How Many of Us Consider Ourselves to Be "Audiophiles?"

[freejazz2020]

I know this board is about the music ... but just curious as to the above.

Thanks,

Scott

[B. Clugston]

I have a 30-year-old turntable and an amp that distorts on one channel. I guess I shouldn't go anywhere near the Hoffman forum.

[Chuck Nessa]

Many are hoping I don't respond.

[Uncle Skid]

Not me. I used to think that I'd like to be one, but once I could afford it, I found that I just didn't care that much.

As much as I love my CDs, MP3s, and vinyl, nothing beats a live performance. Seems kind of silly to spend big bucks on audiophile equipment in an attempt to reproduce a great live experience when I could just spend that money on real live experiences.

Opportunity cost is a bitch!

I'm curious as to what constitutes an audiophile -- is it raw dollars spent on equipment? I used to think that the $1400 I spent (10 years ago) on speakers might put me in that category, but after hanging out around here for awhile, I see that I'm a mere amateur!

[Jim Alfredson]

I appreciate good sound, but I longed ago realized that there is a point of severely diminishing returns on your investment. When you actually spend time in recording studios and realize what they do and use to record the music, it all becomes even more silly.

[medjuck]

I used to be a medium grade one but now my ears are shot from old age and too many rock concerts. So I still try to buy fairly good equipment but nothing too expensive- it would be wasted on me.

[Larry Kart]

Yes and no. Yes, I pay attention to quality of sound reproduction and have taken what I think I are reasonable steps to make my playback system sound better over the years. No, those reasonable steps haven't led me to buy any crazy-ass expensive stuff, by my lights. I have used B&W speakers, a Cambridge 640C CD player, a Creek 5350 amp, Grado SR 125 headphones, and a 15-or-so-year-old B&O turntable and cartridge that are due to be replaced. The rest is relatively recent (except for the headphones), and I have no plans or desire to replace any of it.

[Van Basten II]

Depends on what we have to do to get into that club... but overall i'm not a purist so i guess i don't belong in it.

[ejp626]

No definitely not.

At the moment, I don't even have a stereo system I listen to everything through the computer, the DVD player or a clock-radio-CD player. I hope to eventually correct this, but it will be a while.

[papsrus]

Well, I just acquired the first decent system I've owned in probably 30 years. Cambridge amp and CD player, Klipsch speakers. Nothing outrageous, but it certainly makes a big difference in what I'm hearing, at least.

Am I an audiophile? Hell no. I don't know shit about the equipment beyond the basics. But am I someone who now appreciates a certain level of clarity in listening? Yes, I am.

Edited September 6, 2008 by papsrus

[A Lark Ascending]

Definitely not - as long as there's no flutter/wow, other pitch variation, skipping tracks etc I'm happy. Always nice to hear a little more clarity when I need to change components but that happens rarely.

I'm also acquiring an increasing number of recordings by download. I'm sure that in audiophile eyes this means that my stereo equipment should be confiscated.

Edited September 6, 2008 by Bev Stapleton

[JohnS]

No. As long as my eqipment sounds reasonable I'm happy. I do need some new and better speakers (I had to sell the old decent ones as they didn't fit the new home environment) but so far I've not found any that suit our current domestic surroundings.

[Tom Storer]

Not in the least. I've had the same stereo and speakers for perhaps 15 years and off the top of my head I don't even know what brand they are. But they sound good to me.

Not that I don't notice especially good or bad sound. A friend bought an expensive Bang and Olufsen setup a few years ago and I always thought it sounded terrible. It really bothered me. BWTFDIK?

I once read a letter to the editor of a French classical music magazine. The magazine has separate reviews for the music and the audio quality of each CD, and the writer wondered why the same reviewer didn't do both. The magazine answered that the music reviewers mostly listened on their shitty old equipment and had no clue about audio quality.

[Clunky]

If you'd asked me 4 years ago I would have said I wasn't one. Now, I'm not so sure. I've seen my enjoyment of all my music leap because of series of upgrades to my amp, TT, CD player. I'll never go crazy on really high end stuff, most of what I have probably counts as entry level audiophile. I do love good sound.

[sidewinder]

Yes, I guess I am but certainly not to some of the extremes that you see on, say, the Hoffman board. Any improvement made is incremental, has to be cost effective and make a very tangible improvement to the listening pleasure. I also often go for second-hand and ex-demo parts where this is possible. I started out with a simple music centre, which did its stuff for some years and have over the decades built things up gradually from there. Amazing how some of the best audiophile experiences are with 50+ year old records.

I've also got reasonable space to put this stuff and its not vulnerable to damage by kids, dogs etc. If it was I'd be back to the music centre in a flash !

Edited September 6, 2008 by sidewinder

[porcy62]

Yes, I guess I am but certainly not to some of the extremes that you see on, say, the Hoffman board. Any improvement made is incremental, has to be cost effective and make a very tangible improvement to the listening pleasure. I also often go for second-hand and ex-demo parts where this is possible. I started out with a simple music centre, which did its stuff for some years and have over the decades built things up gradually from there. Amazing how some of the best audiophile experiences are with 50+ year old records.

I've also got reasonable space to put this stuff and its not vulnerable to damage by kids, dogs etc. If it was I'd be back to the music centre in a flash !

Same here.

I'd add that I appreciate the technical aspects, design and look of the gears as like I like motorbikes' ones, probably beyond their ultimate goal : listening music or driving, though driving a good bike is definitely more satisfying then a sloppy one.

Funnily I don't care at all about cars.

[sidewinder]

I like motorbikes' ones, probably beyond their ultimate goal : listening music or driving, though driving a good bike is definitely more satisfying then a sloppy one.

Funnily I don't care at all about cars.

How strange. Can't stand bikes but I like cars.

[John L]

Not at all. For me, the music is first, and the sound definitely second.

Well, almost. There are some types of audio distortion that bother me more than others. For some reason, I am particularly bothered distortion that comes from recording at too high a level - when only the higher end gets blotted out by static. On the other hand, if the static or distortion is fairly constant throughout a recording, I can usually put most of it out of my mind and listen beyond it.

[jazzbo]

I guess I would be considered one. Mainly I became this way because. . . I love tube amplification and after being raised with a custom built Dynaco system given to my father, I just could not get into the usual solid state systems I could buy myself. And I found a small company hand-building tube equipment and wonderful speakers, and have stuck with them throughout a decade plus. And very very happy with my system.

[Christiern]

I spent 28 years writing for Stereo Review. When a reader wanted to know what equipment we, the reviewers, had at home, an editor thought it was a reasonable question. We were all asked to submit a list, but when the editors and Julian Hirsch saw it, they cringed and decided that it should never be made public.

I often wonder how many of the Hoffman posters actually listen to the music—it often seems to be something with which to test their equipment. Don't get me wrong, I have heard top of the line setups and enjoyed the sound quality, but the music is still what counts. Although I own a pair of "Pyramid" speakers that originally cost about $2,000 each, and are now probably hopelessly retro, my equipment would probably be considered unfit for audiophile ears, but it fulfills my needs. Sometimes "restoration" makes recordings sound worse than the original 78s (they can still amaze when spun on the right equipment), but we have recently seen great strides made and applied to such gems as the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band sides. That's good enough for me. There is a lot of good-sounding equipment to be had at a reasonable price, so, even when I could afford top-of-the-line stuff, I did not feel a need to go for it.

I have never considered myself to be an audiophile, but I have always appreciated good sound.

[Larry Kart]

I suppose that in classical music string tone and voices are a big giveway/sticking point for me. What string instruments and voices sound like, individually and collectively, is kind of programmed into me by experience, and when strings and voices sound the way I think they should, almost everything else is in a good place sound-wise. Allowing for differences in the way things are recorded in the first place, I think that the main thing I'm listening for there is some realistic (by my lights) sense of "grain," as in grain in a piece of wood -- the detail of overtones within a note. When I hear it, it's like you're in a movie theater and the picture suddenly comes into focus. In a few seconds you won't notice the difference anymore (you're just watching the movie, listening to the music -- as you should be), but you're dealing with more, and more accurate, information.

[Jazzmoose]

I'd love to have a hot system and once thought I would. Now, I'd say odds are against it. However, even if I woke up tomorrow with unlimited funds, I don't think I'd waste any on coatrack looking thingies to massage the soundwaves and condition the room or whatever.

So I guess I'm not...

[Shawn]

Too poor to be an audiophile. I enjoy a great sounding system, but I've lived most of my life with mid-grade gear...it's worked for 38 years, why change now?

Edited September 6, 2008 by Shawn

[porcy62]

I like motorbikes' ones, probably beyond their ultimate goal : listening music or driving, though driving a good bike is definitely more satisfying then a sloppy one.

Funnily I don't care at all about cars.

How strange. Can't stand bikes but I like cars.

In order to appreciate bikes you'd need some sunny days.

[sidewinder]

In order to appreciate bikes you'd need some sunny days.

Very true !