Being a so called True audiophile, (which by the way sounds like pedophile🤮, so I choose not to throw the word around much) has nothing to do with any price point whatsoever. I prefer to use audio enthusiest when describing myself, which by the way seldom occurs.
In my part of the world, I have yet to meet another "audiophile". There is not an over abundance of people who care very much about this stuff. I am looked upon by others as quite crazy, but I am OK with that!😁
A true audiophile also has a Lava lamp some where within his/her/it listening room.😝
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these are just words, let’s not overthink it
if someone loves well reproduced recorded music, and is willing to pursue it, work at it, spend money and effort to achieve it, they are an audiophile
same fundamental definition applies to any passionate hobby/pursuit...
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The real audiophile is last one standing after debunking all the others in semi technical discussions and calling them dumb/ignorant/fake etc...
It is a pissing contest for vulnarable ego’s that scream "listen to me"
You are not wrong, we are all humans...I like to discuss myself too much... i plaid guilty for being passionnate abit too much...
But you forgot something in your rightful claim:
Audio experience need to be WORKED and LEARNED...
it does not come by itself plugging anything in a wall...
Then i learned in audio forum and some motivated me...
Here like anywhere, there is the best and the worst...
The greatest sin will be to throw the baby with the bath muddied waters...
Dont commit this sin by impatience...
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The real audiophile is last one standing after debunking all the others in semi technical discussions and calling them dumb/ignorant/fake etc...
It is a pissing contest for vulnarable ego's that scream "listen to me"
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Rumor has it I am a gen-you-wine bonafide audiophile in case a reference point is needed.
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Sorry if I'm out of touch, but I can't imagine an audiophile really caring that much about the term.
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Great post!
I am amazed to learn that i am one of the best audiophile with my 500 bucks killer system... 😁😊
Heavily modified and acoustically, mechanically and electrically controlled...
Any way i am less wise than you...You are right on all counts...
My best to you....
You know, it’s super easy to be exclusionary. One camp might argue there’s a $$$ associated with the entry point. Another might argue if you aren’t building anything you aren’t an audiophile, you are just a consumer.
Personally I no longer care to distinguish who I interact with along these lines, but if you ask me whose opinions I take seriously they share these traits:
- Not blinded by price tags either way
- Helps others find gear that meets their stated needs
- Encourages useful comparisons between gear
- Understands that we all come at this hobby for different reasons and goals and joy
But if you ask me who the absolute best audiophile is, it's the one who builds a killer sounding system for half the price of everyone else. 😁
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You know, it’s super easy to be exclusionary. One camp might argue there’s a $$$ associated with the entry point. Another might argue if you aren’t building anything you aren’t an audiophile, you are just a consumer.
Personally I no longer care to distinguish who I interact with along these lines, but if you ask me whose opinions I take seriously they share these traits:
- Not blinded by price tags either way
- Helps others find gear that meets their stated needs
- Encourages useful comparisons between gear
- Understands that we all come at this hobby for different reasons and goals and joy
But if you ask me who the absolute best audiophile is, it's the one who builds a killer sounding system for half the price of everyone else. 😁
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True Audiophile has well matched high resolution system of over 50k.
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Fake? I really enjoy music,and music reproduction. I don’t have a ton of technical knowledge,and don’t pretend to. Does this make me a fake? Doesn’t really matter to me. It’s not going to change the joy I get out of this hobby. I guess some folks get hung up on labels.
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I really don’t like the term audiophile…
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What is a real audiophile vs a fake?
According to the OCD Hi Fi Guy we are all fake audiophiles.
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How about wanna be Or seasonal audiophile?
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I would have to say I encountered a lot of fake audiophiles on here.
They have no real knowledge
Says the guy looking in the mirror.
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Says the guy who knows nothing about being an audiophile.
ozzy
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I would have to say I encountered a lot of fake audiophiles on here.
They have no real knowledge
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I think it can be both, very enjoyable because maybe as an audiophile you can have a greater appreciation for both the music and the gear, or it can be a curse because you are always trying to get better and better sound, which gets expensive. |
No worries Mark, you are a true audiophile. Whether it's a blessing, or a curse is what we should be discussing. |
I'm not sure of my classification but I truly love good music from the system I have put together and absolutely love learning from those more knowledgeable than myself. I think if you loose the ability to learn and grow you will loose what this is all about |
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Real audiophiles a certificate or license to verify that they are a real audiophile. If they don't have a license or certificate, they are fake audiophiles.
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My shop is in Raleigh NC. It's Record Krate 508 St. Mary's street. |
Czar email me with the name and address of your shop in NYC. I would like to stop by there next time I am in the area, usually once or twice a year or so. We always do a lot of walking in various neighborhoods to soak in teh NYC ambience and I always stop in record stores I discover there whenever I have the opportunity. Maybe I've even been to yours. |
I am record store dealer!
I'll think about work-related stuff at or near graveyard especially knowing lots of customers tellin' their neighborhood storries'bout whenwhowherehow. I should probably start publishing some books based on that for the beginning. There's always room to make some cash on anything you see LOL!
The last one I've heard is there's an old man 85 years old from Greensboro with HUGE record collection of jazz and classical all in sleeves and protective jackets near-mint... |
Funny ! Good one :^)
Czar - My understanding is you are a record store dealer?
Ever done time (work related) in a graveyard ? :^)
true story -
While waiting for my wife in the mall parking lot I spot a thrift store and go in to see if any records.
They have four box bins set up. I am browsing through one with a young (hipster) in the bin next to me.
I pull out a Edgar Allan Poe Album and as I pull out the Gold colored record the light catches it and the young hipster notices it.
These albums are all $2. He offers me $20 for it. I let him have it.
Sorry to digress B-limo...
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Nah, he's hipster or dealer. |
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Syntax, the rest of'em r fake figures :-) |
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A real audiophile can talk in depth and with great detail on equipment he has never seen nor heard, and people listen to him.
A fake audiophile is the person that listens to him. |
True: Priority is how a system sounds, regardless of looks or low price tags.
Fake: Priority is eye candy and expensive price tags which "verify" a system's performance. |
A fake audiophile purchases all the high end cases with nothing inside. Looks great but can't play music. |
Only real audiophiles are brave enough to tell their wife "Don't even look at it!" |
Only real audiophiles can pass double blind listening tests.
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Fake audiophile: A person that bought his/her entire system in one box! |
Zavato,
It's seriously visa versa to what you said.
I realized that equipment that I have is too good to me and I can even have it simpler to enjoy terabytes of hi-rez digital downloads and near 10,000 of vinyl records. |
I was reading some posts on another site debating break in of audio gear.
Something ticked.
Maybe the folks who love the sound of vintage gear do so because that gear over the course of years of playing has truly been broken in.
Perhaps the folks who scoff at the break in concept and claim it doesn't exist are-
1- the folks who own vintage gear
2- never keep the gear long enough to hear it break in.
So here's something to ponder-
Real audiophile keeps gear long enough for it to break in
Fake audiophile - constantly finding fault with gear and switching about(perhaps due to snap judgement and no break in period). |
I suppose a real audiophile loves the gear but all in service of the music which remains primary
A fake audiophile loves his gear more than any piece of music |
Nice! A lot of good responses concerning a somewhat silly (stupid?) thread. I like the direction it took :)
I guess what I was trying to say is that over the past 5 years in this hobby I have seen many different peoples personal set ups from buying so much gear used. The commonality is that 95% of the rigs I've seen have just been set up soooo poorly. They will have some really nice equipment but because of the way it is set up, they are only getting 50%-75% of the equipments actual potential.
I would say that most of them, and some of them have, called themselves "audiophiles". I know that being an "audiophile" really isn't cool but it's like cars, most men like them and talk about them like they are experts in the field. I love sitting back and listening to someone try to school me on cars (some people can by the way).
I think that to be an audiophile it really has to do with how developed a listeners ears are and then being able to understand why a system sounds the way it does and how certain changes will effect the sound. I think this comes with experience and a desire to learn.
I figure that most of you here are what I would consider to be true audiophiles so I was wondering if you have experienced what I have in regards to seeing so many systems set up like junk. It's like I would show up to buy a Classe amp and they would have it hooked up to $3000 bookshelf speakers sitting on the ground hooked up with 18 guage wire from radio shack. Oh, and another one that I just remembered; whats up with people just cranking up their system as loud as they can in order to try to impress you?
There are so many other aspects of sound quality that I look other than how loud it can play. I don't judge a car by numbers or sheer outright speed. There's so much more to the experience. How does it feel? How does it sound? How does it speak to you? When you turn the knobs, is it a refined, machined feel, or a notchy plastic feel?
Just because I drink alcohol occasionally does not make me a wine connoisseur. I imagine a wine connoisseur looks at the wine, swishes it around to see the legs (? or something like that), smells it, then very carefully tastes it. Then they can describe all the flavors and body. They can pick up on hints of flavor that the grapes took on in their respective environment. I, on the other hand, can tell if it's red or white, sweet or dry and that's about it, and there is a lot lost on me when it comes to wine.
I think the same can be said for many so called "audiophiles", but I suppose like Cypher said in the Matrix, "ignorance is bliss", so crank it till the windows rattle and you go deaf :) |
I don't have anything original to contribute, but I was impressed by the thoughtful posts of Akg_ca and Tom32. I'd guess most of us see our audio systems as just a means to an end, the enjoyment of music, although just looking at my Thrones TD 124 and its SME II arm is a treat in itself. I suppose I might say the same thing about the handsome KEF Reference 107/2s, but the rest of the stuff, nah.
db |
I am very careful with such statements. All have their opinion about something which is not shared from everyone. Just an example - maybe you know that from own experience - you visit a show with 3 audiophile friends and let's say, the Demo is really good but with unknown brands and maybe they are cheap or expensive. Do you think that all 4 agree, that is is a super Demo?
I don't think so :-)
For one it is too cheap, too black, too big, too expensive, too ugly or whatever ...and for the next, it sucks :-)
Or another example, you hear a Phono Stage/ Cartridge, Preamp / really expensive, but it is really hard to bear, you go to the Distributor and say honestly "That's a bit strange, isn't it?" -:)
He will tell you, he sold all, there is a waiting list of 6 months and you are the first who say that ....
And when you write that in Forums, the Manufacturer and the rest of the chain who live from it or owners who spent their money and are afraid for the drop in resale will not write your name in their "Book of the friend guys" ... |
I agree with Mapman's first post. You are an audiophile if you care about sound quality regardless the kind of source (digital or analog) you listen to.
I don't think there's a fake audiophile. Its better to spend your money on a Rolls Royce or Ferrari in terms of showing off. Chicks digs luxury ride and not your components. |
My take on vintage audio-some of it stands up to the best of today.
And, a lot of that great vintage stuff, was ridiculed and called obscenely expensive back in it's day.
Some things never change.
If a piece of gear that is expensive gets a good review, the cost of such gear always draws negative responses from the folks who base their judgement on the cost, not the performance.
I think there is a lot of stuff made today that will be the much sought after vintage finds in the future.
It's a good thing the audiophiles of yesterday ignored the cries of indignation concerning costs.
The vintage folks would be out of luck.
They bought that stuff at full price in yesterdays dollars with yesterdays wages.
I've never seen those folks called audiofools,with more money than sense. |
I've never heard of a fake audiophile.
There are different levels of involvement in this hobby.
Sometimes an enthusiast is hampered by a lack of funds to get as deeply involved as he would like to.
Or, sometimes those with the funds,just don't feel the need to pursue it past a certain comfort level.
What I don't understand is how some folks feel that they are music lovers,not audiophiles.
We all need a "system" of some sort to enjoy the music.
If it's all about the music,then why not enjoy it to the fullest?
I suppose,if you've never heard anything better than what you have, you don't think you are missing anything. |
A real audiophile actually believes his system really does sound good. Ooops, did I just say that? |
B Limo-
I understand your meaning in your query. A true audiophile cares about the best home audio reproduction. Conversly, a fake audiophile makes little to no effort in obtaining the best home audio reproduction. Happy Listening! |
IMO:
A true Audiophile knows what they are talking about when giving out advice and when they don't know something they tell you that.
A Fake Audiophile thinks they have the correct answer to every audio question asked even if they don't know squat about the question. |
Don't they hang out on the other sites, not here? |
A true audiophile uses his ears.
A fake audiophile uses his wallet. |
Wow how important is this. |
