I live in a rural area and celebrate the beauty and total silence. I have gotten know people on Audiogon and once mutual respect and rapport is established, often first through Private Message and then by phone, one person has flown 1,000 miles to hear my system and I have traveled 6 hours by car hear another's. Also when I travel to a city, I often stop by stores of good reputation to hear systems. But most rewarding are the personal contacts which bring lively discussion and often exposure to music that I have never heard that at times becomes an essential part of my collection
What do you do when you live hours from nowhere
Any suggestions when you live someplace with zero audiophiles and no stereo shops? I have, by far, the best system of anyone I know and I can't find anyone to relate to or from whom I can learn and experiment with.
I've tried to talk to some audiophiles in metro areas and get the snobby "brush off" and I find the advice here spotty (newbies showing off what they don't know and old guys not sharing what they do). In talking with the snots, If you happen to use a term incorrectly or don't mention soundstage or dynamics in describing a system they conclude you don't know anything about sound. If your equipment is different from what they think is correct then you're an idiot. If you ask a simplest question, you're an idiot. I've had good to excellent component systems for 40+ years, but I don't tend to use the lingo. The attitude is part of what has high end audio "shooting itself in the foot."
I've tried to talk to some audiophiles in metro areas and get the snobby "brush off" and I find the advice here spotty (newbies showing off what they don't know and old guys not sharing what they do). In talking with the snots, If you happen to use a term incorrectly or don't mention soundstage or dynamics in describing a system they conclude you don't know anything about sound. If your equipment is different from what they think is correct then you're an idiot. If you ask a simplest question, you're an idiot. I've had good to excellent component systems for 40+ years, but I don't tend to use the lingo. The attitude is part of what has high end audio "shooting itself in the foot."