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Are Audiophiles Obsessive Nuts?

The following is from the website of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/select/0898/tube.html

Agree? Disagree? Why?

“High-end equipment is aimed at the most obsessive audiophiles, famed for worrying about small details which most people ignore or cannot even hear...

“The rise of high-end sales was influenced by the statements of subjective audio reviewers, whose nontechnical and rarely rigorous listening tests at times encouraged near-hysteria among magazine readers. A positive review in a powerful magazine such as Stereophile can trigger hundreds or even thousands of unit sales, and turn an unknown manufacturer into an instant success. A negative review can sink a small firm just as easily (and has done so)...

“Much of high-end is conducted in a gold-rush fashion, with companies advertising exotic connecting cables and acoustical treatment devices while making wild claims
about the supernatural results achieved. The result: negative comments from the professional engineering fraternity. Items have been published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, in electronic-industry journals such as EE Times, and elsewhere that attack the methods and conclusions of the audiophiles...
plasmatronic
garfish
1,840 posts
 
Plasmatronics; (1) you have quoted much info. that many (most?) audiophiles would consider "fighting words", or at least inflammatory, but you have not expressed YOUR views on all of what you talk about. I have expressed my opinions on some of your quotes above as have others. How about giving us yours?

(2) I am not lemming like, and resent the implication(s). Nor am I part of a herd. I have, however "heard" much music ;>). Cheers. Craig
danvetc
527 posts
 
Yes. And that's what makes me so damned pleasant to be with.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
docwarnock
63 posts
 
Larryr, I agree that not all of existence or experience lends itself to empirical confirmation. Yet, as imperfect as it is, empiricism is ultimately the only guard that we have against hucksters and opportunists. When you have a hobby that involves $80K speakers, $10K amps, and $2K cables, there is no shortage of hucksters waiting and willing to exploit the unwitting.
pcc
150 posts
 
God I hope not. I know the usually have empty wallets after going to the local dealer, hopefully I'm not the only one who experiences this.
ehider
286 posts
 
Obsessive? Cmon, just because I buy a new component every year, and spend more time changing cables and auditioning equipment, does NOT mean that I am obsessive. In fact, last night I spent two hours adjusting the toe angle of my speakers while listening to a "reference" song, over and over again. (I never had time to actually listen to any other music though, but I'm pretty sure that this part of my system is now "dialed in"). After I clean all of my contacts on each of my interconnects and rca jacks this weekend, I will then be ready to demagnetize my favorite cd, treat it with a special optical cleaner, and play it. But wait: Since I had to power down my system to clean the contacts, I'll probably need to run it for a couple hours before it is truly warmed up and sounding right. You should be ashamed of even implying that I as an "audiophile", could be an obsessive nut!
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