[audioferret]

7. When my wife leaves the house, before she gets the car into Reverse, I've already pushed the furniture around (for maximum imaging and soundstage), popped the grills, cracked a Dale's Pale Ale (my new everyday favorite), and sunk my fat behind deep into the sweet spot, CD player remote in one hand and beer in the other. Ah, sweet bliss...
12. Even though at this point I am COMPLETELY satisfied with the quality of my system, I am still interested in listening to other speakers, even if it means driving for two hours knowing full well I have no money for more equipment...

Cry-
"It's so true..."

[jqp]

3. I fret over categorizing my CDs on a daily basis. (Fleetwood Mac's "Pious Bird of Good Omen" belongs in my Blues section, but then what about "The Kiln House"? It isn't blues, but it just seems wrong to not slot them contiguously (chronologically, of course).

Anyone who owns Kiln House is automatically an audiophile

How about "99% mp3 free"

[mrmusic]

Excellent answers here.  Good music, well reproduced is the world's best hallucinogen.  Did you ever take a wild ride on your system with the lights out and forget you weren't alone?  Kind of embarrasing wiping the tears from your face...Music is that universal language that goes right past the blood/brain barrier and pulls your soul through alternate dimensions.  Man I envy people who can play, and have talent.

Sidebar:  Went to see Buddy Guy a couple of weeks ago.  That old man can flat rip it up!!!  He's about seventy now so if you get a chance go see him.

Later,

[Captain Humble]

Great Topic!
After years of participation on AudioCircle and Harmonic Discord I’ve discovered that I had a total misconception of the term audiophile.  I think part of this stems from cruising audioreview.com where reviewers tag themselves as either Audiophiles or Music Enthusiasts.  The implication for me was that an audiophile must earn the title by being armed with golden ears, a plethora of knowledge and a very high end high $$$ system.  Since I've yet to see a test that certifies one as an audiophile, I assumed that any self proclaimed audiophile must have a very high impression of himself and just might be a bit of a snob.  False!

Merriam-Webster defines audiophile as:

a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction

Like it or not, by definition those that post reviews on audioreview.com are audiophiles and so are the members of AC.  Any snobbery that’s associated with the term stems from a misunderstanding of the term and or the attitude of some members of the audiophile community.  This isn’t a slam on the audiophile community; one can find snobs in every walk of life.

Last weekend I was sharing a nice bottle of wine with my wife’s cousin in New Orleans.
He is the New Orleans Chapter President of one of the most prestigious wine societies in the US.  Naturally I like to pick his brain regarding wine and in the course of our discussion he posed the question.

“What defines a great wine?”

His Answer:
The one you like be it a $3 screw cap or a $1,000 bottle from his reserve celler!
No snobbery there.

IMHumbeO, the same holds true for audio.
Tubes vs. Solid State, Copper vs. Silver, CDP vs. Turntable, etc.
What defines a great system?
The one you like!

Recording Quality:
Perhaps we could coin a term for those of us who have become snobs, or at least very selective about the quality of the recordings we listen to.  Our enthusiasm for high-fidelity sound reproduction drives many of us to continue to improve our systems and those improvements enable us to more easily distinguish fine recordings from inferior recordings.

Listening to inferior recordings on a great sound system is for me analogous to driving a Porsche in a school zone.  A school zone just isn’t the right venue for exploring the capabilities of the machine.  I once read a post from Zybar where he used the phrase “it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up”.  When I’m looking for a similar experience I’m a very selective, perhaps to the point of being snobbish, about the recording I select.

For me, audiophile recordings must be well engineered in order to allow one’s system to show what it’s capable of.  Lesser recordings are enjoyed on my Nano and office system.

Jeff

[woodsyi]

A Raver, perhaps? 


I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told.
I have squandered my resistance,
For a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises.
All lies and jest.
Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy,
In the company of strangers,
In the quiet of a railway station, runnin' scared.
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters,
Where the tubey people go.
Lookin' for the places, only they would know.

Lie-la-lie ...

Offering only workman's wages I come lookin' for a tube,
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue.
I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome,
I took some comfort there.
Oooh la, la, la ...

(Instrumental break)

Li la li ...

And I’m laying out my bottled amps, wishing I was gone, goin’ home
Where the new york city juices aren’t bleedin’ me, leadin’ me to goin' home

In the clearing stands an audiophile and a trader by his choice,
And he carries the reminders of every deal that laid him down,
Or bled him 'til he cried out in his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the tubes still remain.

Lie-la-lie ...

[Danny Richie]

I found this list of definitions about 6 years ago:


1. A person who exhibits extreme obsessive/compulsive behavior that
happens to be directed at achieving perfect music reproduction, even at the risk of
compromising their personal relationships and financial security.

2. A delusional person who believes he or she can find the "holy grail" of perfect music
reproduction, a condition often manifest by unrelenting searches for new audio equipment
and frequent pronouncements of the type: "If only I had a [INSERT NAME OF AN
OBSCURE OR EXPENSIVE PIECE OF MUSIC REPRODUCTION GEAR HERE]."

3. Any of a class of people who dedicate far more time and money developing a music
reproduction system to capture the essence of a "live" concert, than they spend actually
going to live concerts.

4. Any person who is willing to spend more money to purchase a single "upgrade" AC
power cord for an electronic device than is earned in an entire year by 70% of the other
people in the world.

5. A malcontent who devotes inordinate time visiting audio equipment dealers,
auditioning new audio gear, reading audio magazines, trying seemingly irrational
"tweaks" like demagnetizing CDs, continually adjusting their speaker placement and
changing cables, and scanning audio-related Internet chat rooms looking for other ways
to achieve better music reproduction.

6. A person whose life is characterized by extended periods of dissatisfaction and
apprehension punctuated by occasional periods of euphoria and contentment induced
by sublime music reproduction.

7. You and I. : )

[woodsyi]

See, that's a definition of an audiophile to which I will not subscribe.  I don't like the pejorative nuances (which you spellled out nicely) that the term audiophile sometimes generates.  Call me what you will -- I just want to be a music lover and a gearhead. And a great dad and a fabulous husband. 

[bgewaudio]

Danny,

Regarding those definitions you've posted seem to be kind of cynical, almost making someone on the outside think that audiophile's are just conceded, carless, self-indulgent pricks  but truthfully, I find that to some extent, I and many others here fit into each and every one of those definitions in one way or another.

 

[Danny Richie]

I think it was supposed to be sarcastic not literal. You have to read it knowing that it's a joke.

[bgewaudio]

Yes I know!............... Guess the LOL face at the end of my reply didn't give it away!

[woodsyi]

I think it was supposed to be sarcastic not literal. You have to read it knowing that it's a joke.

I hear you.  I read it and I did not think they were your definitions.  You wouldn't want to deal with those type A's as customers. Would you?     BTW, I must be an audiophile if I get my heckles up whenever someone insinuates derogatory meaning to the word even as a joke.   

[Danny Richie]

Yes I know!............... Guess the LOL face at the end of my reply didn't give it away!

My response wasn't directed to you. It was a general response. I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

[bgewaudio]

Nah, it was good for a laugh!!!!!!

All I can say is regarless of any definition.........I am one.............and I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Listening! (audiophile or not)

 

[Scotty]

I will have to go with Danny's definitions 1 through 6 and add two further
characteristics, an unfamilarity with the sound of live un-amplified music and no desire to have the recorded  music they listen to at home resemble the real thing.
And two, the inability to listen uncritically to reproduced music for enjoyment
and relaxation. If you cannot hear past the equipment in your system to the music it is reproducing, you might be an audiophile.
Scotty