Just wondering how do you guy’s categorise yourselves? Would you describe yourself as an enthusiast or a audiophile? Or something else?
Me, I think my enjoyment of music has changed, I used to be more critical of the system that I was listening too, but lately I find myself enjoying the music more for pleasure, casually listening now, no longer searching for that perfect sound.
My ears are not as good as they used to be so my sensory awareness is not as it was, poor quality inaccurate audio systems are still annoying to me, but also high resolution audio files much less important to me now. I guess then now I’m more audio enthusiast than ‘phile’?
There will always be much better audio components available than I have, but do I really need something better than my current favourite equipment?
I guess it’s the same with construction, do I really need those high end boutique components that I used to buy? Probably not anymore. Thoughts?
Me, I think my enjoyment of music has changed, I used to be more critical of the system that I was listening too, but lately I find myself enjoying the music more for pleasure, casually listening now, no longer searching for that perfect sound.
My ears are not as good as they used to be so my sensory awareness is not as it was, poor quality inaccurate audio systems are still annoying to me, but also high resolution audio files much less important to me now. I guess then now I’m more audio enthusiast than ‘phile’?
There will always be much better audio components available than I have, but do I really need something better than my current favourite equipment?
I guess it’s the same with construction, do I really need those high end boutique components that I used to buy? Probably not anymore. Thoughts?
Maybe we'd need to agree exactly what we want to mean by "audiophile" first? I've seen it used in very differing ways....
A music lover who likes to play with power. One of my friends back in college hit the nail on the head when he walked in when me and the roommate were etching an amplifier PCB with the word “BOMB” etched into it - with both a 50 amp electrolysis rig generating hydrogen and a 400 watt per channel (home brew of course) stereo were running at the same time. “You’re not playing with electronics, you’re playing with POWER!”. I still remember what song was playing - the 45 of Patty Smyth’s “Never Enough”. Must have played it 30 or 40 times that afternoon.
I finally wised up in the following years and realized that there was no way to “have it all” in one sound system. A 20-20k low distortion rig that could get to rave levels was just not possible. It has technical problems which cost too much money to solve, won’t fit in a house, and isn’t suitable for everyday listening. The music listening system and the PA became separate entities. My good music system fully matured about 15 years ago and hasn’t changed since. The PA work and the stuff that straddles the line between the two (like my new-ish 200 watt 6x6550 monoblocks, the 4 and 5 KW class H, the really nice 2x15’s with ribbon tweets and 12”/1.4” in progress now, and big horn loaded stacks) still continues. My music system is quite satisfactory, but the need to play with power will likely never go away. And I’m just as likely to get out an old 10-30 watt 2N3055 or Ge based amp, or some 12L6’s and tinker around with them. Helps to have those sort of projects to go mess with when you’re stuck on technical problems with one of the kilowatters.
I finally wised up in the following years and realized that there was no way to “have it all” in one sound system. A 20-20k low distortion rig that could get to rave levels was just not possible. It has technical problems which cost too much money to solve, won’t fit in a house, and isn’t suitable for everyday listening. The music listening system and the PA became separate entities. My good music system fully matured about 15 years ago and hasn’t changed since. The PA work and the stuff that straddles the line between the two (like my new-ish 200 watt 6x6550 monoblocks, the 4 and 5 KW class H, the really nice 2x15’s with ribbon tweets and 12”/1.4” in progress now, and big horn loaded stacks) still continues. My music system is quite satisfactory, but the need to play with power will likely never go away. And I’m just as likely to get out an old 10-30 watt 2N3055 or Ge based amp, or some 12L6’s and tinker around with them. Helps to have those sort of projects to go mess with when you’re stuck on technical problems with one of the kilowatters.
I heard on a tape this guy (Steven Levine) say "Do you want to be a craftsman in a particular practice - or do you want to be free?" The easy, immediate answer is I want to be free. So I take it there's a balance between craftsmanship and the rest. We can craft a circuit whose specs are 100X what 99.9% of all people would find perfectly acceptable, but does that get us any more "free"? Example; I was downloading test tone files from a site, which had a 20 Khz, 0db level tone. The comment accompanying the file was 99.9% of everyone cannot hear this; you may hear a click at the beginning and end...
Craftsmanship is fine for craftmanship's sake; good accomplishments in great performance are always laudable. There is a point however where, as one's sole focus is pounding things up closer to the asymptote of sonic perfection, that a child's enthusiasm for musical experience is replaced by something else. Something more akin to "greed".
I'd consider myself an enthusiast at best. All of my "I's" are certainly not dotted, nor are all my "T's" crossed. I am ignorant of many aspects and things in audio, yet I can feel genuine enthusiasm within the limited domain of what I've put together so far, for listening pleasure. I'm sure many, many practitioners are enthusiasts as well.
Craftsmanship is fine for craftmanship's sake; good accomplishments in great performance are always laudable. There is a point however where, as one's sole focus is pounding things up closer to the asymptote of sonic perfection, that a child's enthusiasm for musical experience is replaced by something else. Something more akin to "greed".
I'd consider myself an enthusiast at best. All of my "I's" are certainly not dotted, nor are all my "T's" crossed. I am ignorant of many aspects and things in audio, yet I can feel genuine enthusiasm within the limited domain of what I've put together so far, for listening pleasure. I'm sure many, many practitioners are enthusiasts as well.
Audiophile has almost become a swear word round here as the term has evolved from someon who loves music to someone that is just interested in shifting equipment.
I like music, and am fascinated by the process.
dave
I like music, and am fascinated by the process.
dave
I would call myself an audiophile. I passionately seek to witness recorded music as authentically as possible. Hearing the music is the primary driver for me. I also happen to be an engineer so I can work on this goal myself.
Audiophile is a tarnished term. When emotional satisfaction is sought, some opportunists will use emotional tricks to relieve us of our money. There are many audiophile products that are over-priced or even fraudulent. I still choose to call myself an audiophile. I consider myself to have integrity and I am not selling anything. 🙂
Audiophile is a tarnished term. When emotional satisfaction is sought, some opportunists will use emotional tricks to relieve us of our money. There are many audiophile products that are over-priced or even fraudulent. I still choose to call myself an audiophile. I consider myself to have integrity and I am not selling anything. 🙂
I would call my situation audio enthusiast, started at 12 years old, it payed all my bills between 1991 and 2018, now it's a hobby besides growing organic peppers and, last year, autoflowers.
🙂
I am only just starting but am realising that it hits a lot of my buttons.
I have always liked better sounding music.
I like making stuff that suits me rather than what I am told to like.
I am liking that I am knowing what is going into my stuff so I can repair or upgrade when I learn more.
I don't want to pay the money (I don't have the money) that is demanded for much ready made stuff.
I enjoy experimenting and learning new things.
Boy, I do enjoy a tinker.