What is an audiophile? Are you an audiophile?

You are right for sure!

It takes me almost 2 years non stop experiments because i am retired...

And it takes a dedicated room...

But i spoke here to the majority of people who think they listen DIRECTLY to their gear, like the RCA dog ,😁😊 oblivious of their room HUGE impact...

If i save the money throwing for only one dude, my posts will be useful, especially if you  already own costly gear to begin with and wanted to upgrade IGNORING like most people do, the powerful impact acoustic can made after crossing some line separating high end from ultra high end design  in particular...

Acoustic especially here is the key...

Nobody spoke so categorically about acoustic than me here, because for most people acoustic is ONLY THE ICING on the cake... In reality acoustic is the main recipe... Any basically good gear will do unbewknownst to most because of marketing electronical design consumerism and gear fetichism ... I dont say here that my vintage Sansui at 100 bucks rival the 6000 buck of the Berning zotl amplifier... I only say that acoustic is the geatest impactful factor in general and most of the times...nevermind the diffrence between my vintage Sansui and the improved ZOTL technology

My depest respect to you....

@mahgister

Have you ever tried to factor in the cost of the time you spent perfecting your system in this equation? How much would it cost someone to hire you to use your knowledge, patience and the sheer man-hour time to make their room acoustically nimble like yours? Maybe $50 an hour times 1000 hours? In the USA we have a saying: time is money, think about it. We all sacrificed for what we are passionate about. Money, time, relationship, there is a cost associated with it. $500 was just your initial investment, the real one is much more.

It is a pleasure to talk to sane people, welcome...Especially this time and in this year...

I'm personally not hung up on labels  Am I an audiophile?  I meet the definition.  Am I music lover?  Meet that definition too but hopefully I'm more of a positive influence than negative. 

When do I get my chip?

Not an audiophile. I lack the necessary gullibility gene.

Exactly my point. Thanks! Because of course anyone who spend (insert amount) is gullible and thus an audiophile. Dont get you started on tweeks and cables right?

Prejudice against all people categorized the same in a group BLIND the judgment sorry...

i am an audiophile, i dont upgrade and buy nothing...

My system is basic , good but low cost...

All my "tweaks" are homemade, effective, and cost nothing or very low...

And my ratio S.Q. /price is over the roof...

Then?

Why not thinking before speaking  and  judging group of people?

Nobody in his sane mind can contest this fact...

Music is a spiritual experience way over the acoustic one....

Music is a therapeutic nevermind the system /room price tag or S.Q.

An audiophile is like what the poster above suggest  someone who learn each day how to listen, enjoying music ...

To me, it’s the physical/emotional/spiritual connection with music that I most treasure-- in the end it’s far more important than having a high-end system.

I am not a gear fetichist and not an obsessed upgrading fool chasing and "tasting" sounds ...

Then i am not a failed audiophile....

 

But i know that ACOUSTIC and PSYCHO-ACOUSTIC science can help a speakers/room to deliver a marvellous sound/music experience...

I listen an opera right now after some jazz...

What ami I ?

A succeeding audiophile who has studied acoustic instead of reading audio reviewers of gear and will never need to upgrade his low cost but very well chosen system...

Because acoustic has nothing to do with "taste" about gear, i listen music not sound of amplifiers or dac or even speakers....

😁😊

And read me correctlly, i perfectly know that any piece of gear sound different, but this difference is DWARFED by the huge improvement with acoustic control OPTIMIZATION over your Speakers/room...

Being a wise Audiophile dont means that the ratio S.Q./price is meaningless it is the opposite....It is the main meaningful parameter all over the journey...

 

 

«A piece of tubular wood with holes is an acoustic instrument and knowing how it work in different caverns is enough to figure out all acoustic»-Anonymus acoustician

«Acoustic is a prehistoric phenomena » -Anonymus acoustician

 

Because of complete ignorance of acoustic and psycho-acoustic they listen to the sound "tasted" of their gear...

They dont even understand what is the "timbre" musical experience....

Complete ignorance transform in an obsession with a relatively very bad system at any price...

How a system at any price can sound very good or at his peak potential WITHOUT acoustic control of the room ?

It is impossible sorry...

Anyway they listen to atrocious commercial music also....Most of the times... 😁😊

 

I sometimes wonder whether the inverse is true……I was on a thread here where a guy was asking for tracks that would show off his speakers, and appeared ecstatic because he had a system that allowed him to listen to his speakers without the music distracting him

just how rare is this behaviour?

Great post!

i wil only add that to enjoy music we must forget price tag and put in place the necessary acoustic condition in a room to enjoy the experience... And this has NOTHING to do with price tag....

A dedicated room is the only luxury in audio....

 

As someone that works in a studio for a living, I am around equipment that dwarfs the cost of any audiophile equipment setup so I don’t bother with the pissing contest in audiophile circles because it loses the point of it all: to simply enjoy the music.

We all pick music through the sound and sometimes pick sounds from the music... And the silence in between is sometimes sound, sometimes music....

Who is an audiophile? who is not?

I just told....And i spoke too much...

My deepest salutations to the organ pipes master mechanic...

The most important secret in audio are simply related to  how work organ pipe....

You already know that yourself...

Regards.....

I guess i am less an audiophile my system (500 bucks) is done...

I explained how i did it at no cost or very low one....

I listen music.....

The distinction frogman underlined made sense for me, a lover of music put spontaneously and without even thinking a ceiling above which he will not go, if the piano is in his room he will be busy listening music....Sounds will no more bother him anyway...

I proved for myself that a 500 bucks system is enough to create this experience....And it is not everybody which like that claim or believe it... 😊

For sure for example my speakers give me only 40 hertz but very good one, with their 7 inches driver well embedded in my room, i listen cello with my chest... Almost all music is there then it is enough for me.... But it is not enough for all then a 500 bucks system even well embedded has limitations for sure....But most people want 20 hertz... For me voice and timbre instrument are the most important and the enveloping listener factor or LEV....The only audible test to verify that is classical orchestra and live opera....

I proved for myself that controls of three things matter the most than anything else: mechanical vibration and resonance controls , electrical noise floor controls and the most underestimated and difficult to do right : acoustical passive treatment and especially active mechanical acoustic controls...

The reason is simple audio engineering design is mature already from decades ago, then it is easy to pick relatively good components, what is not easy is learning how to embed them at low or no cost.....
😁 Then if someone boast about gear he is not for me in the right direction even if his system is very good....Anybody with money could do that....



I will let "audiophiles" boast about the gear now and costly "Tweaks"... And i will go listen music....

I am now interested "philosophically" by the experience of hearing ,sound, speech, and music...

If someone know a book about that give me the title.... No audio related book please...


My best to all audiophiles and/or music lovers....