Am I right for this forum?

@bdp24 ....*hmmm*  Personally, I'd flip that equation....but recent developments have made that almost moot...

"...the 'classical and stereotype ' of The Audiophile is a wonkish sort, garretted away 'midst neat crates filled with LP records, with the lone scatter of albums next to the 'Philes' Touchstone:

THE audio reproduction equipment, an escape hatch to the more perfect world of music.
The Investment of a Lifetime."

Apply Sorta SOTA v.II 

The Age of Sand is upon us....sand?

Yup....'cleaned up dirt'

One no longer needs to stash fragile vinyl discs, aging acetate tapes, or even the polycarb discs.  Just a decent computer and an acceptable link to everything 

Everywhere.  In less time that it took you to type in (or even, scroll & clic) the address...or state what it is you've in mind...🤷‍♂️😎

All the equipment to reproduce is shrinking...with exceptions, Yes.

Speakers will remain disputed Forever.

Give up....*L*

When they vary from 'lil buds stuffed into your head to forklift behemoths with an amp appetite to match.....

Agreement is Futile.  Even 2 owners of the same unit will focus on the dissimilar...
...eventually....😏

The 'Gon is the place where one can go and be assured that everyone there likes music in their own fashion and tastes, and has grown to appreciate hearing it in the best fashion possible with whatever makes it improve in doing so.

The rest of it is our personalities showing...towards that:

I'm in it for the *LOL*s'.   Aaand the *cringe* factor fobiles that *pop*

"My 5K wpc 24 chan amp just ate the microwave and has got my wife cornered...

Any suggestions?!  Please help, I don't know how long I can hold it back by it's ac line cable....

Thanx, @dRDawgduhThrud"

(Side bet:  1st response will be "Let go."  Prize = Doing it.)

I learn various 'n sundry lurking about....acoustics, audiotrivata, What's HotvNot, the exchange rates and the spark strikes where the 'heat' is almost palpable...

Instructive and fun....and civil in our own 'Gon Way..... :)

Cheers, Gentlefolk.

 

 

@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.

A very complex question disguised as a simple query. Makes me wonder whether the 'audiophile club' has an entrance fee. If so, exactly what amount of money spent on audio equipment is necessary to become part of the club? Is there an absolute number or is it relative to the viewer? A non-audiophile friend of mine cannot imagine spending more than a couple hundred dollars on anything audio related. She tolerates sound quality can make me cry. I would say that she does not belong here. It would be a horrifying experience for her. On the other hand, I doubt you judge others for their Hi-Fi expenses and can probably appreciate the thoughts of those who spend tens of thousands of dollars.  As pure entertainment if nothing else. That's basically the boat I'm in. I replaced a pair of 41-year-old broken down speakers with 20-year-old speakers I bought for  $900. My current amplifier and turntable cost me around $700. Back in 1981. Which makes me wonder whether it's the total cost of gear needed to get into the club or how much we spend on gear per year or $/total years in the hobby. So, a very complex question! 

On the other hand, I don't think whether you stay here or not depends on money spent at all. The question as I see it is whether you get value from being here and also whether you feel you give value to others. From the number of responses to your thread, I think the answer is obvious.

How do you locate this “virtual system” or whatever he shared?

many audiophiles are techno cultist...

They idolized the gear branded name which they "tastes"...

Or they idolized what they measured despising the other group...

I trust acoustics concepts and experiments over the price tags of the gear or over the price tags of the measuring tools...

i can bought anything relatively good and relatively low price and make it sound at his peak potential which level is perhaps not the best there is but is better than most can even imagine because they had no idea what acoustics means... 😊

 i am audiophile as any acoustician is : with a relatively modest system working at his best in the best room ...