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Actually, no one yet made fun of my dealings with hi-fi. But I must say, that except for a few, almost none of my people do really see a point in it, either.
Audiophiles get a lot of ribbing at times for all kinds of reasons. Has anybody ever made fun of you for being an audiophile?
Sure, but it's all relative to social acceptance factors. We all know that it's perfectly fine for some women to have 18 pairs of $300 dollar shoes or for some guy to have a BMW that is worth twice as much as his house but people just stare at you sideways when you tell them you just spent $7000 on a single amplifier. Being house poor, car poor, or having enough clothing in your closet that makes what I spent on my stereo a joke are all socially acceptable. It just isn't the norm to have a $40,000 dollar stereo. Bottom line is that I kind of like it that way. Keeps the riff-raff out and the quality levels high...for the most part.
The plain old audiophile gets lumped in with the loonies and charlatans—wooden pucks, magic chips which sit atop your CD player, CD pens, $485 wooden volume knobs ($970 per pair for your dual mono volume controls), not to mention cables costing more than a new sports car or the speakers to which they connect. If I could live with myself, I could get rich selling cables with a secret formula dielectric. In the meantime, my music sounds much, much better than the noise that comes out of the Wave Radios and earbuds of the people who poke fun at me, even though my volume knob is only machined aluminum.
I couldn't care less anyway, they live in darkness. Next cdp? Consider: Rega Jupiter. So many can't be wrong. CHING ! Prepare for anticipation, excitement and a sense of occasion. Hi-fi is and will continue to be a thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable passion. After all it is a completely souless human being who would claim that they had been unaffected at some time by a record or CD playing their memories. All for now. johnchayes@btopenworld.com
Yes. When I was at a party and the host knew I was this way asked about his HT system hook up, I offered my opinion. Those listening thought I was nuts and it became a good three minute running joke at my expense. Oh well, this was not the time or place to educate. It could have turned into my being outcast and this obsession isn't worth it.