se·ri·ous
/ˈsirēəs/
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adjective
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1.
(of a subject, state, or activity) demanding careful consideration or application.
"marriage is a serious matter"
Similar:
important
significant
consequential
of consequence
momentous
of moment
key
grave
weighty
far-reaching
major
urgent
pressing
crucial
critical
vital
life-and-death
high-priority
no joke
no laughing matter
careful
detailed
in-depth
deep
profound
meaningful
Opposite:
trivial
unimportant
superficial
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2.
acting or speaking sincerely and in earnest, rather than in a joking or halfhearted manner.
"actors who are serious about their work"
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Based on the definition I’m demoting myself to a 3 in that though I value good sound and have an interest there I don’t consider the topic all that important really on the grand scale of things. Maybe even a 1. Can I go negative? As one might discern from some of my posts I often do not take a lot of things discussed here all that seriously although I find most of it very interesting.
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During Covid, I bought my first integrated amp ever and had to buy new speakers for it of course as well as speaker wires and Gaia 1 feet for the speakers. I had never tried streaming before so I bought a streamer, then a better power supply, a better usb cable and power cord. Since Covid ended, I haven’t bought anything new, but try to listen 2-3 hours a day.
So I guess that makes me a 6?
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@mapman
My sincerest apologies....due to the hour of posting, and a general dismay at your potential hazard posed by a Roon Revenge Episode (now referred to as a RRE)....
I stupidly ’dropped’ a zed.
Actual time average spent is 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 38.6 seconds.
*sigh* ....but, still....simply Not Enough...your Audio Intervention Team is gearing up unless you act immediately if not sooner....
Double...nay, Triple Time may put them on Standby....for now....😎
@curiousjim is a fine example of a Solid Listen Devotee....( Yes, a 6! 👍😃)
Go Forth, Go Four+, Go For It! 🎶😍
(...done with stuff for awhile....good for the next day or so....keeping the average up by not shutting anything off....;)....)*L*
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@bdp24
+1, I completely agree with your sentiment. Music first then the pursuit of HiFi. Noble as it may be but pursuit of putting together a system that does as little harm to recorded media have been very rewarding and inspiring at the same time. BTW, care to share the champagne brand?
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I still can't see how this could be considered a "Hobby".
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Not a hobby for me. I like listening to music. ROON says 218 hours in the last 4 weeks which is likely lower than normal since I took a week off from work and I was entertaining house guests for the past 2 weeks. I also have 3 hours a day M-to-F of bliss listening to KCRW morning show on FM radio (not included in ROON).
I think it was Ozzy Osbourne who best described my gear spending habit. I was a zero for a decade and became a hero in the last 3 years. In about 6 more months I expect to go from hero to back to zero for a very long time (maybe until the end).
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@secretguy - to me, the buying and selling of gear is the hobby.
I don't consider listening to music any more of a 'hobby' than reading a book or watching a movie or looking at art.
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I dont like reading...
Yet I read thousands...
because i picked some so astounding and deep books it was impossible not to read them even if we hate reading...I begun to love reading i guess...
I dont like hearing music...
But i had thousand of music files...
because i love so much some musicians and composers i could not restrain myself...I begun to listen and hearing no more...
I dont like women but i marry one,
i dont like people,
But i befriend many...
Perhaps i like too much paradoxes.... 😁
I used acoustic and tweaks...
Just today i recreated an acoustic audiophile corner in my basement using small cheap but good speakers...
i decided to upgrade my Sansui alpha soon because i will have my ultimate headphone system...
I hate headphones, i disliked all,
But one....
For me the hobby is music not the gear... I learned acoustic it was my hobby for a long time... Now it is finished... Music is my only way not audio ...But we must inform ourself to buy the best at the least cost... It is done for me...
Life is surprizing, we do most of the times what we never planned to do....
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As John Lennon supposedly said, Life is what happens when you are making other plans.
@asvjerry
As a non Roon user, I think I get the jist of your post, but can you explain the situation for me?
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I'd put myself at a 2. I have a modest system that I enjoy, but my passion is astronomy. This week I'm camping at a dark sky park for a full week hoping for a clear night. So far three nights not worth getting either telescope running. I'm not sure there is an equivalent. I have a very small system in my RV, not even HiFi, but there are expectations of quite here so anything I play needs to stay in the camper.
When home I listen about 5 hours a week, mostly to vinyl while working. Serious listening is waiting for my retirement years. Not too much longer...
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@mahler123 ....*G* A 'shallow, tongue-deep in cheek tease', basically...from one who spends too much time at a desk, but has music on demand to while it away.
...beats a Real Job, esp. since semi-retired.....average hours listening per day surpasses 4 easily, tho' 2 one day, 8 the next...
As for a 'roon attack', just playing off the 'noia of AI leaking into the devices of our days....1st, the washer, dryer, fridge, car, the flat screen, your audio, your shaver, bed, breakfast.....
*L* At 73, I'm relatively reassured that I'll miss the worst of it...maybe... ;)
Happy Monday, btb....J
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@mapman
Great to hear you are thinking of retiring. I have been lucky to have many interests and over my career have been able to take off a year or more four times to just pursue my passions… physical and intellectual. So, my interests instantly take over all my time.
The way you put the idea you were thinking of retiring and then decide what to do. You might consider slowly moving into retirement and developing other pursuits along the way. I know a lot of retired folks and those that just quit without a bunch of passions can have a hard time. The rule of thumb is it takes five years to adjust to retirement. My transition was really easy for the reasons I said… but there was still a transition from being so goal oriented (by conditioning all my life) to being more process oriented.
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@ghdprentice & @mapman ...Having been ’semi-retired’ since 1/1/23 from self-employment, immediate results, other than a glacial shift in activities in my case, is just about one can expect....
Ideally, one can concentrate more on the stuff that wants to be done for home, hearth, common interests of your relationship, or just the fun b.s. you’ve put off endlessly....;)
BUT...no ’mike drop’, nooo....
It’s nice/annoying to get interrupted for the Greater Good.....which is still subject to ’discussions’.... *no applicable emoji*
One just has to ’roll with it’....SOS, just a different ’bun’....*L*
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Retirement can be fun....
No stress to make the payments...
I am more rich than when working...
But i felt depressed few years , loosing dozens and dozens of young friends whom with i discussed all day...
Now it is bicylcle, reading, and music...Walking ...sleeping... 😊
I will upgrade my Sansui alpha even if it is not necessary , call that foolishness, , fingers crossings, .....My end game system is near...
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Instead of how much someone has spent on gear, I base how serious a fellow audiophile is based on:
Dedicated room?
Dedicated line?
Meticulous setup?
Sit motionless in the sweet spot, with eyes closed?
No distractions, nothing but listening.
For me, that defines serious.
Just my 2c.
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I'm an 8 in that I won't spend multi thousands on gear. I want excellent sound and build speaker kits. You will now see ads for the 521 Linkwitz speakers. They are remarkable. You can build them inexpensively. To save time and $, just build the top section and use someone elses subwoofer kits. I did build the recommended woofer sections ($1200 just for the drivers). But they overpowered the room. I built the Linkwitz XLminis and the older Pluto models as well. Highly recommenced. Use a miniDSP two into four stereo crossovers (Madisound) and eight channels of amps - one per driver. Starke 4 cHannel power amps make it easy and economical. I have seven of them in multiple systems. Now, the have an eight channel amp, I'll get one in the fall) ideal for the XL521 (the name comes from the date Dr. Linkwitz found the perfect shape for the baffle holding the mid - tweet - super bidirectional tweeters - May 21). Happy Listening!
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Easily an 8 +
room. Check
dedicated line (4) check
meticulous set up. Check
sweet spot in the dark…all equipment dark or masked…check
No distractions..HVAC off…check
Serious.
https://i.imgur.com/Wcn89T8.png
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I dunno. 6/5? 7? Meh, it's not worth arguing about. I don't care. Enjoy!
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Last few years I was a 9-10 as I digested much info as I can find, demo what I could, to purchase my first high-end analog + digital chains.
8+ today but interest is tapering off - only have Ethernet components, digital cabling, Roon core, then I’m done…for now. I usually peruse reviews and forums regularly.
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"Serious" seems to equate for some with how often you change gear. I've been doing this for the last 40 years and once you reach a certain point and your main system is making you happy, you seldom want to continue the obsessive upgrade thing. That doesn't mean that I don't listen critically - I do, and other hobbyists sometimes bring gear to my place and vice versa so we can compare. Only occasionally will this reveal a significant change that warrants a revision of a system.
We recently did such a comparison (on my main system) of two excellent phono preamps, a Vendetta 2 SCP-2D and the last iteration of the Herron phono stage. No upgrades resulted!
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From an 8-9 to a 5
I started in this hobby forty plus years ago when I realized that their was this whole other approach to audio than the Pioneer, Technics, Teac, Bose Altec, products that dealers around me sold. And it happened when my older brother came home from his first year in college with a new stereo system and I was hooked. Maybe I was an 8 or 9 then and stayed that way for many many years. Things changed when I first walked into a specialty shop in town and taught me over the years to listen to equipment with the best possible setup and to make my own decisions and mind up as to what I thought was good and not what others tell me as I have definitely noticed happens a lot on Audigon discussions. One thing at the dealer I noticed was their opinion of rags like The Absolute Sound. They referred to it as a comic book and laughed and laughed at the articles in it. Maybe in my forties I packed away everything in a move, built a nice wall shelf between the kitchen. living room and purchased a Cambridge CD 88 and used that for ten years. Obsession now a 6. One day I just decided to setup the stereo. I really don't change anything out in my system unless it's broke and about five-six years back it seemed like my whole setup started to fail over a two week period, some gear from wear and some by accident. So I started a reset on the whole system. Buying gear. Liking some purchases, but finding some lacking one way or another. Two things occurred to me, I was purchasing things that were good but thought that they weren't what I really wanted not to mention some of my older gear thinking was not repairable and had them repaired. I now have a system I like and an excess of equipment to get rid of. So today I'm a solid 5 and not really obsessed anymore. Other things like being at the beach cottage in Union Pier Michigan with a Tivoli Pal or my Beosystem 10 portable rank a solid 10 on my obsession meter.
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Depends how much your system is worth?
< $500 = sounds good to me
$1,000-$5,000 = Im readung reports and recommendations
$10,000 = audio Junkie
$25,000 = I love it and I'm happy
$50,000 = divorce dicussions
$100,000 = no.longer a hobby and obsessed
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Probably a 3. I’ve not turned on my stereo in 4 months. Too hot to sit in a sweet spot and listen intently. I’m on the cusp of buying a new set of tube mono’s so I’m certain that’ll start the fire again. Winter is better for tubes and Class A listening. And I’m retired so I’ve got all the time in the world to catch up!
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I am obsessed with listening to music and I regularly add more music to my collection. In terms of gear I’m off the carousel. My system is more than sufficient. If I see something that strikes my fancy I might be tempted but it really takes a lot.
So in terms of music- I’d say a 9
In terms of new gear- 2, maybe
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@coltrane1
Perhaps the next high end audio purchase should be air conditioning.
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@ghdprentice No one in the Northwest has AC. We rather suffer for the 10 days we get at 90.
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@coltrane1
I live in the Pacific Northwest and have air conditioning. My 38 tubes are providing wonderful sound.
It sounds like you are postponing listening for more than a few days. Also, climate change will make the number of days that are over 90 much larger.
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Serious? Well I guess on your list of similar meanings, mine would be meaningful, and on a scale of 1-10, would probably be about 5. Centered mostly along the lines of enjoying a large variety of music and having a dedicated area of the house set up for my audio and a large collection music and an adequate system to play it.
Since I"m no longer into large, loud, big venue concerts and have no desire to re-create the scope of one in my audio room, it takes a fairly modest system to play the music I like, at the moderate scope and volume that I enjoying listening. While I do from, time to time, consider upgrading veracious components of my system, it comes no where near an obsession and usually gives way to other needs and interests.
Jim
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Oohh, at least a 10. I am competitive and want to have the best stereo on Audiogon.
Satisfaction has nothing to do with the music. It has everything to do with being better than everyone else.
my reference CD
Astral Sounds contains no musical instruments, human voices or sounds of nature, yet it can automatically create feelings of happiness, health and a blissful state of mind. Worries disappear. Pain vanishes. Problems automatically solve themselves. All this and more has been reported by users of Astral Sounds. By listening to Astral Sounds you can experience warm, sensuous vibrations of happiness and well-being any time you want to. This unique 24 minute recording is designed to stimulate a pleasure center in your mind to create physical and mental peace and euphoria... a natural high.
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