Agree. I certainly admire the folks who build and second-hand good sound together the most - the ’value’’ audiophiles. Or the people who find a particular quality in their system they really like and just groove. For some reason I was reminded of this clip from Boogie Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DRZlytJpQ |
"Audio", by definition(ie: sound, especially when recorded, transmitted, or reproduced), can include everything/anything, from the first time a soundwave hit an eardrum. As long as you, "love"(phile=suffix), WHATEVER your might be listening to, or hearing, feel free to call yourself an, "audiophile". |
When I was selling my JBL 640's I gave my cousin a demonstration. We listened to PF's DSOTM on CD (I forget which version). Listening, I thought that this was the best sound I had heard from that venerable recording! I told my cousin so and said "sell the JBL 100's and buy the 640's." No go! My cousin remained non-plussed and left, content with returning to his venerable L100's! So is my cousin an audioph*le? |
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There is great sound available at every pricepoint and nowhere is the law of diminishing returns more on display than in high end audio. What I find troubling is the typical class warfare BS spilling into audio but why should it be any different than automobiles, watches, wine, clothing, food, hair care, skin care, cosmetics, hiking gear, camping gear, cycling gear, sports shoes and equipment, etc, etc. We all like what we like and spend what we choose to spend. Priorities and resources are different for everyone and I don’t resent or pity others for their choices or circumstances. I do, however, have a bit of a problem when someone creates their own imaginary club and then tosses potshots because of their imaginary wisdom. Either they are the sane person in a crazy world or.....otherwise. |
I couldn’t care less about status a couple of you guys are alluding to. Its love for audio and music not how much you spend on your fav system. If you think 4k is expensive then your living in dreamworld. 4k is pennies compared to the cables and power conditioners you elitists spend. I refuse to call your types audiophiles because you disrespect the real audiophiles. So lets see my other real cheap system Rogers ls35a 7bucks, Luxman 100u couple hundred bucks cambridge cd1 couple hundred bucks will blow away your analytical dry modern unmusical speakers in mids and musicality or i could use my custom made cabs with tannoy 8 inch in them gold tweeter. Best speaker bar none 360 degree 4d sound. I can continue with all kinds of scenarios i have and cheap. All my systems are connected with humble lampchord speaker cables and basic power chords @n80 so tell us about your useless sonically 20k anaconda cables and powerchords that you have? |
@vinny55 , so you spent about $4k on a system and you like it. And you present that as a frugal low cost entry into hi-fi. I would agree with that on the scale of what is normally spent and expected here at Audiogon. But that is still $4,000. I don't even personally know anyone who wouldn't think that that was crazy money to listen to music. We all say, wow, good sound for $4k, that's great. (Of course there are plenty here saying to themselves that you are deluding yourself and there is no way a system that costs less than their power cables can sound any good at all.) But $4,000 is a lot of money just to get your audiophile card and the secret hand shake. |
@n80 i paid less than 2600 for pair of EV patricians, less than 400 for a Yamaha 2200, JVC 7050, and Hafler combined and add 100$ for luxman c2. I will bet and guarantee all these will smoke anything 30k or even 100k plus and I didnt include my giant killer Sansui tube integrated which would smoke even any ss amp in bass quality and depth. All less than 4k |
The point I was trying to make was that we often hear people say you don't have to spend a lot of money to get hi-fi quality sound. But that sentiment is utterly drowned out by discussions about components that cost thousands each, speakers that cost tens of thousands each cables that cost thousands and tweaks that cost thousands. So the point is, if someone took a top down look at discussions here on Audiogon, or the items for sale for that matter, they would have to assume that it does, in fact, require a lot of money to actually experience high fidelity audio. So we can all pat ourselves on the backs about how egalitarian we are and how in reality it takes very little money to be an audiophile.......but that sure as heck isn't what it looks like looking from the outside in. But let's put a dollar amount on it. Buying used, what would be the least amount you think you could spend for a system that would be your primary daily listening system for 5 years? Can anyone honestly get that below $2000? And even if you can, how do you think $2000 sounds for a used stereo to most people? Hint: It sounds like a ton of money. And probably wouldn't be enough to buy many of our own speaker cables. |
It's dopey, I know, but I think I'll keep calling myself a "soundie." It seems to get to the point without the pretentious baggage that rubs so many of us the wrong way. It's also an easy way to describe our hobby to curious outsiders. Because it's an obvious pastiche on foodie, people get it and we can move on to something else without embarrassing myself. |
From Wikipedia -
An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction.
That about covers it. |
@geoffkait : "A rich man has about as much chance of finding real Audio Nirvana as a camel has of passing through the eye of a needle." Yes, but the the rest of the verse is: "With man this is impossible, but with Audio-Buddha all things are possible." On a more serious side, no, I don’t think you can be an audiophile without a good deal of disposable income. You might have been one. You might want to be one. You might be one in your own mind but the truth is that it takes money to do this right. Exceptions? Sure. But very few and debatable. |
Agreed. It's your love of audio that brings you to this hobby, not your wallet. 👍 The unfortunate downside is that you will get better sound with more monetary input but you can still stay within sane limits. All you have to do is ask any audiophile who's been in this hobby long enough and he/she will tell you something like: "If I only knew what I know now, I could have saved a lot of money." 😄 All the best, Nonoise |
