how much of it is how much more expensive an equipment purchase is when compared to a music purchase. With some exceptions, if I want music I just get it. No biggie. As for equipment, I spend so much more time thinking and dreaming of equipment than buying it. Cause it is so expensive!

I used to be a pro photographer, and there are folks in the photo communities who buy more gear than they take photos! I remember in the Smokies once, I was burning through film. (It was back when you could buy Kodachrome.) And this guy came out of his car with this absolutely killer Leica setup. He took one snap of his wife standing in front of the scenery, then drove off.

So while I know there are people more interested in the gear than the tunes, it is similar in other enthusiast communities and the economics of purchases must be taken into account.

Trey

Trey brings up a good point. In addition, I find that there are many people I can talk about music with, even if it's only "Did you hear so-and-so's new album?" But there are few people I can talk equipment with, so when I find a fellow audiophile, I tend to go to town.

Bert

I admit that the majority conversation in this particular hobby is focused on my gear, friends gear, and my evolving Hi-Fi system. I simply just love the gear, the design, the componentry used in building the piece, and the artisian craftsmanship applied.

I guess I compartmentalize my hobby. Gear on one side, Music on the other, and the pursuit of perfect audible fusion between the two.

..if that makes any sense at all. :-)

Mark Evans

your wall metaphor!

I am not wealthy, so the cheap stuff, the tunes, are on my long wall while the expensive gear is on the short wall!

Maybe I am not so much a music lover as poor!

Trey

For me, it is 90% music and 10% gear since I have not always owned high-end equipment.

Audiophiles are some of the biggest music fans out there. I might be generalizing, but it's fun to generalize.

Audiophiles are more open to exploring different types of music, even if it's just to show off how well their equipment plays different pieces, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. They're also less likely to be fans of manufactured pop music. What's the point of listening to random pop music on a megabuck stereo?

I think audiophiles buy their equipment BECAUSE they love music. They're not satisfied to listen to their symphonies on earbuds, but in the magnificent glory of a lovingly pieced high end rig. I think it's a tribute to the talent of the artists to have their performances recreated forever in posterity by people who want to achieve the highest quality sound possible.

m3guy87 wrote:

Audiophiles are more open to exploring different types of music, even if it's just to show off how well their equipment plays different pieces, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. They're also less likely to be fans of manufactured pop music. What's the point of listening to random pop music on a megabuck stereo?

I think audiophiles buy their equipment BECAUSE they love music. They're not satisfied to listen to their symphonies on earbuds, but in the magnificent glory of a lovingly pieced high end rig. I think it's a tribute to the talent of the artists to have their performances recreated forever in posterity by people who want to achieve the highest quality sound possible.

A very succinct description. Nicely stated. :-)

Mark Evans

Give n the number that buy Jacintha and Diana Krall albums, I've got to say no they don't like music.

Cheers,

Gregory

"Sound" (or ""sound quality") is the other dog in the fight. In fact, it may be the most talked about by audiophiles.

Also, in fairness, many audiophile discussions center on "sound" and "gear" b/c there are more commonly-held beliefs around these two things. With "music," taste enters the picture in a big way.

(Of course, another of our dirty little secrets is that taste plays a bigger role in our assessment of "sound" and "gear" than we like to admit.)

Bob

After a while you will realize that the gear comes and goes, but the music lasts forever. Any piece of gear becomes optional, but the music never is.

Audiophiles do like music. All types of music, at least I do. Yes we enjoy the gear and most important "I Think" are the loudspeakers. There are so many factors that contribute to great listening, that one shouldn't limit it to just the choice of music and gear. Does not matter whether you like Blues, Country, classical, rap, or whatever. I have personally found that some of the country music is better recorded. BUT, this does not mean I prefer country music. I really prefer good Memphis Blues, and sometimes a little Pop. It all depends on how the music moves you and THEN you try to put your best foot forward with gear, speakers, and even try and help the room accoustics. Bottom line, ENJOY your music.

When me my dad talk now, yes we tak more about gear and sound rather music, but yes we do still share our tastes in music. Being audiophile it dives you into music to explore, ever since ive gotten into this hobby ive been excited to experience music in a level that i could never reach before.

There are a number of good comments in this string, but I don't think anyone has pointed out that 'audiophiles' are by no means a monolithic group. Some are music-lovers to whom the gear is a mere vehicle. Some are gear-heads who are more interested in sound then music. Most are somewhere in-between, with a healthy interest in both.

But why do we talk about gear more than music? Because it's common ground!

Musical tastes vary widely - and as Gregory (Speedofsound33.3) illustrates - passionately! Our quest to hear the music we love reproduced faithfully & beautifully is what we all have in common.

When I speak with audiophiles who share my musical tastes, we talk mostly about music! Otherwise, we seek that common ground.

Happy Listening to all, Art

That's why we spend all the $$$ to make it sound it's best. Most people put on music while they do something else, Music lovers stop and listen which is why we care how it sounds.

As for Gear vs. Music in the context of Stereophile Magazine, well the Rolling Stone, Spin and umpteen Mags bigger than it only talk music and no gear. Thats why it has the balance it does. Pesonally I'd find it more helpful to see reviews of audiophile quality recordings that get the most out of my gear than just what the columist's liked that month. Point us in the direction of good sound we just might buy it and more will be made.

I understand why it was asked but the question is a bit silly.

tmsorosk wrote:

We have been building , tuning and voicing these systems for decades , shouldn't the talk be more about music now ? Tim

Tim, looking back at your original question... Do you think you're done "building, tuning, voicing" your system? Most audiophiles are never done, as long as they think improvements are possible. And that's probably why they are constantly talking about gear and sound... with the only other people who know, or care - sharing knowledge & looking for tips.

But I know who you're talking about - dedicated audiophiles who seem to have no passion for music at all, or at least a lot less than they have for their 'system'. I don't undertsnad those people at all. But I know the industry loves'em, because they just keep buying more stuff.

tmsorosk wrote:

...there are people out there including friends of ours that buy most disc's because they think it will highlight there HiFi , with little interest in music or it's meaning .

Which is another way of saying that not everybody who purchases high-end audiophile equipment is really an audiophile. They can kindly be called "show-offs", or "conspicuous consumers". But they have a significant role in our hobby (keeping the manufacturers and dealers solvent) so we shouldn't dismiss them lightly. I differentiate between the true audiophile and the equipment owner.

This is a question I remember some years ago discussed in High Fidelity, and I think it is still a good one. I would definitely say that, yes, audiophiles do love music--although their are some of us who love gadgets of everykind and would possibly enjoy listening to a two-Cycle engine through a pair of Magnaplanars--but overall I think we are musically derived. Avery Fisher was the definitive muscician/audio technitian--and he had a passion for both. Avery Fisher Hall was an experiment in accoustics that left him unsatisfied in many ways. Happily his successes were phenomenal--and I listen to his equipment built in Long Island over fifty years ago, having kept it in top condition. But--why? I am an organist. And when I went looking to find something to get a 64' diaphone into my listening area I realized that I would not find it in the basement of JC Penneys. But I love the equipment as much, and that is it isn't it? In all honesty it is a physical attraction as well as a spiritual. We are moved to the dulcet strains of an aria--but we are also moved to lustful revelry at a pair of peak meters getting buried! The sex appeal of the transformer pair! The delicate tryst of the triangle, lifted out of a sea of sound. It is both! Yes.

I agree putting a 64 foot diaphone in one's living room would be a hard task. The only solution (and it still would not equal the diaphone) would be to have a pair of folded horns so designed to excite a coloumn of air much like a pipe organ. The driver would have to be specially designed to go very low, and then you still would have to bump the bottom end with EQ. The sound could get close on a quarter wve length, and probably be enjoyable. OK City (#19) I enjoyed your comments. You are an Audiophile.

I love certain music that says something to me or just moves me. I love gear that will do the same thing. If I had unlimited resources for gear I would have to build a special place to house all of it. If I had unlimited resources to buy music a large den would suffice. So it's even Stephen for me anyway, the gear just takes up more space.

Of course audiophiles like music. On the other hand, when audiophiles get together it's only natural they'll talk about equipment. Think about gearheads: They love driving, but when they get together with other gearheads they won't discuss the driving experience per se, it's all about the machine. Guys will be hobbyists. I admit, though, that when I'm listening to audiophile "approved" stuff (Living Stereo, Dire Straits, etc.) I wish that there were a non-audiophile there with me to "impress" and hopefully recruit, particularly to vinyl. Now, when it comes to real music- old '78 blues transfers, for example- I just get into the music and at the same time I'm grateful that my audiophile system can give me more of it. (Regarding 78s, get yourself some and an old crank phonograph. No electronics, direct to your soul, amazing.)

In my case, I have studied electronics in college and always loved the gear and the different approaches in hi-fidelity audio. At the age of 14, I took my dad's old Marantz receiver and B&W speakers and DISCOVERED something...Since then, I'm on a quest. A quest that will surely not be achieved before a long time. The goal of this quest is to attend to a concert in my own room, on my own armchair and while i'm closing my eyes, to be sure that the artist is right in front of me. This feeling has caused me several goosebumps "events" particularly in Hi-Fi shows but here are the facts: I'm 27 years old, I have a girlfriend and 2 wonderful kids and I'm not earning some kinda of megabuck salary each week...Ironically, this could help me after all because if I were a millionaire with the rig of my dream now, I would feel like I skip some huge steps in my audiophile evolution toward the end-goal of achieving my quest...I'm thinking of buying a MF V-DAC to be fed by my Panasonic BD-60 player...I just cannot wait to ear the difference 300 bucks will make to my humble system! Otherwise...investing another 15000$ to add an external clock to my reference CD player or for speaker wires just seems to be kinda of...pointless, if this would not have been the culmination of a lifetime effort in order of achieving my quest.

Music is emotional...but we cannot attend to concerts everytime we need to ear music. That's why reproduced music is so important but the ultimate goal is to feel what can be felt in front of real musicians and that what's all about!

Thanks Hi-Fi Community!

"I admit, though, that when I'm listening to audiophile "approved" stuff (Living Stereo, Dire Straits, etc.) I wish that there were a non-audiophile there with me to "impress" and hopefully recruit, particularly to vinyl."

Me too! It is not to impress in terms of "see how cool I am" but more in terms of "isn't this great? You gotta do this too!" It is evangelistic, not narcississtic.

Great thoughts edbudzil.

Trey

Well, it all depends on from which point you view this subjet.

i've been playing violin for almost 20yrs, and i think i can say i'm an 'audiophile' as well .  From a violinist's point of view, sure, i love music in the first place, but as you might already know,  violins themselves, from different makers and eras sound and feels differently, be it a very slight difference in a tune, just one slightly different curve, or simply the weight, the look or the wood.  Some good, some, not so. And in fact many violinists are still in the search for their favorate violin, the one, the one that's in his/her point of view , 'better'.

So, while looking for a hi-fi setup, i tend to look for the more 'transparent' one, the one that reproduce a tune exactly like it's supposed to sound like, just as that a pianist would immediately identify the sound of a good Steinway out of a hundred different pianos.  So while looking for it, or comparing my friends' systems, i have to talk about MF, HF, the sound stage, the 'air', etc. It's all for the love of music.

Some say, 'If you really love music, you won't mind it's comming from speakers the size of a coin, or towering quater million dollar flagship'.   But, BUT did you hear a difference? If you do, god bless you and your wallet. lol . It's just like kids and their toy, petroheads and their cars---You gotta love it, otherwise you wouldn't play with it.