Why all or most audiophiles are men?

Testosterone! Same thing that makes men go to war!

The men are from Mars women from Venus thing.

Women are the saner half of the species!

Music is about action - like sport and cars. Men are obsessive about improving what they have, can do and showing off. It is all fundamentally related to habits that are formed to ensure successful reproduction - the Peacock display. A woman will choose a man of strong action or what most women believe can translate into a capable motivated successful provider and leader of her children. A man of status.

With Women reproductive success is about relationships, intuition, caring and demonstrating great motherly skills in raising and protecting her successful kids. The men look to women to guide them, support them, and complement them in all these relationship areas where they are generally much weaker. The woman is looking for a man she can trust completely (go on one knee and promise everything eternally), a good reliable father for her children. A man is always looking for recognition and support, a wife that is devoted.

kind of simple really - strong capable Knight in shining armour saves beautiful, intelligent and emotionally talented princess. Knight is dumb in complex relationships but black and white with loyalty, honour and fearlessly slaying the dragon. That story doesn’t work as well the other way round. A smart lady can be insanely demanding and controlling but she will never criticize or berate the character of her man - because having their most trusted partner undermine them is pure poison and totally demotivating to most men (who are insecure).

Women are the stronger more secure sex, by far.

Women are interested by influence, connections, image and appearance - everything to do with relationships.

Men are interested in skills and tools - everything to do with physical activity from fishing to cars and sport.

There is significant overlap in the middle of this spectrum but these are the two extremes.

I thought about this too. Although there ARE women who are audiophiles, for the most part women are too smart to buy expensive and over priced boxes of wires that play recorded music.
Men are the dumber ones in the species and spend far too much money on this hobby we call audio.

Agree totally with 2psyop. A great deal of what I read here and elsewhere about high end hi-fi smacks of utter ridiculousness that takes a man to fall for. 

There are exceptions. I do not have an explanation for Elizabeth's propensities.

2psyop's explanation seems to be most logical. I consider myself as being dumber or retarded for the same reason. 

Remember Elizabeth is not a woman. She is a Goddess.

Probably because nature deemed most women to be practical child rearers and homebuilders whilst men tend to be hunters by nature.

The big joke is that obsessive hunting for the great white whale of audio perfection can be an endless task with many pitfalls. Moby Dick anyone?

Women just don't have time for that kind of obsession and instead stick to humouring their men.

At least that's how it works out for me.

It's because men are hunter gatherers. Always have been.

It seems men are more driven by ego obsessively. All the composers of mid century classical works are men and most of them were egomaniac. Now women turn into egomaniac gradually at this turn of century.  

Men like bright shiny objects.

May god have mercy on me... I don’t know how dumb I really am.
And yes...as much as I luv my current speakers  I would like to update them.

Hmm. Men like shiny object! 
It sounds very scientific. That's why men are bald on head earlier and more. 

@viridian A little tube envy there? :p

Oopsy Daisy! 

What became of Enid Lumley?

Women don't listen?

Boys and their toys, audio, cars, guns, watches, etc ... I could go on and on, LOL

Where is Elizabeth's response?

"Men like bright shiny objects."

Have you ever seen a woman staring at the shiny diamond? Not much of a dislike in her eyes.

Men like gear and women like shoes and bags. There are exceptions of course.

People are stupid. 

Actually men don’t listen, just compete. That’s why it’s never good enough. My wife will listen to any of my gear with no complaints while I dissect each little nuance and she just sits there smiling and tapping her feet. I wonder what it would be like to be like her for a day? Must be great to be so carefree. Wait... my ability to make money has allowed her to be like that! On second thought, *^#ew her. I’m buying some new speakers. 

Men like to impress men.  Women like to impress women. Also, men like to impress women and women like to impress men.That's as far as I've got so far.

I just hope when I'm gone my wife doesn't sell my stereo and flyfishing stuff for what I told her I bought it for.I'll have to leave her a note.

You know it is true. Understanding why it is true is beyond my skill set. 

analogvm15 +1😂

My wife can hear the difference, and she acknowledges as much..
She's still happy to play off her iPhone around the house when I am not there to turn the stereo on.

Admittedly I do use a fanless PC to a DAC to the amplifier, and I have (I kid you not) post it notes showing which input into the DAC and the HDMI input into the TV, on the front of my computer and Blu Ray player.
She still doesn't know how to use it, her daughter (my step daughter) worked it out in 5 mins as I have it all loaded into a Logitech Harmony remote control for all devices. I have shown my wife at least 3 times, and had her actually do it as I walked her through.

My wife is an educated woman, and works as a dental hygienist!
Almost anything dental, she'll read for hours about, and enjoys it.

I think she only cares about the sound, because I do. Otherwise she's all about IPhone convenience.

Paul Mcgowan posted a video very recently on this topic, I respect his opinion and would post a link to it if I knew how.

@jtcf  Thanks. I think she wised up. Told my friend -stereo and vinyl nut and musician- he's to be the executor of the stereo stuff when I'm gone. Smart cookie.

Boys and toys!

Did you get a play tool called car when very young?
That's why your spouse is mostly sitting next to the steering wheel and not behind it - even it is well know in mining that women are less emotional drivers and therefore hired!

Why are mostly men engineers and technicians?

youtube.com/watch?v=zcCt9zEXncc

Enid Lumley passed away in 2008 in Yuma, AZ at age 70.

Most men are just more interested in operating, fixing, analyzing, restoring, building, etc.  Most women are just more interested in enjoying those efforts.  A good woman however will make up for this unbalance in  other ways such as child care, running a household effectively, being supportive and not committing crimes.  I hope that doesn't sound too sexist.  

I have thought about this too.  This is wives resent what we spend.  I think a lot of this relates to showing off your stuff to your buddies and pounding your chest to see what I have.  My stereo is better than yours.  Then your buddy buys something better and begins to pound his chest.  In the meantime the wives hate how their money is being spent.  Then they pretend to not like sitting down to hear music the way it should be heard.  They sit there grumbling and inside have a difficult time containing themselves for witnessing the experience and release music can offer.  If people listened to music there would be a lot less shootings.

I am receiving home listings from a real estate agent who is sending homes for sale in our area to help gauge what our home is worth.  So far, I have seen hundreds of listings and what amazes me is I am yet to see a pair of speakers sitting in a family room or living room.  No wonder why this hobby is suffering and the dealers are starving.  I think audio manufactures are missing the boat by not advertising on TV and sending out direct mail.  The public needs to be educated and become of an entertainment platform that can be so dimensional.  I wonder at times if people are allergic to music.  I have seen entertainment furniture selling for well over $5,000 with a wide screen TV with no surround speakers.  They are just listening to their TV speakers............really!

@larry5729, great post,

"If people listened to music there would be a lot less shootings."

The cathartic power of music is grossly underestimated.


"I wonder at times if people are allergic to music."  

We live in a busy restless world where music is all too often a accessory
(preferably portable) and not something to enjoy in it's own right. 


"I have seen entertainment furniture selling for well over $5,000 with a wide screen TV with no surround speakers. They are just listening to their TV speakers............really!"

Even those who aren't seem to prefer the look of soundbars and soundbases to loudspeakers (floor or stand mounted).
Perhaps they don't know that the TVs headphone out can be plugged straight into an amp via 3.5/RCA cable without the need for any separate DVD/amp cables etc?

Ha, I can think of many women who are shopaholics. Women aren't real big on gadgets, though.  

Larry, enjoyed your post. 
After I bought Sony stereo from Montgomery Ward, it took two months for my wife starting to talk to me again. Since she's gone to eternity, I am free whatever I want to buy. But I dearly miss her though. 

Women enjoy music as much as men do.
Audio Clubs do have a negative reaction
with women. Why? Audio men are not the 
best dressers or the best talkers (on non audio topics)
and most of all are not a terribly attractive lot overall.
Is that unfair ? If so grab a mirror.

Do you have something against aging out of shape overweight bald men? Only joking.

I only met ONE woman audiophile! That was at the NYC Audio Show back in 1978! We shared a bonding moment while gazing at a Linn Sondek with Mayware Formula 4 arm! She was a sales rep for Polk - at the time a distributor for Mayware.

Manufacturers, hire more women as sales reps!

@2psyop If you were married you would know how dumb you are. I get reminded all the time 

@johnwern, "all the mid century classical composers were men..." That's simply not true, there are vastly more women than commonly realized who are credited with classical compositions. The fact that few of them entered into the commonly recognized repertoire is related greatly to matters of who had access to music publishing and performance venues: men. You can't separate women's cultural roles and lack of opportunity in times past from their lack of representation in the pantheon of composers. See this list of women classical composers if interested: http://www.kapralova.org/DATABASE.htm

photon46:
Thanks for enlightening me. Yes, Mahler didn't want his wife getting into composing and Einstein didn't want his wife to be a renowned physicst which put her into clinical depression. And music is regarded as a career socially less respectful field in the orient. If you see the member of orchestra in Asia, more than half are women while you see handful of women in Berlin Philharmonic. I agree with you.
But my intention was not in the gender difference in music. 
I will definitely get into the site you suggest. Thanks.   

I grew up with an audiophile dad. I guess it rubbed off on me. We aren’t surrounded by quality sound these days, and I think the less men or women are exposed to what a sound system can offer, the less interest there will be in general. It’s a shame. I have great memories of going with my dad to audio shows and music sales. I remember one show where every system being previewed was playing Isaac Hayes “Shaft”. The jazz of being around such energy and fun was addictive. It’s never left me. 

So, if that made me an audiophile, then maybe there just haven’t been enough dads hauling their daughters around, exposing them to real music on nuanced equipment. We need to remind everyone that there are wonderful things to hear if we train our ears and care. And take your daughters out to preview some beautiful sounding equipment. They will remember and maybe get hooked. 

Men are very competitive and a bit more compulsive and obsessive about things...  I am a women that loves electronics but I don’t obsess over it and definitely not enough to pay thousands of dollars for cables and better electrical outlets “really guys”. Actually, I am currently looking at a Pass Labs and Verity speakers to buy and taking my sweet time to make the right decision. I started my own thread in Audiogon a few months back under “Best multi channel amp and pro for 2 channel music listening”. I have been researching for months now and taking my time to prevent making an impulsive purchase.  I think we are more practical in that sense and we use our logic for survival more than instinct. It also comes down to being a perfectionist which I consider myself to be and if music sounds better in a 10k amp to me is worth the money, but I d____ better hear the difference. I think there are a lot of women out there that also enjoy this hobby but men have come forward and women have remained in the back ground, perhaps not enough exposure or maybe harshly judged for lack of technical knowledge but we do love music at its best...