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Other than music, why are you an audiophile?

I would hope that the first reason why anyone is an audiophile is that they love music. I’m going to assume we all have that in common. So the question is: Other than music, why are you an audiophile?

I’ve had an interest in audio and hifi for twenty years, but it took me a long time, and a fair amount of introspection, to come up with a good answer. My answer is personal. It may not be true of anyone else. Here it is:

Other than music, I’m interested in audio because I’m fascinated by EMERGENCE. The concept of ‘emergence’ has been around for at least a century. It has been used by philosophers and scientists to mean a whole that is “greater than the sum of its parts.” More technically, emergence is a relation between system-level characteristics and component-level characteristics. A system’s characteristics EMERGE from the characteristics of its components when…

(1) The system’s characteristics are DIFFERENT IN KIND from the characteristics of its components.

(2) The system’s characteristics are CAUSED BY the characteristics of its components.

(3) The system’s characteristics are DIFFICULT TO PREDICT from the characteristics of its components.

What does this have to do with audio? Everything. In an audio system…

(1a) The musical characteristics of an audio system are DIFFERENT IN KIND from the electrical/mechanical/acoustical characteristics of its components.

(2a) The musical characteristics of an audio system are CAUSED BY the electrical/mechanical/acoustical characteristics of its components.

(3a) The musical characteristics of an audio system are DIFFICULT TO PREDICT from the electrical/mechanical/acoustical characteristics of its components.

Hence, the musical characteristics of an audio system EMERGE from the electrical/mechanical/acoustical characteristics of its components. In other words, an audio system, taken as a whole, seems “greater than the sum of its parts.”

To me, the phenomenon of emergence differentiates audio, as a hobby, from many (but not all) other hobbies, where emergence does not happen. To me, the phenomenon of emergence is what makes hifi seem like magic, in that something beautiful and emotional emerges out of something mechanical and electrical. And that is why, other than a love a music, I am an audiophile.

Anyone else?
bryoncunningham

Showing 1 response by tobuns

tobuns
28 posts
 
I love music, of course, but I'm an audiophile because I also love the equipment responsible for the reproduction of music.

Generally speaking though, I like all high end or luxury products. Fine mechanical watches, high quality cameras and lenses, art, furniture, ect. I like the craftsmenship, I like the tech, I like supporting the small companies that are run by people passionate about their industry (I don't care if it's DA converters or a painters brush). I like the feel of luxury materials instead of mass market plastics. Not that I can afford to populate my life with top of the line products, but audio equipment I do feel is a worthwhile investment.

The frugal side of me is totally willing to buy something that cost more initially but doesn't need to be replaced 5 times over the course of it's life. When I was younger, the thought of spending $600 on a tripod was ridiculous, but when the first $40 unit broke, and was replaced with a $100 one that lasted a little longer, then a $150 one which wasn't quite right either, and so on up to the $600 one By then I'd spent $1000 on tripod(s) chasing the one I should have got in the first place. It's just cheaper and more enjoyable to have the best from the start.
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