Why are audiophiles perceived as being wackos?

Speak for yourself dude!!!

wideload ...

I spent 40 years in the residential real estate business. That took me into thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of homes. I was always astounded by how many homes had no music and no books. Big-screen TVs, sure, but almost 100% had no music, and most had no books.

Frank

isochronism ...

I hadn't heard of "The Rules" before, but I accessed it at your suggestion. Thanks. I forwarded it to my eldest daughter who is a monster on the road bike. 

This certainly applied to me when I was a cyclist. From the "Rules:"

• " For us, it is about the glory of suffering. It is about your mind saying shut up to your body when your body says stop. About acknowledging, as the pros do, that cycling “never gets easier, you just go faster”.

It is amazing how much pain the human body can endure when the goal is set at a high level, and the importance of attaining it is paramount. 

Frank

 

It is sold in a very nice hardcover book, inexpensivly. Italian Bikes Rule.                   (Paramounts also:)

schubert
Guys in their late 60’s coming near to blows over which heavy metal
band was best are seen as nut jobs .

>>>>>Don’t pay any attention to them Schubert. Just play Bach incessantly.

....or at least some Sebastian (Philip) Bierk incessantly.

Most of my friends don't care enough about my audio stuff to say I'm a "wacko." That would imply they're paying attention when I bore them with trying to play something for them to demonstrate how cool it is...never works...

 No matter how much live music is available to me I'll always be captivated by music heard through high quality audio systems. It's a different experience that's built upon the original experience.

Because the shoe fits.

teajay :

I have been pursuing this wonderful hobby of high end stereo equipment and music for almost 30 years. I do consider myself a passionate audiophile who loves to listen to music on a daily basis. The reason for this post is because it has been my experience that the great majority of people who do not pursue this hobby think of audiophiles as being wackos/screwballs because of the amount of time, money, and passion they put towards their systems. I find it very interesting that individuals who spend tremendous amounts of money and time pursuing esoteric tastes such as wines, watches, coins, etc, are considered connoisseurs or aficionados with a serious passion that is often respected even if it is not the other person's cup of tea. Another example would be people who love high end cars/boats who read all the magazines, go to the shows and invest large sums of money to purchase and tweak their cars or boats to get the last bit of ultimate performance out of their prized possessions. So I don't believe the negative viewpoint towards passionate audiophiles revolves around the amount of money that they can invest in their equipment. So my question for all you GON members is what would be your explanation for people outside our hobby having such a negative or condescending attitude towards our passion, where they infrequently would not have the same attitude towards other people's hobbies and passionate but unique pursuits? It would be a pleasure to hear about your experiences and what your explanation would be for this phenomena towards our hobby.

 
A very thoughtful post at the top of every page yet people seem to always respond to the last thing posted regardless of how irrelevant it may be and so I thought better paste it in here so no misunderstandings. I am responding to the OP. 

teajay compares audio to wine, cars, and unique pursuits. I have been president of a Porsche Club of America Region, a salt water aquarium club, was in the Tacoma Astronomical Society, played tournament racquetball, was a SCCA Cat 3 racer who did RAMROD and STP, attended wine and champagne tastings, Search and Rescue Team Leader, learned to climb with the Mountaineers, and with a Seamaster and Spring Drive you could say I have dabbled in the watch world as well. None of that is to brag, just to say I have experience in a number of realms that all share the common theme of people taking their interest to extremes.

In the Porsche world they do this to such an extent there are people who only care about Concours, by which they mean not merely shiny but something very specific, the car must be absolutely authentic and in every detail as it rolled off the line at the factory. Or as it crossed the finish line, in the case of a race car. Yes they get that particular.

Most audiophiles, I would not even begin to say are anywhere near as intensely focused on excellence as that. That word choice by the way is the name of one of the premier Porsche magazines in the world- excellence. Lower case e. Understated. As in, "excellence was expected."

My experience with all of these things has always been nobody thinks you're a "whacko". Unless of course you are indeed a whacko. Of which there always are a few, everywhere. But, generally speaking, nobody I met ever thought it was nuts to have an absolutely gleaming glossy Porsche. Heck I can't put gas in mine without someone coming over to strike up a conversation. The vibe I get from them is always one of respect and admiration and camaraderie. Yes. Even at the US border, the freaking border agent, first thing he said was, "I'll be perfectly honest, I always wanted one of these." Border officer!

From the car to the watch to the telescope, aquarium, and yes sound system the typical reaction is.... Reverence. Admiration. Humility. The sense of being in the presence of something special.

That's even the comment someone left on my system page, that he walked in the room and immediately had the feeling of being someplace special. The same comment was made by a woman the first time she sat in a 911, that she felt it was something special. People have been caught more than once staring at my watch. Captivated and puzzled at the same time, because it does say Seiko yet they can see with their own eyes it clearly is no Seiko. Its not. Its a Grand Seiko. Its special.

So I would just relax on the whole whacko thing. If it does come up though just ask yourself, "Is it me? Or is it him?" Remember: they are everywhere.

The Covid-19 virus doesn't care about your politics or paranoia one iota...you have a clear choice to either do what you can to avoid it (luckily we know how to do that), or get out there in a crowd and possibly suffer with a deadly disease, spread it around to others, and eventually wonder while a tube is being shoved down your throat or knowing that visit to Grandma killed her, perhaps I should have been a little more careful?

millercarbon
That’s even the comment someone left on my system page, that he walked in the room and immediately had the feeling of being someplace special. The same comment was made by a woman the first time she sat in a 911, that she felt it was something special. People have been caught more than once staring at my watch. Captivated and puzzled at the same time, because it does say Seiko yet they can see with their own eyes it clearly is no Seiko. Its not. Its a Grand Seiko. Its special.

>>>>>No, millercarbon, 🔜 you’re 🔙 special! 🤗

Of course we can’t rule out that it was his cologne, perhaps the bold scent of Afternoon in Butte. 🤠

I hope you are referring to a town in Montana .....

People I speak to are always in awe at the amount I spend on equipment, vinyl and SACDs. I have a two systems with excellent equipment - and I've given a ton of equipment to my three sons.  I have roughly 2000 CDs/SACDs and 1000 LPs.  If you figure out the cost of the equipment combined with the cost of the media, it's into six figures.  People - even wealthy ones - have a hard time believing the money end of it.  They obviously don't appreciate the hours of enjoyment the music has brought to my family and me.  

People I speak to are always in awe at the amount I spend on equipment, vinyl and SACDs. I have a two systems with excellent equipment - and I've given a ton of equipment to my three sons.  I have roughly 2000 CDs/SACDs and 1000 LPs.  If you figure out the cost of the equipment combined with the cost of the media, it's into six figures.  People - even wealthy ones - have a hard time believing the money end of it.  They obviously don't appreciate the hours of enjoyment the music has brought to my family and me.  

"People I speak to are always in awe at the amount I spend on equipment, vinyl and SACDs."

I think it happens to all here. However, I think that the bar is not set very high. Thousand dollars at most? Yet, so many people have the biggest and baddest iPhones. Priorities, I guess.

Claims for expensive audiophile systems often have nothing to back them up except marketing hype and people’s opinions. That is at least a bit suspicious wouldn’t you say? 

Cars, boats etc. it’s not hard to quantify what makes some better than others like is often the case with expensive audio toys.

There are some wires out there that go for the price of some cars. Perfectly normal......

Let me guess, Amish, right?