Will,
You hit the nail on the head. Audiophiles should do less overt projection of their sound systems and more subdued nuturing and education. My experience is to let my system do all the work. When my non-audiophile friends and family come over, I ask them to bring any new music they have purchased so I can experience their musical taste. This also broadens my musical exposure since I seldom listen to the radio. I'm a Jazz & Blues type of guy.
I don't talk about the cost or the time it took to get my system to its current state. What I do is ask them what exactly it is they like about the sound and then find out if they are interested in changing what they have. I ask their forcasted budget and then look for a good initial start-up system to match their current musical interest. A system that I could enjoy listening to when I visited them. Over the past 20+ years I have converted a couple of dozen Bose-slanted people to much better system (my % is about 80%).
Some of those people have gone on to the perverbial quest for "that perfect sound" and the others have been content with what I helped them purhase initially. One of my Uncles still has the Ohm F/Phase Linear 400/Conrad Johnson Pre/Denon TT & MMC we picked up many years ago and when I visit him it still sounds fantastic.
What I have learned to do is softly persuade those people who have asked for assistence towards the highend gear. Oh by the way, one of my nephews has surpassed me in the system he currently has. Oh to be young, single and wealthy.
You hit the nail on the head. Audiophiles should do less overt projection of their sound systems and more subdued nuturing and education. My experience is to let my system do all the work. When my non-audiophile friends and family come over, I ask them to bring any new music they have purchased so I can experience their musical taste. This also broadens my musical exposure since I seldom listen to the radio. I'm a Jazz & Blues type of guy.
I don't talk about the cost or the time it took to get my system to its current state. What I do is ask them what exactly it is they like about the sound and then find out if they are interested in changing what they have. I ask their forcasted budget and then look for a good initial start-up system to match their current musical interest. A system that I could enjoy listening to when I visited them. Over the past 20+ years I have converted a couple of dozen Bose-slanted people to much better system (my % is about 80%).
Some of those people have gone on to the perverbial quest for "that perfect sound" and the others have been content with what I helped them purhase initially. One of my Uncles still has the Ohm F/Phase Linear 400/Conrad Johnson Pre/Denon TT & MMC we picked up many years ago and when I visit him it still sounds fantastic.
What I have learned to do is softly persuade those people who have asked for assistence towards the highend gear. Oh by the way, one of my nephews has surpassed me in the system he currently has. Oh to be young, single and wealthy.