Our love of audio is really basic biology with the brains dopamine reward system. The more we get pleasure with something the more we seek it out for the brains dopamineric response. Better sounding music equal more reward. MUSIC is our high! I tried to be a little eccentric from a science perspective. Alan Parsons cynically said "Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment”. Let me hear your definition
I think it's about *listening.* An audiophile is a person who dedicates time to the act of listening to recorded music.
If you actively listen to your Bose Wave Radio, you're an audiophile. If your Wilson Chronosonics play music only in the background of your life, then you're just a person who owns an expensive thing.
See, I'm an audiophile!
" Followed by I spent a gob of cash on gear which qualifies me as an equipment audiophile aristo and I also spent $200 to buy a hires album (that is not one in reality) so you plebes better watch out. Or this one. You are unable to spend the money I do on things and for that reason alone you have no idea of what quality sound is.
Many good responses here. I don’t know, and quite possibly, don’t care what an audiophile is. But, as I listen, I often think of a Duke Ellington quote; “If it sounds good, it is good.”
An audiophile is one who obsesses over every tiny little sonic and technical detail for untold hours, weeks, years, in order to hear for a minute every once in a while music that sweeps him away.
Totally agree MC.
JV has some interesting thoughts on this in a recent Abs Sound. The one thing in common among all the 'audiophiles' I know, is that none fit a basic definition of 'sane'. I know I am at least 15 standard deviations away from normal on that curve. OCD pure and simple! Happy tinkering/listening guys.
+1 with Alan Parsons and MC Everybody listens to music. Audiophiles have no special credentials there. It’s the gear that makes the difference and all this bs about "I’m not listening to equipment, I’m listening to music!" betrays the hidden truth in most one of us audiofreaks: Many of us seem ashamed to admit that while we may love the music, it’s the sweet tubes, tight bass, airy DAC or deep image that we listen for and spend to acquire. That means we’re evaluating "the recording" and "the gear!". Audiophiles have just been addicted longer and can find words to describe why they had an emotional experience with that particular performance.Where Dude #1 says: "Wow, that blew me away! and that’s the end of his critique of an emotional drum solo. Dude #2 says: "Wow, that kickbass is so much tighter with my new preamp, it really has impact." He can explain as well as exclaim.
My definition: Audiophiles use music to listen to their equipment. Music lovers use their equipment to listen to music This, of course is an overstatement. You can be both But it’s very hard.
" Alan Parsons cynically said "Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment”. Let me hear your definition "
The better your system gets the harder it is to find really good music to listen to since so much of it is produced for for general public tastes and level of equipment. For me after a certain level is achieved with your gear the problem then becomes finding quality recordings.
If an audiophile can be described as a person who wants a superior, to him, level of sound quality both sides of what Parsons says are integral parts of being one.
Bliss is a good recording played on good equipment and sadly I spend a lot of time on the hunt for good recordings.
Any of the niche or esoteric pursuits have the same characteristics. Think Ansel hauled that large format box around because it was “ gear “ ? Dive in to anything cool, shotguns, working dogs, wine, Weber carbs, optics, fly reels and discover the same world.... the boat is just a tool for killing fish
Most of us audiophiles are poor souls who began as a music lovers, but eventually morphing into critical listeners who focus on sound. Every now and then we are at peace with our system, allowing us to enjoy the music again.
My wife was preparing dinner while I was sitting in my listening chair spinning Miles Davis. She came in with a cutting board and some garlic and asked if I would chop some for our meal "since I wasn't doing anything." I turned off the turntable, put in a CD, and helped with dinner. An audiophile's wise decisions don't have to be expensive.
Someone who appreciates music and the contributions equipment and accessories can make. Often to the point of obsession, but the core is a love for and pursuit of the ultimate sound quality, which is different for everyone.
The Absolute Sound imo gives audiophiles a bad name. It's been a long time since it was relevant (though I do like Steven Stone, who was mentored by the great J. Gordon Holt.). You know it's bad when TAS founder Harry Pearson quits! But then JGH quit Stereophile too. And they're both dead and buried, as will be audiophiledom when all of us are gone.
Just read through the current Absolute Sound. Everything is too expensive for what I'd willingly pay to improve what I'm already happy with. Therefore, I'm not an audiophile.
An audiophile is someone who listens. That requires focus and a good sense of what real music sounds like. Obsessive behaviour in my mind doesn’t an audiophile make.
An audiophile is one who obsesses over every tiny little sonic and technical detail for untold hours, weeks, years, in order to hear for a minute every once in a while music that sweeps him away.
This is the definition. I think we can all agree that anything more can get obsessively over the top!!
An audiophile is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. An audiophile seeks to reproduce the sound of a live musical performance, typically in a room with good acoustics. It is widely agreed that reaching this goal is very difficult and that even the best-regarded recording and playback systems rarely, if ever, achieve it.
An audiophile is one who will sit in the dark listening to the same track over and over again neurotically second-guessing real vs imagined differences, then claim to be doing all this out of a love of music.
An audiophile listens to equipment. A music lover listens to music. You could be either or both. Most of us are both. Some of us are hard to figure out.
An audiophile is a person who is more in love with the gear than the music. They constantly upgrade but never spend any real time listening to what they have. They are always lusting over that next expensive piece and get more pleasure from the anticipation and buying than listening. They most likely have a very tiny selection of music to listen to.
Audiophiles use their equipment as an excuse to buy still more equipment to graph the sound their equipment makes. Then still more equipment to change the graphs their equipment made. Audiophiles love a pretty graph.
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