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Are all Audiophiles masocists?

My wife says my main hobby is collecting hobbies. She has a corollary to that realization which is, that I also tend to pick hobbies that I will never be happy with no matter how much I spend or how good I get at them. As an Audiophile she states my system is never good enough. I'm always upgrading. I believe we call that "Chasing the Dragon" if I'm not mistaken. She also says the same about several other of my hobbies such as... Golf (unlikely I'll ever shoot an 18), Cycling (a 4.5 hour century ride isn't fast enough), Drag Racing (Car runs mid 8's at 160mph in the 1/4 mile. Upgrades continue!) and there are others. So you get my drift.Is this just me or does the personality of the audiophile make us all just a bit masochistic?
bullitt5094

Showing 2 responses by hilde45

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,231 posts
 
After years of just work and family, I’m glad to have a hobby again.
The obsession factor helped pull me in and forced me to learn.
Now that my system is assembled, I’m turning toward expanding my listening.
Obsessing about hearing more and different music will, I hope, take the place of the "dragon chase" for better sound.

Because at this point, the sound is so good that I really don’t have a good reason to spend time the rig rather than the music.

When I start posting about problems with my rig, I'm sure to be called a hypocrite! I'll just quote Whitman at that point: "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself (I am large, I contain multitudes)."
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,231 posts
 
@douglas_schroeder

I get bored without progress, and I love the challenge of advancing a rig continuously. I also thrill to hear a performance become more engrossing, emotionally fulfilling, over the years. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that - as long as there is integrity in my relationship with my wife, maintaining my charitable giving, and I’m not blowing the rest of the budget.
Especially well said.
Guttenberg deals with the upgrade question by having listeners consider that maybe they want *difference* in their rig, and not just better. They want to turn the jewel over, get another view, expand laterally and not just "forward" or "better." I kind of took that from your comment, Doug.

Also -- your point about relationships, charitable giving are huge, to me. You’re looking at audio in the context of a healthy overall approach to life. That’s bound to mean that when you listen to music, you’re more fully open the to joy and meaning potentially found there. Admirable.


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