As perkri sez. I also have to say that my strange lust for beautiful sound has often driven me to purchase musical instruments that are, ahem, a bit above my station.
What is an audiophile? Are you an audiophile?
I had been pondering this question since I have been involved in audio. Not sure what audiophile means. I went to a few fellow audio gurus get together events and although I had fun and liked the company, I felt out of place. In fact of the opinions and passion people here on Audiogon have, I do not have such strong attachments. So what is your take.... are you an audiophile? If you are, how do you know?
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Merriam-Webster: audiophile noun au·dio·phile | \ ˈȯ-dē-ō-ˌfī(-ə)l Definition of audiophile : a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction YES! |
The heavyweight slugfest between music lovers and audiophiles! lol You might be an audiophile if... ...you know "Keith Don't Go" but you don't know who Keith is. There's a spectrum most of us are on, in differing ratios...from pure music lover (doesn't particularly care what they're listening on, but cares a lot about the music, and maybe plays an instrument)... to pure gear audiophile (who loves gear, has no discernible musical taste besides finding pieces that demonstrate the awesomeness of their gear, and maybe knows electronics, maybe not). I am definitely on the music lover side of the 50 yard line on the spectrum. The audiophile gear hobby is a significant part of my life too but music is the bigger concern. I'll overpay for the right record, and I bargain hunt like a miser while gear shopping. My system is high end sonically, but it's meant to facilitate the emotions I feel from the music. So on the spectrum, I'm probably 60/40, music lover/audiophile. You can take away my system and leave me with a Bluetooth speaker but you can't take away my music. |
my main criterion when evaluating anything audio is “does this increase my enjoyment of the music being played?“ nice troll @pedroeb |
I won't be drawn on that, but I do wonder why the absence? |
If I hear a component on my system that makes a noticeable increase in the sound toward my reference, the question I ask is whether the cost of that component justifies the change it will make. A $5,000 cartridge may make a significant difference in the sound, but is beyond what I am willing to spend to get that difference. |
An audiophile is a person who has a reference sound for music that represents their most enjoyable listening and attempts to get as close to that reference when reproducing music electronically. For me, the sound of acoustic instruments and human voice live is my reference. My goal is to come as close to reproducing that sound as possible with equipment I can afford to buy. Others may have difference reference sounds. That is purely subjective. The key for an audiophile is the quest for reproducing music that meets that reference. |
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....
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I think everyone here is an audiophile. Whether your communication reveals your knowledge or your hubris has nothing to do with it. This is your personality. 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. |
Not sure your assumption is really correct. To me it's more like having a sports car and asking for other drivers to recommend roads that I can enjoy with it. It's not always the destination it can be the journey. That and if you're posting here you at least have audiophile tendencies or you'd be posting somewhere else, maybe on a quilting site. 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? |
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? |
Why do we even need to separate the gear from the experience? One would need to get into the mind of another enthusiast to really know their motivations. This is all just a huge spankfest and it is a total waste of time. Such conversations are prompted by all sorts of reasons; none of which are related to audio. |
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 ...
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Let’s not forget that music reproduced by Hifi is a step backwards fidelity wise, compared to how music had been enjoyed since its inception. Music was always played live and in person, often by family members to entertain each other. Being an audiophile is nothing more than seeking the experience of being in the same acoustic space as when the music was performed, to be able to experience as closely as possible the musical intent of the musicians and composers. Audiophiles have kept alive the lost activity of sitting just really listening to music. I would venture to say a very small percentage of the population sits down to do nothing other than listen, just as one would during a performance.
I sometimes joke that I have the best jazz club in the city. I get to spend time with many of the long gone legends of music. But they are resurrected nightly through sonic holograms that allow me to share the same sonic space of the original event. To travel back in time to Rudy Van Gelder’s living room, to a Bill Evans club date, to a performance whose master tape was long ago damaged or lost in a fire.
And while we all have our test tracks and reference cuts used to evaluate the system, once that critical phase is completed, out comes the music that is played for pleasure. As my system gets better and better, it’s not fewer recordings that sound good, but more recordings, average and even ancient.
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A lover of music is a person that can sit and listen to music on any system regardless of the quality or cost. An Audiophile cannot. If the reproduction of music isn't up to their quality standards, it will drive them out of the room. Like hearing finger nails across a chalk board. or as is my case, styrofoam. To me, it isn't necessarily the costs of the equipment that matters, but how well that equipment reproduces the music. Often, costs does play a factor, as most times (not always) you get what you pay for. But not always. An Audiophile knows what musical instruments actually sound like and can discern whether or not a system is accurately reproducing the musical instruments. Or dimensionality, sound stage, etc. This is all dependent on whether the artist actually used real instruments in their recordings, miked correctly for sound stage, etc. if it isn't there in the recording, then it isn't there and just enjoy the music for what it is. But an Audiophile isn't necessarily an audio snob, just like a wine enthusiast isn't necessarily a wine snob. There are audiophiles that are snobs and wine enthusiast that are wine snobs. But, they are just snobs regardless. Same for car, watch, book, fashion, art, etc. enthusiast. Doesn't make them snobs. just enthusiast or experts. Snobs rub your face in their absolute (in their opinion) understanding that they and only they know everything to know about a subject. I joke that a snob is someone that tells you what you like. Anyway, enjoy
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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
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Who cares is absolutely correct. If you dont spend enough, according to some, you are not an audiophile. If you spend too much you are not an audiophile. I like music and I like the way a better system brings me closer to my music. Call me what you want but if my standards and system goals differ from yours that shouldnt change this definition. |
You know you are one when you own multiple copies of the same album in hopes that one will be THE pressing....also when you have taken over half of your wife’s living room, and when your house Is stuffed to the gills with cd’s, Lp’s, Cassettes, mini discs, etc...as well as extra equipment not even being used. I’m either an Audiophile or a Horder, or maybe a little of both...I'm most likely more so a music lover, all types, as I generally don't Always care about the quality, ie record surface noise, tape hiss, etc...I can still find a way to just enjoy what I'm playing at the time. |
in theory, yes, but the owners of an awful lot of high end gear end up dissecting the sonics of the music, rather than enjoying it as an immersive experience |
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... 😁😊
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@stuartk and @pesky_wabbit damn, that's what I get for thinking again!
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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? |
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I really love to listen to music in my home. I listen daily, and I quite enjoy high quality reprodution of the music. Over the years I have put together a very nice system of equipment that was somewhat expensive for me and I sometimes look in here and other sites to learn about what might be new stuff that can be even better. I think all of that makes me an audiophile. By the way, my system is Meridan 508.24 cd player, Cambridge Streamrer and DAC, Rega Planar 5 record player, Musical Fidelity integrated amp and Epos M22 speakers using QED cables. |
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....
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My wife said I am.