Audiophile Humor: Herb & Steve

Some say audiophiles have no sense of humor. One well-known writer for another magazine even lectured John Atkinson a while back that "there is no place for humor in audio!" So here is audiophile humor at its best, brought to you by Stereophile writers Herb Reichert (left) and Steve Guttenberg (right).

COMMENTS
Anton's picture

One audiophile is sitting in a listening room and leans over to the other audiophile and says, "Those speakers sound great at low volume, lots of delicacy and detail."

The other audiophile looks over and replies, "WHAT?"

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An audiophile is boasting to his club at a meeting about his exotic and tres expensive new interconnects. Veils have been lifted, levels of detail exposed, factors-of-ten improvements in sonics..."

As he does this, a club member sneaks over to the interconnect and scrubs off the brand name.

Seeing this, the first audiophile loudly proclaims, "You idiot! You've ruined them! Now I can't tell them apart from any other cheap interconnect!"

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You know why speaker cables have different names?

So you can tell them apart.

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How is listening to a turntable like hearing a drummer knocking on your door?

The sound keeps speeding up and slowing down.

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jporter's picture

This is exactly like the conversations my 82 year old father has with my 85 year old uncle...By the way, both have much diminished hearing capabilities. Can you really give reliable audio reviews when you reach a certain age?

dalethorn's picture

What's reliable?

mmole's picture

A few years ago my NAD receiver caught on fire.

"Oh my God, my NAD," I exclaimed.

To which my panicked wife responded, "..." (I'll just leave this blank to be on the safe side).

dalethorn's picture

I rarely catch on quick but I got the Klipsch / Bose joke instantly. The Holt review of the 901 with drawings of the "comb filter" was burned into my brain more than 40 years ago, and yet I'd still like to have a set just for fun.

tonykaz's picture

HR reveals the obvious that we all overlook, he reverses the jokes polarity and the old funny story goes from two dimensional to having depth.

Steve G. leads off with Audiophile jokes, HR responds by not liking "Stereophile" jokes and seems to have a good time responding with his own animated renderings of Satire.

Nice going HR! and thanks Jana, for capturing it. This is the stuff that brings Stereophile to life.

You guys make being an Stereophile fun.

Tony in Michigan

ps. Tyll & Katz on Audeze & Focal could use a wee-bit of Steve & HR journalistic team-up.

Anton's picture

What's the definition of a gentleman?

Someone who has a mint pristine first pressing Hi Fi copy of "Bang Barroom and Harp" and doesn't play it for you.

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An audiophile saves up for years and years to get a mint copy of "Look of Love" and on the way home from picking it up, decides to stop at the record store to buy a protective cover for the sleeve.

"I'll only be inside a minute, I'll just leave it in the backseat, it's cool out. I'll lock up the car and be right back."

He's only gone for a moment, but when he comes out of the store he is crestfallen to see the back window has been broken out of his car. He races up to the window, expecting the worst.

When he looks inside the car, he sees......two copies of "Look of Love."

Anton's picture

What is the real difference between a Klipschorn and a Bose 901?

Kilpschorns will burn longer.

philipjohnwright's picture

Between a hi-fi salesman and a hi-fi consultant?

The consultant knows when he's lying

:-)

donlin's picture

These videos are great! They add so much to the experience of reading the magazine.

veentage's picture

I agree, more please, thank you Jana!

HammerSandwich's picture

An audiophile is someone who believes the stereo is the best technology ever.

Anton's picture

What technology is better?

What brings more joy?

michaelavorgna's picture

A third audiophile says, "I don't get it."

Anton's picture

.....which is odd because you'd think the second audiophile would have seen the first one do that and then would have ducked.

But, then, us audiophiles can have a shallow slew rate, so to speak.

Anton's picture

Two audiophiles are taking a bath.

One says to the other, "Where's the soap?"

The second audiophile replies, "Sure does."

classdDave's picture

Back in the day, when I sold McIntosh, we were having a training meeting. A rep had come from the factory. I'm pretty sure it was Joe Perfito. He mentioned that one of the amps was so reliable that it was used on US Navy submarines, I think for sonar or something. Without missing a beat, one of the salesmen said "yeah, as anchors". I couldn't not laugh, but the McIntosh rep didn't seem to see the humor in that.

Anton's picture

I recall hearing salespeople at a hi fi store in San Francisco refer to carver M400's as 'doorstops.'

Steven N's picture

1) Rumor has it Parasound designed a stereo television.
They named it parasite.
2) You know what's better than the Paradigms?
A quarter.

My apologies. . .

glennman's picture

Charles Rodrigues did cartoons for Stereo Review (and maybe other audio and/or electronics magazines) and some raunchy ones for the National Lampoon for many years. I still remember 3 of them:

1. A man buys new speakers. They are huge, with a sign on the back: "Do Not Open, Danger of Shock". The guy opens one and finds just one small speaker in it, along with the sign "We told you you'd be shocked!".

2. A man and wife are standing next to each other, facing their new stereo. The wife says "It does not sound balanced to me". The man has one ear 5 times bigger than the other.

3. A kid carrying a transistor radio walks past a radio station. The station has a big sign "50,000 watts", and a huge antenna behind it. The transistor radio explodes.

He published at least 2 books, one of the audio cartoons, and one of the raunchy National Lampoon cartoons. Check him out on Amazon.
You can also see a lot of his cartoons by searching for images with "charles rodrigues cartoons".

Russell Dawkins's picture

The audiophile is the first to speak once the music starts playing.

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