Vote

At this moment in time I am running at fever pitch as I am preparing to go the upgrade route again starting with speakers to anchor my system. I can't read enough, or ask enough or hear enough to show any clear winner in my quest.I don't see it ending soon because then I must attack the electronics, tubes or solid state, I'm leaning towards tubes but too early to tell

I always try to aquire the newest products and in the last year have spent over 100,000 doing so.

Been on the back burner but back on hifg now.

I can't afford to be as serious an audiophile as I'd like to be, but I have tried to build a good HiFi system out of quality, affordable audiophile components without settling for less and/or breaking the bank.

Actally, allI want is that the system dispears, letting only the unaldurated music to give enjoyment, emotions and intimate participation on the totality of the music.

Extreme .. music lover. I just got back from the TSO doing Mahler's 2nd. That was an ec stasis experience. And now I see the TSO is going to do Mahler's 4th, 5th, and 9th in the Weston Recital Hall (an intimate classic hall.) I am in heaven.

I have assembled a respectable system, read Stereophile and TAS, give thought to the music I purchase and my family and I enjoy ourselves. I will admit I work at containing my desires to aquire "the much better", the "best" is out of the question.

Sewrious but somewhat poor (economically seaking), which keeps my appreciation of even modest costing upgrades which usually produce an amazing increase in sound quality for the next 3 years or so. If I were a rich man (reminds me of a song) I would be pumping absurd amounts of cash into a system that hardly notices the difference. Its great to be a poor audiophile!

i sometimes cant listen without thinking of getting better sound with someting else..

Would like to be serious but I have neither the time nor the money so I guess I am normal. :-)

Some days when I want to listen to a good CD I just can't get into the music. It may strike me as repetitive or just uninteresting. Then a day or two later I'll really enjoy it. I think this may be partly because I only have a headphone system; I listen to music more since I got my Headroom Little amplifier, and I get the feeling that a nice speaker setup will be even more involving. Does hi-fi pull you into the music more, or is it just an obsession that propagates itself? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

I'm slipping from normal to casual. Not happy with the sound of my system and don't have the money to fix it right now. More money in pocket will soon be followed by more interest.

As with any other "vice", audiophile pursuits can give prodigious amounts of most pleasurable stimuli. AND.. just as with any other vice, moderation should be practiced. So as not to be entirely self indulgent, one's hobby should always be dealt with in the context of one's financial condition. I would therefore categorize myself as normal.

I get into it, spend way too much, then feel guilty for it. At which time, I buy nothing for a year or so. That's my cycle, never-ending and always frustrating.

My life can revolve around audio at times.But is is 2nd to my family of course!

It is the way the equipment sounds that matters, not its price.

Well, listening to music has been major for over 40 years now. Normally, everyday. Like a concert every day, maybe not 3 big music pieces, but at least one. One concerto, one symphony, on jazz record,...maybe more. And, the equipment part has always cornered serious fantasy time. Just started on putting together a new tubed phono section. Can hardly wait, though I believe in zen soldering.

There are other passtimes -like wine woman and song. Without these your going to nurd land fast. Sean McPoland Saudi Arabia

I wish I new other people that were interested in it in my area. I've taken to consulting others and setting their systems up, just so I have others to talk to!

MAJOR CONTEMPT FOR SOMETIME!! One of the biggest contributors to this (many of my friends and casual aquaintances concur) are yourselves, the reviewers of Stereophile magazine; not all of you of course but most of you. When you can look someone in the eye so to speak and tell them that a power cord costing $500+ and an interconnect at $3,000 to $5,000 are the absolute must have. We the readers read your reviews with utter contempt for the bullshit you expound most of the time. This is no different in theory than the nonesense from those pompass, hollier than thou CD producers who think the answer to the slowing sales is to jack their prices and muzzle the perceived competition with their high price snakes. A few weeks ago you opened up for dicussion piracy and CD producers. Lets bring this more to home and ask your readers what they think of AC power cords and ludicrous interconnects. To demonstrate this further, your April edition of Stereophile page 4 & 5 shows a BMW and looking at that WE can see equal value between that and Levenson's 33R, a Porche and some speakers and the list is endless. The audio industry needs to look at "THE MAN IN THE MIRROR" if not, they will be the architects for the demise of the GOLDEN GOOSE. "CONTEMPT FOR SURE"

I try to keep in mind that it's "all about the music " not the system, so if I find a great tweak i'll use it, but I won't go to extremes - like elevating my speaker cables with $ 150 porcelain pieces....

Being a first time reader, I was wondering if you can offer an article on entry-level audiophilia...perhaps something I can afford to get me started. I have always been dissatisfied with off the shelf systems and your magazine is just what the doctor ordered...there is just way too much information for a stark beginner like myself (but that will be a good thing as I progress)

I was going to put "Normal"... then I realized I have bought an SACD player and a tube amp... both since last December... not to mention a host of SACD's. I guess I must be fairly "serious" about all this...

Ranging from my youth as a teenager in the 60's to this day I have always considered myself a serious audiophile. Fortunately, I grew up as an inner city kid in Boston so I could always satisfy my audiophile urgings by hanging out at one of the many local audio salons. Being an inner city kid also enabled me to attend many live concerts of all genres and was a major reason why I became interested in audiophilia.

Installation gets bigger and better all the time