- Are you the type of troll who goes to some food enthusiast forum and says..."i'm very happy eating a wendy's sh-burger. Any sympathy for me?"

- Are you also the type of guy who goes to some car enthusiast muscle car forum and says..."I have a Pontiac Sunbird and it runs great, takes me from point A to point B, easy to fix. I don't wish for anything better. Any sympathy for me?"

In that manner, it kinda sounds like a trolly post. But, if it wasn't, why do you need some internet audio nerd's acceptance so badly?

Why don't you quit worrying about nothing and  get better at playing your cello instead??

P.S.

Eva Cassidy? kinda boring...Tool? kinda untalented...Seems like you need better taste in music dude... Add that to the getting better at cello 'to do' list. 😑

it is very characteristic of trolling method too to use extreme comparison to disparage someone experience and stir a pot as you just did ...😁

By the way it is not the OP who use 100 bucks speakers , it is myself , i heavily modify them thanks to Helmholtz observations... And i am perfectly happy with the balanced natural results... I feel more wise and creative than buying a costlier pair of speakers as such and plugging them in the wall , is it a problem for your refined "taste" ?

No, they’re not extreme comparisons...

And i really do have/enjoy a 100 dollar speaker....Actually, it was more like 73 dollars on sale, the Sony SSCS5. It was quite pleasing and enjoyable on its own. At some point, i modded it with the GR kit and that sounded great too.

So, you’re not the only one. In other words, I already beat you on price with my 73 dollar speaker!!

In fact, i just bought another 100 dollar speaker...the last pair of this 100 dollar unknown Chifi miracle as soon as i read the Amazon reviews. As soon as it gets delivered, I am sure it will sink your speaker (when i upgrade the crossover)! 😏

My 30k TAD also does something good. My 15k Yamaha sounds good too...etc, etc

No biggie, whatever

"Do i belong?.....Do i not belong?" (facepalm)...

In the 90s and the ’00s, I used to buy the most expensive speakers out there. I just didn’t know enough. I used to have one of the original Wilson Wamms, TAD Reference, the top JBL, etc.

As I become knowledgeable, I was starting to match or beat the sound of such speakers at much lower prices. For example, a guy who doesn’t know what a Killer sub is or what to do with it will only have sucky sound with a million dollar "full range" speaker, etc, etc. it is just the nature of how speakers work in rooms folks. The only guy who even admits things like that in recent times is Paul McGowan perhaps.

I recently sold a 60k Schwikert to fund a 15k Yamaha and will soon get the Borresen X6. Can I eat the Schwikert ’s lunch with a cheaper Yamaha and a Borresen. You bet I can...Did I eat the TAD reference’s lunch with the trickle down TAD E1TX and some killer subs. You bet I did....Did the eat the JBL’s lunch with PA speakers? You bet I did...

An audiophile is someone who cares and learns about improving the fidelity of playback, no matter what the budget is...even if it’s a 100 bucks. If his budget is small, he hopefully learns trickle down concepts, knows who the max bang 4 buck designers are (the really smart ones) etc...and gets smarter about purchases than the guys with bottomless pockets. He will also figure out room acoustics hopefully! An audiophile is also a guy who has the humility to constantly learn things and doesn’t sit on a pedestal thinking he’s got it all figured out in life.

The issue is...once a typical audioboo snob goes up in price, he will never look at anything cheaper lest it beat his high price junk, somehow. So, you will never get a fair comparison, feel for what you get as you go up in price on a speaker in the same room with the same electronics. 

For example, there is the question of at what point is a speaker just getting carried by the electronics? A guy will put a 15k or 5k speaker on 10k, 5k, etc cheaper electronics, a 60k speaker on 40k electronics and so on. He will never give that 15k speaker or a 5k speaker the same chance (i.e put both the 60k speaker and the 15k speaker on the same 40k electronics). And then, he'll claim that the carried 60k speaker beat the 15k speaker or 5k speaker. When you level out the playing field, "interesting" results emerge.

It you are in the KC FB group, swing by for a demo/comparison of gear at drastically different price brackets (see what you get as you go up in price or not), some good ol' fashioned myth busting and acquisition of 'disruptive' knowledge.

@mahgister , You found it! I was mostly just joshing/joking with you on my earlier post. It came in today btw. On these type of cheap chifi speakers, I usually add bracing, put some no-rez (sold by GR) and I will spend a considerable amt of time with the crossover. I have a stock of the good parts GR sells. That’s the extent of it for me, typically.

I have tinkered with many similar cheap speakers, amp kits, etc from AliExpress, e-bay, etc. After it meets my fidelity requirements and I don’t feel like dealing with it anymore, I give it away on FB, artist groups, etc ( possibly creates a few new/young ’audiophiles’ or not....but, keeps the audio stuff cluster in my hoarder’s paradise under control).

The Sony (sscs5) was one i couldn’t let go of in recent times, especially after I put the GR upgrade on it...that one’s staying for a bit.

It seems like you would enjoy some of the content in the diy audio forums.

@deep_333 ....I’ve refrained from posting pics since imho most would be bored and unimpressed.... ’SOTA’ only in the State Of That Affordable v. Stuff Of Transient Admiration. ;)

Due to changes, the space occupied by it, me, and the speaker array has been shrinking due to growth in our company.

Since we’ve a ’live/work’ situation, the ’less essential’ gives way, the 5 pairs of speakers become a ’fat line array’ with the LG 55" betwixt...

Ever wall hang a pair of SMGa Maggies’ upside down? Since they’re not known for their bass qualities, no huge loss.... :)

The only pairs (2~3) left to ’roam’ (kinda) are the omnis’, which vary in intent and their elements......and the driving elements of which, my Gratefully Undead Wall with it’s A+D Divide....

"Where the digitals and the analogs play..."

I try to enjoy where I happen to be; that which I collect to move that along doesn’t absolutely have to be Perfect to make me smile.

Overtime, things change, additions, deletions, and the irrational ’fondness’ for the concept of ’retirement’....

Long time local biz contact came by to check out some stock logs, asked

"So....how’du ya like retirement?" *big G*

😏 "...’Bout the same way you do...’When the *uck does it start?!’ "

I can relate to Marvin’s ("Your Friendly Robot Pal!") lament onboard the Heart Of Gold some dayz......

"Brain the size of a planet....and they have me opening doors...." 🤖😒

@asvjerry , i like your style of writing...almost reads like a theater piece. 

At some point (months ago), i had cleaned up enough in the hoarder’s paradise to post a decent looking picture in system builder. But, some audiogon website issue prevented me from doing so or even viewing other systems.

I suppose i wasn’t always as extreme a hoarder....some contributing factors were beyond my control...A couple of years ago, guy i’d known since we were wee young (and happy) came to an end with this transient thing called life... and somewhere in his will, he’d decided to state that all his hoarded audio be sent to me. And there it was...a few months later, an overwhelming truck at the doorstep with all his stuff.

And now... it is ~1600 sq.ft of basement space stuffed to the brim, filled to the neck....I am sure i can get rid of my stuff from time to time, but, i have been unable to get to some mental state, where i can get rid of anything of his. When i transition on and revert back to star dust soon enough, it shall all be someone else’s problem indeed.

As long as stuff doesn’t overflow into the floors above (Domains in control of the aesthetics department), i can avoid the dog house...

"Only mammals lower on the food chain than hoity toity humans do the dust baths", some would say. But... "Even a lotus comes out of dirt" (to hell with them hoity toities...), i say.

Catch y’all later...I am dropping my phone and heading to the hills for an extended weekend.