I think of myself as an audio enthusiast, but hesitate to claim the term "audiophile", because
(1) my interest in good-sounding equipment is driven more by a music listening/collecting hobby, and
(2) my gear is more along the lines of Klipsch, Spica, Mac, ARC, Sansui, Rega, Thorens, etc., and no $5k components or dedicated listening rooms or anything of that sort.
I have one friend with similar music-collecting tendencies, and he has discovered the value of some good Marantz equipment and a reconditioned Dual TT. But most of his music listening is still pop CDs played on the world's worst car factory stereo.
Most of my other friends, even those with excellent music taste and decent collections, insist on just playing their iPod through a muddy HT system, and gabbing over the music since there's so little noticeable detail worth paying attention to. At least a lot of them will still go to good live music shows.
(1) my interest in good-sounding equipment is driven more by a music listening/collecting hobby, and
(2) my gear is more along the lines of Klipsch, Spica, Mac, ARC, Sansui, Rega, Thorens, etc., and no $5k components or dedicated listening rooms or anything of that sort.
I have one friend with similar music-collecting tendencies, and he has discovered the value of some good Marantz equipment and a reconditioned Dual TT. But most of his music listening is still pop CDs played on the world's worst car factory stereo.
Most of my other friends, even those with excellent music taste and decent collections, insist on just playing their iPod through a muddy HT system, and gabbing over the music since there's so little noticeable detail worth paying attention to. At least a lot of them will still go to good live music shows.