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Should people with no turntable or reel to reel be considered audiophiles?

Just like those driving a Porsche SUV can join PCA (digital audio fans can join Audiogon) but are certainly not Porschephiles unless they also own a coupe (Panamera owners I guess gets a pass here).

Please respond with a yes or no and we'll tally a vote for the first 100 responses.

sokogear
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
It’s hard to tell, right? 🤗
sokogear OP
1,056 posts
 
Mostly great comments. A couple big disagreements  - I have a basic submariner Rolex for 20 years (a working man's watch) - and a 9 year old 911 - I certainly am very happy with both, but can I mention another plus to these 2 investments - lack of depreciation! If you have good audio equipment and buy it correctly, it will hold decent value. 

You don't have to have a 911 or Cayman to be a Porshchephile mijostyn - you need a coupe (or cab or Targa). I know some PCA club members that love 924s, 944s, 914s, 928s (not sure why) and even 968s. And you don't have to track them - insurance is a killer and I will not self insure.

Vermonster - a reputable $500 TT playing a good pressing will provide deeper, warmer sound than any digital file.

I asked this question thinking "no", but started thinking about it, lhasaguy has a good point. I met a VERY serious audiophile a few months ago who sold my cousin a loaded Rega P5 for like $600 - the list price of the complete package he sold him is probably $2500. When I asked him what he replaced it with (I recently went from the P5 to the P8 because of the arm), he said "nothing" - unfortunately after his wife and government were done with him he had to sell everything and he said that if he gets back on his fee and has some cash, he said he could easily see dropping $50K on audio equipment. I bet it might be his first $50K.....That guy definitely IS an audiophile and knows more than anyone I've ever met. So, I am a Yes, and yes is WAY ahead. 
schteveuhn's avatar
schteveuhn
5 posts
 
Yes, it is about the passion the person has for the music listening experience, not what gear they may or may not have. Without a turntable, though, a large part of the listening experience is not there. That is simply my opinion though!

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,510 posts
 

A more pertinent question (to me, anyway) is: are audiophiles music lovers first, or second? I don’t listen to my system, I listen to music through my system. Just a means to an end, not the end itself. That’s why I don’t call "it" a hobby. Musicians don’t call acquiring and using superior instruments a hobby. They are tools, just like a hi-fi system, a means of access to either the making of or listening to music.

An easy way to answer the above question is to compare the amount of money you have invested in each, your music library vs. your system. One reason most musicians don't have good systems is that the little disposable money they do have goes into the acquisition of more and/or better instruments. They will actually go without food if need be. No music, no life.

roberttdid
534 posts
 
Judging by the serious sound modifying love of "vinyl' I am not sure what they are into, but guessing most don't know what instruments truly sound like in a live space, and many have lost most of the frequency range anyway. If audiophile is the pursuit of accurate musical reproduction then most jabbering here are not audiophiles. Perhaps the reduced information of vinyl better suits them?
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