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Audiophile

Time to stir a little... :)

Given the distinctly anti-American gear and pro-British stance of many on this forum, maybe 'audiophile' is a contraction of 'audio' and 'Anglophile'? :D

PS: The inverted snobbery that surfaces occasionally indicates that there is also another category - 'audiophobe', or someone who resents any and all that own either music collections or audio systems that he/she can only aspire to (or need a few more years of work and saving to be able to afford), so castigate those that have already got there - either through windfalls or by accumulation over a longer period.

:cool:

Certainly I would have huge admiration for someone running big active ATCs or PMCs from a high quality source. Very expensive items but I see the owners generally as non audiophiles and would view them in a completely different light to someone spending say £50k on a pile of tweaky SET amplification, silver wiring are single driver speakers.

I don't think envy or resentment has much to do with this.
 
An Audiophile is a romantic music lover, who tries to reproduce the emotional memories associated with his beloved music through a hifi system... and sometimes he manages to do so.

When he does, he associates this success with the reproduction system, and he likes to discussing of all this with others who have been equally successful.

Some of the audiophiles, think they have discovered the only successful way of doing this, and they become dogmatic.
Others, came to the conclusion that the reproduction of such emotions is not due to the reproduction system, then they become equally dogmatic.

Audiophiles pursue a strange quest, they are the Don Quixote of the audio. :)
 
Audiophiles pursue a strange quest, they are the Don Quixote of the audio. :)

To take this analogy a step further...

  • Would PFM be 'Rosinante'?
  • Would Sir Allan Com (has to be a knight!) be Miguel de Cervantes?
  • The dealer network = Sancho Panza?
  • And the windmills?

:D
 
It's a meaningless term exemplified by this forum:

record shop
Audiophile quality second hand vinyl and CDs.

... as opposed to non-audiophile ones. I'm not sure what these are though.

Andy
 
No its fracking well not meaningless:

In tony's case it means he does the job of checking his stock for quality, lack of warping low noise and so on, visually inspecting (and sometimes cleaning the disks prior to an actual play on a well set up and looked after record player). Accurate and consistent gradings and good condition sleeves and liners... sometimes replacing the bags with fresh ones: Basically he's not handling shite bargain basement trash and passing it off as something better -- as is often the case on Amazon and eBay.

It's the stuff that audiophiles care about (or should IMV).
 
Chaps

There are several types of audio enthusiasts.

You have my type, we go for a top notch brand such as Naim and buy the best models of this brand that we can afford. We are normal people. We are relaxed in the knowledge we have the best.

You have those who swap everything every few years. Nothing wrong with them, they are enjoying life and their hobby

You also have the really sad types, those who drone on and on and on about bloody cables etc. They are the really boring ones in this hobby. Basically this lot are a plain bloody embarassment.

Then you have the real under achievers attempting to convince the world that their bodged up tat is better than the original stuff. They are the real all time losers in life and hifi fora.

Regards

Mick
 
Then you have the real under achievers attempting to convince the world that their bodged up tat is better than the original stuff. They are the real all time losers in life and hifi fora.

Even worse are the ones who go on to sell their bodged-up tat and make money from it. Just because it's got a blue LED on it doesn't make it good does it Mick?
 
But if someone was to ask you what your personal interests or hobbies were, would you discribe yourself as an Audiophile?

Ha! No ****ing way, Jose! I describe myself as a bibliophile (though even that's not strictly accurate, as I simply buy lots of books, regardless of their binding or rarity, and acually read them).
 
Even worse are the ones who go on to sell their bodged-up tat and make money from it. Just because it's got a blue LED on it doesn't make it good does it Mick?

Bob

Totally agree, lowest of the low. Sort of oik who flogs his tat on ebay to some poor inocent sod and ruins the original equipment makers name in the process.

Regards

Mick
 
Old, fat and bald.



Thats another box ticked for me.

Hope I don't fit into any of the following categories but people tend to think of you as sad if you say hifi is an interest or if you show an interest in it.

Sad anorak.
Misfit
Bus ticket collector.
Musician wannabee.
More money than sense.
Aspergers syndrome.
Sociopath.
****er.

It seems acceptable if you spend £50/month on Sky or cable though.
 
"Audiophile" always reminds me of the two hi-fi dealers in Pretoria. "The Audiophile" was a small shop, very tasteful and classy, selling strange blank-faced electronics and flat things that appeared to be screens to be placed in front of the speakers.

"Hi-fi Installations" was the Quad/Kef/Linn dealer - oddly enough much more down-to-earth and willing to let a national service private listen to their wares.

I came to own a mix of the products offered by the two - LP12, Quad 44 pre-amp, Sumo power amp, and Maggies (flat screeny things) - BUT don't think I even got to listen to anything at "The Audiopile" (I do remember buying a cartridge there...).

That distinction probably still holds - Audiophilism is a bit ideological, cultish - you always need to progress to the next level and there is an element of knocking other people's gear... even the customer's.

Regarding DE's comment as to the Brit-fi centric nature of PFM... true, BUT that's not unexpected as US gear is made for bigger living spaces than are common in the UK.

What is disconcerting about the UK is the Linn-Naim "axis of evil" (TM) which seems to have resulted in many interesting British products getting little attention.
 
The only problem with audio are the evangelists who are Hell-bent on saving the rest of us from ourselves. I can think of few things more irritating than someone telling me what I can or can't hear or what I should or shouldn't like.

you mean like chris koster ;-)


vuk.

That's the Chris Koster who deems phase one Mana is best. Seems he has created some disciples.
 
Bob

Totally agree, lowest of the low. Sort of oik who flogs his tat on ebay to some poor inocent sod and ruins the original equipment makers name in the process.

Regards

Mick
Hmm - unlike the discerning audiophile who acts judiciously with the interests of the maker at heart, Mick, but whose elitism clearly doesn't include a basic understanding of spelling and grammar?
 


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