BillB
BillB's picture
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 10 months ago
Joined: Aug 15 2007 - 2:04pm
Have you ever met an audiophile?
Kal Rubinson
Kal Rubinson's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 days 6 hours ago
Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 9:34am


Quote:
Plenty of computer geeks, tv big screen consumers, car freaks, wine snobs, etc out there but I don't hear doodly about music reproduction, from my little social circles.

Subscribe to Stereophile. Doodly writes for it.

Kal

Lamont Sanford
Lamont Sanford's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 year 1 month ago
Joined: Mar 31 2006 - 8:32pm

I've met a few but not many. That is the way it should be.

j_j
j_j's picture
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 10 months ago
Joined: Mar 13 2009 - 4:22pm


Quote:

Quote:
Plenty of computer geeks, tv big screen consumers, car freaks, wine snobs, etc out there but I don't hear doodly about music reproduction, from my little social circles.

Subscribe to Stereophile. Doodly writes for it.

Kal

How ARTless, Kal, how Artless

BillB
BillB's picture
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 10 months ago
Joined: Aug 15 2007 - 2:04pm

Thanks for tellig it like it is and kal-ibrating your advice, it's not dud-ley and Ja, ich appreciate it.
(I do subscribe to S'phile and that's the only place I meet audiophiles)

bobedaone
bobedaone's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 2 months ago
Joined: Feb 1 2007 - 12:27am

You'll find more, I think, on college campuses than in the general population. I've seen a lot of students visiting Ann Arbor's used record stores, and some percentage of them must be into vinyl for reasons other than the "cool factor".

iPods are also popular, and with capacity steadily increasing, it's practical to carry an assortment of tunes around in lossless quality. I've seen a lot of Shure earbuds and Grado SR60s/80s, and I consider anyone willing to shell out for nice 'phones to at least have audiophilic tendencies. Bottom line, the white buds are just not cutting the mustard for many people.

Another fundamental issue is that our hobby is one of sedentary seclusion. Pilots meet at airports, classic car buffs meet at shows/cruises, sports car guys meet at the track, and....well, you get the idea. An audiophile might meet another audiophile at a show like CES, RMAF, or Stereophile, but outside of annual events and major metros, meeting opportunities are somewhat limited.

It's of more importance to me to have a girl supportive of my lifestyle (and I do!) than to find other dudes who like sitting in front of speakers. haha

KBK
KBK's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 30 2007 - 12:30pm

As an audiophile I tried, once, to meet a normal person.

They ran away in abject fear.

nunhgrader
nunhgrader's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: Sep 8 2005 - 9:25pm

Nope - never a true audiophile (in person - online I've "met" several - never any female audiophiles either). I've met 100s (maybe thousands) of music lovers - some with slight audiophile leanings...

KBK
KBK's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 30 2007 - 12:30pm

There is a relatively decent descriptor for 'audiophile',and that is one where: Their audio equipment is worth more than the software collection.

Like kids with the $1k 1987 civic..and the $10k car audio system.

Scott Wheeler
Scott Wheeler's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 3 2005 - 7:47pm

I always thought that whole idea of equipment to music ratio was pretty dumb. what does that mean if one has narrower taste in music or if one likes music that is easy to find on the cheap? They have to settle for lesser equipment to meet the formula? So if I want to upgrade my amp I have to buy 500 new titles to be a good audiophile?

Buddha
Buddha's picture
Offline
Last seen: 12 years 5 months ago
Joined: Sep 8 2005 - 10:24am


Quote:
I always thought that whole idea of equipment to music ratio was pretty dumb. what does that mean if one has narrower taste in music or if one likes music that is easy to find on the cheap? They have to settle for lesser equipment to meet the formula? So if I want to upgrade my amp I have to buy 500 new titles to be a good audiophile?

The ratio likely occurs for different people at different points.

Would a guy with a million dollar rig and two Whitney Houston discs be a 'good audiophile?' Likely more a fetishist than and audiophile.

With the crazy curve prices have hewn this past decade or two, it does become much more difficult to use the old price of gear to price of music ratio!

Is there a musical critical mass for you at any point?

I admit I probably have one, but it's pretty non-precise!

Just as a guy who drives a Veryon only 400 yards to his hair salon and back once a month is not my idea of a sports car 'enthusist,' neither would a person be an 'audiophile' whose music collection included only Diana Krall discs.

I see your point, though, Scott.

We also see this if we take a look at the cemetery-like activity levels in the music forums here, or what gets the ax when Stereophile needs to thin an issue - the actual music seems to rate way down on audiophile priorities, as a generalization.

How about we make some questions regarding this topic...

"Que es un audiophile?"

Would someone who only has remasters and repressings of Kind of Blue be an Audiophile?

absolutepitch
absolutepitch's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 4 weeks ago
Joined: Jul 9 2006 - 8:58pm

Not counting the forum members, I know a handful of audiophiles all of whom are males, and met only one female audiophile who was truly interested in audio equipment.

Most people are interested in sound or music but not audio. Musicians seem less interested in audio and more so on performing music, but know a good system when they hear one. They have heard a lot of mid-fi gear and expect that from almost any gear until they hear the really good system.

dbowker
dbowker's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 weeks 6 days ago
Joined: May 8 2007 - 6:37am

I feel like I meet one about once every two years. I've always lived in East Coast urban areas, so maybe it goes with expensive food and liberal politics.

Maybe I've met more, but maybe they, like me, try not to ever bring it up unless the other does first! I'll always bring up being a music lover (which sadly there are few of too) but almost never bring up being a gear junky.

JoeE SP9
JoeE SP9's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 week 3 days ago
Joined: Oct 31 2005 - 6:02pm

I have three close friends here in the Delaware Valley (greater Philadelphia area) who are also audiophiles.
I've also met quite a few music lovers including a lesbian couple who are audiophiles. Having people come to my home for computer repairs, custom DB applications or custom web sites exposes them to my system. Large electrostatics always cause questions. I'm always eager, maybe overly so, to demonstrate my system.

Log in or register to post comments
-->
  • X