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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
tonywinsc
583 posts
 
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
it's about the quest to achieve accuracy of timbre. the quest is more important than the conquest. we humans have a need to achieve something. thus, configuring components so as to realize minimal deviations from timbral accuracy is what motivates me. it is not about the music aat all. i can listen to a radio for the music its about the beauty of the sound of an instrument. the music is irrelevant.
dhgee
10 posts
 
I was borne in it. My father had a recording studio and made and played and sang making his own music. One hit he recorded was Summer in the city by the lovin spoonfull. He was not part of the group just the studio services. I scarfed a Dynaco ST-70, bought two Electrovoice 15 inch Wolverines ($35 each) with 16 ohm taps , built base reflex enclosures with plywood and styrofoam ( no other drivers ) and played Deep purple and the like at the age of 16.I had a stack of Albums about 18 inches which is a lot at 16. Every nickle of yard cutting went into music. Life was good. He had a two track studio with an Ampex 352, etc bought in Nashville TN where he worked in a Studio when he was ten.
6550c
393 posts
 
i have a sick obsession with brushed aluminum metal boxes with knobs, switches, light up meters, and protruding rack handles, and lots of expensive wires going out the back. I love spending stupid money on this stuff ! lol
aggielaw
267 posts
 
Mmmmmmmmm, brushed aluminum...

and pretty lights, too, preferably light blue!
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