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I am not an Audiophile (and never have been)

blossomchris

blossomchris

I feel better than James Brown
I have been called an audiophile by several friends and I now realise I am far from it.

Tried a dedicated room and hated it. Listening to music by myself seemed strange, always thought of music as a social thing.

Sure I like the sq of a decent system, but for me it has always been the music first.

I feel I would have failed if I was still swapping boxes.

Maybe you are no longer an audiophile if you are not seeking out the latest tweak?


Bloss



PS: I am cleansed.

PPS: Live music still provides the best musical experiences for me.
 
I'm with you.
Well, sort of. Used to love my little dedicated listening room with near-field Kan IIs fed by a Densen DM10. Pure magic. Alone or joined by friends, there was room for 2-3 people on the sofa. Good memories, although hazed by lots of red wine.

Now my wife and I have a pretty decent hifi in the living room capable of filling the entire apartment with music. A very important aspect. Amps are always on 24/7 so that we can fire up the FLACs at any time of the day, be it 2h or only 10min in-between calls or other distractions.
Usually, it's 30-40min for breakfast, and another 2-3h in the evening on a weekday, and almost the entire day on the weekends if we're not out.
In winter we play Vinyl in the evening, increasingly less I have to admit. In summer it is 100% FLACs controlled by Tablet whilst sitting outdoors on the deck with a chilled Riesling.

We tried valves, but it makes no sense to me. Warming up 30min before I can listen? Lost time. Could have played a nice album whilst waiting!!!!
 
I listed to music mostly at low volume.
I would be happy with a pair of Sonos Play 1s but as I like to amplify the tv sound I find myself spending a lot of dosh on a proper hifi system.
Maybe I should just get a Naim Mu-so and stop worrying about SQ
 
Listening to iggy pop on bbc 6.
Do I really need an audiophile system to listen to some old school John Lee Hooker?
 
I'm with you too. An 18 month old and a house move changed that. I'm super happy with my dining room sideboard system. I could try for a listening space but really these days the idea of setting that up and the cost just seems bonkers. Still - I'm here!
 
I put my system up in the spare bedroom mainly to tidy up the lounge and haven't fired it up since...

Got a headphone rig setup in the lounge but considering moving it all back downstairs...
 
blossomchris said:
I have been called an audiophile by several friends and I now realise I am far from it.

Tried a dedicated room and hated it. Listening to music by myself seemed strange, always thought of music as a social thing.

Sure I like the sq of a decent system, but for me it has always been the music first.

I feel I would have failed if I was still swapping boxes.

Maybe you are no longer an audiophile if you are not seeking out the latest tweak?




Bloss


ps: I feel cleansed,
Click to expand...

how much is your gear worth/cost you? if more than say £600-800 in total then you are an audiophile. you are a bourgoise-audiophile I think, emphasiing values beyond the simple material. Then there is the prole-audiophile who thinks in terms of hardware. Then there is the aristo-audiophile who have thousands of £ of gear and looks down an any one else
 
Conan said:
Listening to iggy pop on bbc 6.
Do I really need an audiophile system to listen to some old school John Lee Hooker?
Click to expand...

You've obviously missed the classic Naim active dem of Buddy Holly. That helped me make sense of simple raw old rock'n'roll.

Music first for me too. I'm not a box changer either. I do like the technology behind the music. That's where my main qualifications are. I'm involved with it at work. I indulge it at home mainly when making music. I'm not precious about my system and I don't mind if it's not perfect (vinyl with a Decca, Naim & 'Briks) because it makes music for me.

There's nothing wrong with being an audiophile for the sake of it either.
 
mercalia said:
how much is your gear worth/cost you? if more than say £600-800 in total then you are an audiophile. you are a bourgoise-audiophile I think, emphasiing values beyond the simple material. Then there is the prole-audiophile who thinks in terms of hardware. Then there is the aristo-audiophile who have thousands of £ of gear and looks down an any one else
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That sounds quite like inverted snobbery. For many £6k is someone else's £600. Individual bits of my system have never cost me too much. Trade deals and second hand usually. But £ per year as I keep things for years and decades is never much.

As long as people are enjoying their system I will have no worries. Many have a quest to obtain something and bounce between box to box is something I don't understand. However this can be more nuanced, smart buying and selling can give you minimal costs. Or swapping out £100 eBay bargains shouldn't upset any one- shouldn't it?
 
one thing i am tired of is sitting in the sweet spot. antisocial and too easy to put off doing other things. i'm not surprised the latest/most expensive new speakers are using omni- or multi- directional technologies.

but my system, if i were to try to replicate the SQ buying new, would probably cost over £5K, so no denying I'm an audiophile...
 
My current system (vinyl only) has a SH value of about 5k. Ten years ago I would have had about 15k SH tied up in it. The great thing about having been in this hobby seriously for about 25 years and being a member of pfm is I have learned stuff. I listen to people and try things. The 5k one is much more satisfying than the 15k job. I just enjoy it now and I'm determined to get to Scalford this year, work must come second!
 
Conan said:
Listening to iggy pop on bbc 6.
Do I really need an audiophile system to listen to some old school John Lee Hooker?
Click to expand...
Nope.. & neither does anyone else, whatever your music tastes

IT'S A MARKETING CON !!! OPEN YOUR EYES...YOUR MINDS...& YOUR EARS FOLKS :D

If your spending 20 grand on your hifi, it's no longer about the music

Chris has it right IMO, he is, indeed, cleansed.
 
It's beyond me why we should be made to feel guilty about having hi-fi as a hobby. I'm a music freak and listen to it for hours a day. The rig I have in the upstairs office gets a lot of use and serves to keep me sane in this mad world we live in. If I didn't have a hi-fi system, I'd still listen to music; discovering new stuff on the internet Radio stations on my laptop is one of my greatest pleasures. The rig downstairs doesn't get as much use as I'd like, but then we all have to work don't we?
 
Ragaman said:
Nope.. & neither does anyone else, whatever your music tastes

IT'S A MARKETING CON !!! OPEN YOUR EYES...YOUR MINDS...& YOUR EARS FOLKS :D

If your spending 20 grand on your hifi, it's no longer about the music

Chris has it right IMO, he is, indeed, cleansed.
Click to expand...

Odd that you would choose to post something like that on here. It's a bit like posting that front engine front wheel drive is all you need, on a Porsche forum. It's just plain rude, IMHO.

Either that, or you want us all to know how superior you are, because you alone have The Truth.

Either way, it's not a particularly good look, if you don't mind my saying so.
 
wylton said:
It's beyond me why we should be made to feel guilty about having hi-fi as a hobby. I'm a music freak and listen to it for hours a day. The rig I have in the upstairs office gets a lot of use and serves to keep me sane in this mad world we live in. If I didn't have a hi-fi system, I'd still listen to music; discovering new stuff on the internet Radio stations on my laptop is one of my greatest pleasures.
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Agreed. Likewise, I'm an audiophile because I love music. I just have the kind of mindset where I want to learn about and explore the things that interest me as much as possible, so yes, I have a substantial (but ruthlessly edited) music collection and a variety of audio systems and components, many I have personally restored. I don't do the things I like in shallow lightweight ways, I get right into them and do them to the very best of my ability! Why on earth would one not want a high-end hi-fi system, a good guitar, a good bicycle or whatever? Why put up with second-rate shite? You get just one go at this life! Hi-fi is one of those things that, assuming you have a clue, you can do for the price of investment too, i.e. buy used at a price you can recover later, so it can often be free! Same story with guitars etc.
 
I dont need to wake up, I am not 'all about the music'. Ive always enjoyed the equipment as much as the music. Like playing with it, like looking at it and like owning it.
 
Tony L said:
Agreed. Likewise, I'm an audiophile because I love music. I just have the kind of mindset where I want to learn about and explore the things that interest me as much as possible, so yes, I have a substantial (but ruthlessly edited) music collection and a variety of audio systems and components, many I have personally restored. I don't do the things I like in shallow lightweight ways, I get right into them and do them to the very best of my ability! Why on earth would one not want a high-end hi-fi system, a good guitar, a good bicycle or whatever? Why put up with second-rate shite? You get just one go at this life! Hi-fi is one of those things that, assuming you have a clue, you can do for the price of investment too, i.e. buy used at a price you can recover later, so it can often be free! Same story with guitars etc.
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I have heard lot's of over priced, uber expensive, high end, second rate shite.

Spoken like a true audiophile, the higher the price, the better it just has to be, game set & match for hifi stockists the world over.

My little Denon taught me a lesson over Christmas, ignore the cheap, non audiophile stuff at your peril.

The rest of the post I agree with, nothing wrong with having hifi as a hobby, as long as you have a very open mind that is.

What does high end mean anyway, surely, if the system sounds wonderful to the person using it, why on earth yearn for the high end, it's nonsensical.
You would think, buying a super expensive Christmas cake from a high end cake shop would be enough to satisfy, wrong, I have never had the misfortune of eating such an over sweet, leaden, dry piece of crap in all my days, the Tesco £6 log was easily the best cake I have had the pleasure of eating in a long time, it was a wonderfully moist piece of chocolate heaven.
 
Ragaman said:
I have heard lot's of over priced, uber expensive, high end, second rate shite.
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So have I, it certainly doesn't mean it all is. It also doesn't mean one size fits all, e.g. your system may fit your very specific taste, choice in music, listening level etc, yet others may well hate it!
 
Ragaman said:
I have heard lot's of over priced, uber expensive, high end, second rate shite.

Spoken like a true audipphile, the higher the price, the better it just has to be, game set & match for hifi stockists the world over.

My little Denon taught me a lesson over Christmas, ignore the cheap, non audiophile stuff at your peril.

The rest of the post I agree with, nothing wrong with having hifi as a hobby, as long as you have a very open mind that is.
Click to expand...

Thanks for popping in.
 
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