" He who lives in a glass house shouldn't cast pebbles: "
I think it is closer to a glass universe:Dhttps://www.machinadynamica.com/machina5.htm
Should people who can't solder, build or test their speakers be considered audiophiles?
So, if you bought that Porsche but can only drive it and not fix it do you really understand and appreciate what it is? I say no. The guy who can get in there and make it better, faster or prettier with his own hands has a superior ability to understand the final result and can appreciate what he has from a knowledge base and not just a look at what I bought base. I mean sure you can appreciate that car when you drive it but if all you do is take it back to the dealership for maintenance and repairs you just like the shape with no real understanding of what makes it the mechanical marvel it is.
I find that is true with the audio world too. There are those who spend a ton of money on things and then spend a lot of time seeking peer approval and assurance their purchase was the right one and that people are suitably impressed. Of course those who are most impressed are those who also do not design, build, test or experiment.
I propose that an audiophile must have more than a superficial knowledge about what he listens to and must technically understand what he is listening to. He knows why things work and what his end goal is and often makes his own components to achieve this. He knows how to use design software to make speakers that you can't buy and analyze the room they are in and set up the amplification with digital crossovers and DSP. He can take a plain jane system and tweak it and balance it to best suit the room it is in. He can make it sound far better than the guy who constantly buys new components based on his superficial knowledge who does not understand why what he keeps buying in vain never quite gets there.
A true audiophile can define his goal and with hands on ability achieve what a mere buyer of shiny parts never will. So out comes the Diana Krall music and the buyer says see how good my system is? The audiophile says I have taken a great voice and played it through a system where all was matched and tweaked or even purposely built and sits right down next to Diana as she sings. The buyer wants prestigious signature sound and the audiophile will work to achieve an end result that is faithful true to life audio as though you were in the room with Diana as she sings. The true audiophile wants true to life and not tonally pure according to someones artificial standard.
So are you a buyer or an audiophile and what do you think should make a person an audiophile?
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Glass universe? What is that photo supposed to be showing or prove? Are those the ashes of someone’s passed relative tapped to the cables? And why would we care I wonder. Jkf I think it boils down to some people have self image issues and if they’re part of a smaller more exclusive club then maybe their sense of self worth will have been raised. People outside of the hobby arnt audiphiles either, but I never miss a chance to try to start a coverstaion on the subject to see if we can add a new recruit to the hobby. |
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Give me a break. Just another in a long line of troll posts by the OP, to whit from 2 years ago,
" Hyperbole much?? Lets see that makes two in two years so I guess you are right I am FLOODING this place with, well, with whatever you say. Do the flying saucers help if you sit in a room of them? You of all people talking about trolling and the validity of things. |
Pretty silly OP, for sure. Audiophiles are those that enjoy audio equipment. Those that can solder, build or test their speakers, are a subset of the greater set of audiophiles. As one who does build and test my own audiophile level speakers, I am no different in my love for audio equipment than those that do not. |
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Have you ever open the engine lid on a 911? Not a lot of room in there to work on things! Not so fast, Grasshopper! You forgot to say "new" 911. If you open the engine lid on an early air-cooled 911 you will see a couple Weber carbs, and... not much else. The engine was very clearly exposed on a 911. Before watermelons (green on the outside, red on the inside) took over the automotive industry and without anyone ever being asked declared the exhaust fumes coming out must be cleaner than the air coming in. (True- allowable exhaust particulates are lower than the air in many places.) Now thanks to computer aided design hardly a cubic inch of engine bay space is wasted- its all used to meet regulatory requirements. Not only Porsche. Try and find any carmaker today with an engine you can just reach in and put your hands on. Now I don’t know about Spectron but if you were a smart and discerning audiophile and bought a quality tube amp then odds are you will find plenty of room in there and it would be no problem to replace that binding post. Not that it would have broken off in the first place. Tube gear tends to be made to last. Digital ages in dog years. |
Once upon a time, a mechanic worth every penny he refused to take from me told me that pinpoint oil leaks are common after an oil change and are the way to rack up the bill. I have no idea how to fix any of 911's engines, or how they look, but that is what I was told. While I have the attention of 911 experts, where did the spare tire go before it disappeared? There must have been one. Was it? Where was it installed? When did it go away? This is a real question and you guys seem to have the answer handy. |
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My car is rented and my wife drive it.....I walk most of the times..... :) All cars are boring except the Bugatti Atlantic 1936....I dream to buy one.... a seller here? There is a great similarity and a family ressemblance with the Berning ZOTL amplifier but objects of my dreams partake something for sure..... :) |
petg60, "i don't find jokes about Alfa amusing. Annual service is coming."Skip it. It won't come out of it any better. A wise guy once told me that any time you take a car to the shop, whatever the reason, you will be back in two weeks. Not necessarily for the same reason. I visit my car mechanic on the bicycle, for a chat. |
@mahlman - glad to know you were just rattling the cage to see if you could ruffle some feathers. I would hope we are all in this together? I certainly learn a lot in here, and am introduced to devices, tweaks and music that are all new to me. I will debate if I have a differing opinion, as will others. And I respect people who will discuss their opinion with reason. If I had unlimited resources, I’d happily purchase everything from people who have taken the time to specialize in certain aspects, and components in the HiFi industry. People here in this forum, most of them to me anyway seem to want to promote this great recreation. I’ll admit I saw the thread heading and thought, oh no, not another: Should people with no turntable or reel to reel be considered audiophiles? |
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@mahlman - glad to know you were just rattling the cage to see if you could ruffle some feathers.
" I do love audio and spend a lot of time at it in all aspects. Sometimes though the comic theater of the absurd that seems to go with it is a bit more than I can resist. There are some really crazy things around here lurking amongst the nuggets of good. |
"Not so fast, Grasshopper!" Careful I took martial arts for eight years!! Yes early 911's pre fuel injection are pretty easy access for basic maintenance from the engine bay and underneath. Modern cars, forget about it! My Spectron musical MK ll amp is no slutch weighing in at 54 lbs and the speaker binding post are very robust. I suspect over the years it developed a crack. Hopefully it's not too much of a pain to change out. I do have a VAC tube amp and you're right as it would be much easier to work on than my Spectron "While I have the attention of 911 experts, where did the spare tire go before it disappeared? There must have been one. Was it? Where was it installed? When did it go away? This is a real question and you guys seem to have the answer handy" The spare tire in my 1978 911 SC is in the front storage area. It has to be inflated with compresser I've only owned the older air cooled Porsches, so I'm not sure about the newer models My 2019 Honda Type R has no spare and no run flats, just a compressor Hey it doesn't even have a CD player!! |
"Top Gear"; audiophile version, amateur division....brought to by your friends at Furutech.....*click* ....we've sawn this $20,000 speaker in half and will now restore it to Perfect Working Condition with Miracle Mystery Mending Tape!*click* ...absolutely no experience or special skills needed! You too can build in one weekend a fully functional flying sau*click* |
Top Gear would never stoop to sawing a speaker in half. They might crush one with a piano, smash it with a rock, burn with acid, and drop from a crane. Onto a caravan. Well, maybe not a speaker.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK1UQGfnlqY |
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To the original poster of this thread, if you don't have a computer
science degree then you are not worthy of posting on audiogon or
accessing the internet. Good bye " Hate to see you go but might I remind you the inventor of the internet, Al Gore, did not have a science degree. " "Audiophile" is such a pretentious word when used by elitist enthusiasts. " Yeah that's my main beef. Pretentious is such a great word for this. Inspiration for posting this thread in fact. |
Hate to see you go but might I remind you the inventor of the internet, Al Gore, did not have a science degree.https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/internet-of-lies/ All the best, Nonoise |