I actually don't think this article tells us much about "audiophiles," per se. Most audiophiles don't live the life he did nor treat their family as he did. 

And I agree with @mahgister that there are obsessions which are great things! Just have to keep balance across the multiple values and obligations of life.

I posted this because it makes the Ken Fritz story a bit more three dimensional.

It is very enlightening... Thanks to the OP ...

in a multiple ways...

For sound quality journey...

Any audiophile as i am must dream to hear his system ... I do ...

but it is a sad story because he succeed at the end of his life... And he paid a big price ... Price being said here in all its different meanings ...

I stand corrected. Obsession with the exception of extremely rare cases,the likes of Da Vinci,Tesla or Archimedes for example are never a good thing.Better?

For the rest of us mere mortals and non geniuses keep your sh*t in check is the moral of the story here. Even a dog knows when its been kicked or tripped over...I know abuse and extreme selfishness when I see it. I watched the documentary a while back and I did not come away with the thought Mr. Fritz's system was something I cared to experience, all I felt was sad for him,his story is one of someone out of touch and yes it is about extreme audiophiles and it most certainly is a tale of someone obsessed, but what do I know I'm not a genius just someone with sense enough not to take anything too far.

"obsession is never a good thing" said the man in search of mediocrity.   a very large percentage of successful people are OCD.  This is especially true in professions where practice and training is important, such as athletics and music; or where enless hours of intense work is required such as physics, math, and many leadership roles.  

 

After watching original video on 2021, I had temptation to visit his listening room.

But I got the news that his health was deteriorating and no more visitor allowed.

It would be nice if could take over whole system, but I was hesitant to move to Richmond VA since it got too hot and humid during summer time.

Sad ending, but he devoted his life to audio fulfilling his lifelong dream.

The only bad thing is he could not have time to travel around with his five children.


I had travelled a lot with my three children and good relation with them while I spent lot of time on my audio.

Also I got twin granddaughter Jan 2nd, this year I now have four grandchildren.

I will not have strong devotion to audio as Mr Fritz but just enjoy nice music through my modest system, Scaena line array speaker augmented by Rel subwoofers and Altec basshorn through active crossover.