Are you too old to be an audiophile?

@jax There is no point. It was a disucssion for the sake of discussion. I don't see what part of "if you can't hear above 14hz then adjusting an eq all the way up or down above this makes no difference to you but droves others crazy" you don't understand. If you don't see any point in it then don't participate in this discussion. Simple as that. Your hearing is flawed, or not, and doesn't matter either way.

Ummm, sorry, but you lost me there. I don't use an equalizer at all. I was not referring to that part of your statement, which seemed to be only an example you were setting forth. I said that I see no point in having a neutral standard for the reasons I've already stated, it is not that I don't see a point in participating in this discussion (or else I would not be). I questioned why you find such a concept advantageous (beyond your illustration of using and equalizer, which I'd guess that most folks in these forums do not). It's like trying to establish a neutral standard for criticizing movies or food or wine...it's entirely subjective and you're better off learning something about the tastes of the individuals making the criticism, how they might relate to your own, and then, even still, use it as a point of departure...a guide perhaps. If reproduction of the music in the upper frequencies is very important to you, then it might be worthwhile to find others who share that priority to seek out their opinions (which I would still use only as a suggestion to investigate on your own). I noticed in another forum I participate in that a good many of the members of the forum have very different tastes in music than I do. I have, more often than not, found also that their priorities in what components make that music they love really work for them is not necessarily the best solution for the music I prefer to listen to, but there are a few in that forum who do share similar musical tastes and I have found their preferences are actually closer to my own in the gear that works for them. That's the closest I've been able to come to some sort of more 'reliable' kind of approach to filtering out various criticism. There are so many infinitely complex things about how each of us respond to music, and to virtually everything else in life, that to try to classify it, graph it, stuff it neatly into little cubicles and quantify it, seems a bit silly to me.

Farjamed, I don't doubt that you don't mean to offend anyone. However, just re-read your question and ask yourself if it could have been phrased in a better way.

Are you too old
Are you too deaf
Are you too stupid
Are you too poor

See what I mean? I'm not offended, but I do think this is a topic that is hard to take seriously. It sounds more like some of you guys who are just starting to realize that you are getting older are starting to worry. Most people are much more interested in what their health will be, or what sex will be like. ;-)

There are other reasons why one would set up a system differently as they get older. Like using the knowledge about what they prefer that has been acquired by the years of experience listening to hi-end equipment. It could be that their tastes have changed and so voice things a little differently.

I'm also left with the question what do to blame when you hear some twenty-something's system that is utter crap?

If there is an absolute definition of audio perfection, I suppose the answer in my case is yes. However, equipment performance measurements are usually dismissed in these forums as being unable to really describe how equipment sounds or which piece is better.

I have often seen the pursuit of audio equipment perfection framed in the concept of "sounds like live music." This is a relative standard, and even if what live music sounds like to my ears changes over time, I can apply the same frame of reference to my system as my ears age. So, my system still approaches the sound of live music TO ME, regardless of my hearing frequency loss.

I know I have high frequency hearing loss, so I do not attempt to tell other people what equipment sounds like. I do wonder if my system sounds terrible to others, but don't care too much since it sounds good to me and does not annoy my wife.

The live music standard is like any other, entirely relative as you've said. What live music sounds like to you may not be what it sounds like to me. It's like the difference of what a given wine might taste like to you and how it might taste to someone else. I have a very limited tolerance for the mediocrity of some of the live music presentations I've attended - either the venue itself, or more likely the mixing/amplification. This tolerance seems to be getting less and less as I get older and as my system has improved. In fact I find listening to my system more engaging than many live presentations of the same music...certainly more intimate. Certainly there are many exceptions too.

Re live music, I believe the Absolute Sound about 30 years ago used to frame the reference as live, unamplified music.

Certainly some live music sounds terrible.

However, even terrible live music usually has an immediacy and impact which is lacking in many audio systems.