2. misc-audio
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How rare is an audiophile

I’ve been extremely busy lately and not had a chance to sit back and listen to music  on my system for a few weeks. I’ve streamed my favorite music in the car and on a small JBL Flip-4 portable speaker; which by the way “punches way above its size class.”  I continued to enjoy music whenever, wherever, and however i can during this “dry spell.”

So now its 5 am Sunday morning. I know i’ll be spending most of the day listening on the JBL when my wife and I drive out to a lake house we bought recently and are furnishing and getting ready for 4 generations to enjoy lake life this summer and for years to come. 
I’ve let my system warm up and hit play on my CD player. I now find myself in total bliss listening to Chris Standing’s newest CD “The Lovers Re-mix Collection.”  The effect of the quality of the sound of the music my wife and i are enjoying right now with a cup of coffee is hard to explain, but it brought literal tears of joy.  

I started thinking, how many people are like us?  What % of the population are audiophiles (whatever your definition of an audiophile is)?

I know the answer is heavily dependent on which country you live in. I live in the US along with ~332,000,000 fellow citizens (please, lets not get political on the meaning of population or citizen). 
Are we the 0.1%ers?  Are there ~332,000 audiophiles in the US?

i’d be interested in what others think about how rare our species is.

ezstreams

Showing 1 response by bluorion

bluorion
438 posts
 

My experience is very similar to @dean_palmer. Gen X'er here---my friends and I spent much of the 80s experimenting with new gear, buying vinyl and CDs. There were several high-end stores we frequented and I still have some of my old gear (now vintage) with upgrades along the way. Now, I venture to audio shows with my husband and play music in my music room alone. I have a few friends that like vinyl but they aren't 'into' the whole audiophile experience. To them, high-end is Beats headphones and iPods. 

But I am also a 'rare' audiophile because I'm not into jazz and the usual music one hears at audio shows. If I had to compare my musical tastes, they would be like John Darko's music. Don't get me wrong, I love the classics, but my usual taste in music falls into the electronica spectrum. 

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