Should people who can't solder, build or test their speakers be considered audiophiles?
Yes, hope you guys have a good 4TH, too! My wife, youngest son and I are going to Chicago to visit my oldest son for the weekend, he lives near Montrose and Oak st. beaches on the north side. A thong, face mask and "Trump Happens" hat are a hip look for a 62 year old guy with a cane on a Chicago beach nowadays, right? Tim |
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The rest of y'all have to leave. I'll stay and talk to myself." Hello trentmemphis, Don't forget what happened during your last conversation with yourself. This time, it may be best to just nix all that yelling, headlocks and punching during the conversation. Treat yourself like you would want to be treated. Tim |
Yesterday morning, I went to the Indiana Audiophile Society’s Indianapolis office to apply to become an official member. To earn official membership and the coveted Official Indiana Audiophile Member credentials that are bestowed, the process requires each applicant to take their very demanding Audiophile Entrance Exam. Membership is only granted to those paying the $5,000 entrance fee and answering the Official Entrance Exam’s 100 true-false questions with complete and total accuracy, a single incorrect answer results in permanent membership disqualification and forfeiture of the entrance fee. If the entrance fee is paid and all 100 entrance exam questions are answered 100% correctly, Official Indiana Audiophile membership status and credentials are bestowed upon the applicant. About an hour later, as I handed my completed exam back to the office clerk, she must have noticed my concerned manner because she stated: "Relax Mr. noble100, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but the whole exam is actually based on whether question #2 is answered correctly or not, all the other questions are superfluous, not even checked and just there for appearances." I quickly looked down and reread question #2 on the exam, along with my answer, before handing it over to the clerk. Question #2 asked: "True or false, People who can't solder, build or test their speakers are not considered to be audiophiles?" There it is my friends, Irony in Action! Is this a true story or a made up story? Consider this a fable with a moral to the story. What word best describes my feelings about my performance on the exam? Yahtzee! How did I answer question #2? Those who paid close attention understand this point is moot. I don’t wish to stifle further debate and discussion, however, so please carry on. Tim |
Exactly, limomangus. The only reason I know how to solder is because I had to be proficient to pass a H S electronics course. I'm not really proud of this skill, haven't used it since that class and, hopefully, I won't have a need to the rest of this life. I respect the gear designers, admire the quality, precision and the looks of the a/v gear but I love to use it for music and HT more than anything else. I'm certain there are no prerequisites or qualifications for being an a/v enthusiast, videophile or audiophile beyond those mentioned and I don't believe there should be. My goals are relaxation and enjoyment, not pretentions, restrictions, snobbery and exclusivity. It seems to me that mahlman would benefit from some chillaxing. Enjoy Tim |
Let's extrapolate. If I have a brain and use it but can't perform brain surgery, am I still worthy of utilizing it in an obviously satirical and derisive manner to articulate to the OP just how snobbish, inane, pretentious, nonsensical and pathetic his thread premise actually is? Really, am I allowed? If not, who do I need to request permission from? I need to know. Just curious, Tim |
Like pcrhk mentioned earlier, these forums are a means for us all to have the freedom of just calling things as we see them or hear them, like an umpire calling balls and strikes. We're just generally doing it in essay form. rather than true-false or positive-negative, and doing it with regards to a/v equipment, room acoustic treatments and source content and with price/ performance ratios baked in. An umpire improves his performance through knowledge and experience, an accurate knowledge of the strike zone and the experience of seeing many pitches, closely examining each pitch's qualities and worthiness, before rendering his decision based on the merits. Hmmm, grasshoppers, perhaps the essence of being an audiophile or videophile is very much like being an umpire? Of course, we're not all reliably objective umpires since we each have varying levels of knowledge of the audio and video strike zones as well as personal and subjective factors that influence our judgment decisions. Factors such as general audio/video performance characteristic preferences as well as preferences for specific component technology types and even brands tend to skew judgments from objective and toward subjective, much like a bribe tends to skew an umpire's judgments to be less objective. Experience is important for gaining a good understanding of the performance capabilities of currently available technology, equipment and source content. It also allows one to compare and contrast the performance levels of available a/v equipment, room acoustic treatments and source content based on their own merits. I continue to believe mahlman's premise on this thread is misguided, unnecessarily exclusionary, irrelevant and possesses absolutely zero intrinsic value. However, I also believe a thread premise, about what qualities an effective and competent audiophile or videophile should ideally possess, would constitute a reasonable, inclusive, relevant and valuable endeavor. Unfortunately, I consider myself as an a/v, HT and music enthusiast and lack the motivation, interest and time to do so. Just calling them like I see, hear or double-naught figure them. Tim |
"Tim, Part of what is so amusing about all this is I have stated clearly, more than once, why I posted and still deep thinkers try and figure it all out." Hello mahlman, I wasn't really trying to figure it all out, just sort of skimming through your thread and must have missed your explanation about why you posted. But I'll take your word for it, my fault and no harm no foul. Thanks, Tim Report this |
I enjoy all of geoffkait's posts. They're typically humorous, irreverent, relevant, clever, slightly rebellious and always entertaining. Every comedian has an inventory of favorites they rightfully consider gems, puts them in a rotation, slightly modifies them as the topic or target dictates and sprinkles in new material as they naturally occur in a funky fun guy's mind. I believe geoffkait is often just filled with an overwhelming and ebullient sense of being pretty and witty. I say: You go girl! Love, Tim XOX |
mahgister: "The wise has many masters or no one» -Groucho Marx" Hello mahgister, I believe the correct quotation is "The wise may have many masters or none at all." Just like our African-American brothers and sisters up until Emancipation, I also tend to prefer no masters at all. There is no wisdom in snobbery and exclusion. Clearly, no masters are required to understand that there is wisdom in humbleness, inclusion and egalitarianism. robrtdid: "they're real... and they're spectacular!" -- Teri Hatcher Hello robertdid, Their realism may be questionable but their being spectacular is certainly not. Tim |
I also consider myself primarily and foremost, an avid music lover. As mahlman stated well, the reproduction gear is mainly just a means or conduit to reproduce music recordings with the highest fidelity possible. My system goal has always been a system attaining a quality level that presents a wide, deep, holographic stereo sound stage illusion that is so palpable, tonally accurate, powerful, dynamic , detailed. realistic and natural that the musicians are perceived as being in your room or as if I've been transported to the venue and am listening to a live performance with a seat center stage and no more than about 15' back from the stage. Once any overall system reaches a certain level of quality and fidelity, of course, the quality and fidelity levels of the music recordings played becomes extremely apparent, both positively and negatively,and one quickly realizes that this has become the new limiting factor on one's overall system reproduction performance quality. As a result, the search for music shifts a bit, from music you like to music you like and it's also been been captured on the highest quality recording available. A bit of a wrinkle but well worth the effort. Tim |
I only read books with pictures, those little ones with the cartoon like colorful action drawings. My predominate allure in this hobby has always been the music, understanding that my attraction is almost completely emotional in nature. Personally however, I not only enjoy the emotional connection to the music and the way it makes me feel, I also emotionally enjoy admiring all of the designing and engineering precision represented in each of the individual components, the gear itself. Of course, the majority of my emotional satisfaction is derived from my great admiration for the accumulated knowledge, experience, creativity, wisdom and incredible skill level of the individual responsible for so expertly selecting, assembling and configuring such an extremely high quality a/v system in my room. Tim |
mahlman: " Well since right now I am not building or altering crossovers technically you are right. It's crimp connectors right now. How ever I know how to do that and have the correct tools so I have audiophile grade crimp connections." Hello mahlman, Well, okay. But please make certain that all required official audiophile forms and permits have been submitted and been approved, your audiophile dues have been fully paid, you're clad in all official audiophile mandated safety gear and that you're strictly following official audiophile crimping procedures. Additionally, you must utilize the most recent version of the official audiophile crimp connectors and recite the audiophile pledge with extreme conviction and righteous indignation, prior to proceeding any further with your crimping endeavors. Thank you, Tim |
Hello mahlman, That’s cool. I have no need, use or desire for any audiophile credentials, standards, authorizations, approvals, exclusions or other restrictions and limitations. I’m just an independent music and HT lover and A/V gear enthusiast who prefers enjoying his hobbies freely, along with the inclusive interaction with all like minded individuals, including yourself, and without exclusions, pretensions and limitations. Tim |
mahlman:"
As has been stated before, but apparently not read by many who stop in, this is for my entertainment. Thanks for your contribution by the way." Hello mahlman, I stated something similar in my last post: " I’m just an independent music and HT lover and A/V gear enthusiast who prefers enjoying his hobbies freely, along with the inclusive interaction with all like minded individuals, including yourself, and without exclusions, pretensions and limitations." I believe most members here on Audiogon generally agree with my statement about enjoying this hobby freely, along with the inclusive interaction with all like minded individuals, including yourself, and without exclusions, pretensions and limitations. My thoughts were that the topic of this thread you created was implicitly exclusive, snobbish and pretentious since it contained the inane exclusion and limitation of non-solderers from being considered audiophiles. My main point is that I believe the qualities of elitism, exclusion, snobbishness and pretentiousness are generally not embraced by the majority of Audiogon members. including myself. Tim |
millercarbon: If you could only see the worlds I’ve seen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JjJzMBGUwo What a shame! All the comments, deep thoughts and moments we've all shared on this inexplicably long and inane thread will be lost in time, too, like tears in the rain. Alas for mercy's sake, perhaps it's also time for this thread to die? Uh oh, gotta go. I'm late for solder practice. Rutger Hauer |
My car’s mileage recently passed 71K miles so I’ve been absent from this forum for a few weeks researching which newer/lower mileage used buggy to swap it out for. The good news is that task has now been completed successfully. The bad news is that I returned here today to find this always pointless thread continuing to flop about like a fish out of water. I’ve witnessed this thread’s predictable devolution since its inception due to its author, mahlman, creating it as an experiment designed for his, and perhaps a few willing cohorts’, personal entertainment and amusement that was based from the onset on deception, a lack of candor, a hidden agenda and sarcasm. What could possibly go wrong with a thread intentionally based on such a contrived,baiting, deceptive, dishonest and self-serving premise? Unfortunately but predictably, I think we’ve all been continuing to experience the answer to this question in an excruciatingly long and detailed manner, apparently in slow motion. I would describe this thread as a deliberately poorly designed plane, overburdened with inane assumptions and childish intentions, hurtling earthward in a death spiral with Mahlman at the controls grinning and giggling right up to the inevitable impact with the incredibly hard surface of the earth, metaphorically representing common sense, honesty and truth in this little analogy. Consider this my farewell from this doomed thread as I parachute out the back door of this thing. BTW, there are a limited number of chutes left at the rear of this proverbial plane for those similarly inclined. Later, Tim |
