Are AudioCircle members representative of general a'philes?

Tonto Yoder · « **on:** 14 Oct 2003, 12:13 pm »

There seems to be a greater emphasis here on DACs and less on vinyl (compared to AA). Is that actually true or is it just a difference in the formats of the two forums?? (It seems it's easier to browse ALL circles here whereas AA is more segmented).

JoshK · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 12:51 pm »

hard to say but I find I bump into my vinyl lovers here on AC but they might just not have much to say on the subject.

nathanm · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 02:33 pm »

Formats says I. I can take about 2 minutes of reading AA before I become utterly frustrated. How people can tolerate that un-navigable format is beyond me. It's fast, I'll give it that...

gotmikey · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 03:15 pm »

Audio Asylum???... Can someone say bland. Very informational assuming you can handle the horrible site format. I wonder if they know this?

meilankev · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 03:23 pm »

Well, the vast majority of my listening is vinyl. Some recent purchases:

180g - The Byrds ......... "Collection"
180g - Led Zeppelin ..... "I"
180g - Led Zeppelin ..... "II"
180g - Led Zeppelin ..... "III"
180g - Led Zeppelin ..... "Houses of the Holy"
180g - Otis Redding ..... "Live in Europe"
180g - Spirit ............... "The Band That Plays Together"
200g - Ray Brown Trio . "Soular Energy"
200g - Peter Gabriel .... "I (Car)"
200g - Peter Gabriel .... "II (Scratch)"
200g - Peter Gabriel .... "III (Melt)"
200g - Peter Gabriel .... "So"
200g - Genesis ........... "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"
200g - Carole King ...... "Tapestry"
200g - Led Zeppelin ..... "IV"
200g - Led Zeppelin ..... "Physical Grafitti"

To be honest, I never equated "vinyl usage" to "devotion to audio". However, in one very important way, I am a lone wolf in the audio community:

"I never think about upgrading or improving my system."

I don't sit and wonder if tube rolling can improve my amps. I have no interested in installing FSTs for my RM40s. Originally, I considered some room treatments, but I'm certain I'll never get around to it. Simply put, I buy the best system I can afford, and I enjoy it until it gives out.

For example, my previous electronics were bought in 1981, and served in my main system until Spring 2002. The power amp and turntable are now a part of my wife's system, and my tuner is still in my main system. The preamp and cassette deck died. My previous speakers were bought in 1989, and were also replaced last Spring. They now serve as main speakers in my wife's system.

Am I an audiophile? Probably not, by most definitions. But do I enjoy listening to music at a relatively high level of reproduction? Absolutely.

Kevin

beat · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 03:44 pm »

good question tonto,
Of all the forums I've tried this is the one that seemed to jive for me. Compared to AA I cant say as I too find it frustrating and user unfriendly so I never got into the habit of frequenting there. Not enough action at HD or AK. When I first found Audio Karma it seemed pretty vinyl friendly and HD seemed more tech based. Just my impression. AC had just started up around then and I would like to think of it as a pretty good slice of the general a'phile populus, that is how it feels to me. Regarding AC and a slow vinyl department, I think it just maybe that there arent a whole lot of us out there period, and since AA has been around longer I'm sure their membership is quite abit bigger than here.

_scotty_ · « **Reply #6 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 05:39 pm »

I think that the membership may be fairly representative. Many audiophiles I know 35years old and younger never even owned a TT or listened to vinyl at all. They started with digital from the beginning. I confess that I may play my vinyl once or twice a month. It sounds good and most of the music I listen to is not available in digital formats. If I want something closer to the master tape I have to go to my modded
SACD1000. The vinyl is a time and hassel thing as well, involving ritualistic behavior and cleaning before and after. A whole symphony is a lot of excercise for a couch potato. I admit I am getting lazyer as well as older.

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #7 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 05:55 pm »

Quote from: nathanm

Formats says I. I can take about 2 minutes of reading AA before I become utterly frustrated. How people can tolerate that un-navigable format is beyond me. It's fast, I'll give it that...

That surprises me. I always liked the AA tree format where one person could respond specifically to another, and the tangential info could have a sub-thread. Here post 12 may be responding to post 5, while the intervening posts may be about something fairly different. It took me a while to adjust to that.

Quote from: scotty

I think that the membership may be fairly representative. Many audiophiles I know 35years old and younger never even owned a TT or listened to vinyl at all. They started with digital from the beginning

I was thinking not of the digital vs. analog difference, but of the use of seperate transports and DACs rather than a standalone CDP.

pretzel_logic · « **Reply #8 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 06:31 pm »

I frequent the Asylum on a regular basis and quite honestly love it's format. I like the fact that each thread can have a specific sub-topic and though the display thread function can make it difficult, in general I think it's easier overall. Now I haven't found a search function here yet if there is one but at AA that's a huge plus. I also listen to 99% vinyl and though I visit the tube asylum as well as other sections the vinyl asylum is tops.

Brian

boxhead · « **Reply #9 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 07:36 pm »

I think that AA has some great reviewers of vinyl and it will only be a short time before the merge over to AC. As a vinyl consumer I have found great sources now from the AA crowd. Never thought to look at the Salvation Army. Although here in the south the never ending garage and estate sale are the tried and true finds.

Marbles · « **Reply #10 on:** 14 Oct 2003, 07:59 pm »

Quote from: pretzel_logic

I . Now I haven't found a search function here yet if there is one but at AA that's a huge plus.
Brian

Look at the top of any page, including this one, and you will see a button called "search"

I think it will do what you want it too

pretzel_logic · « **Reply #11 on:** 15 Oct 2003, 02:57 pm »

Must have been the old circle, had trouble finding it but it was probably right there.

Brian

Carlman · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Oct 2003, 04:28 pm »

I think AC'ers are fairly representative... somewhat smart, sometimes smart-assed, but also... engineering types with limited social capabilities, social types with limited engineering capabilities, and everything in between.

I've met a few people from this forum and I've met several a'philes that have no idea about AC and I'd say the mixed bag on AC is fairly representative from a personality type and demographic.

Why do you ask?

From a forum formatting structure, AA sux to me, Audiogon is pretty good, and AC is very good.

Tonto Yoder · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Oct 2003, 05:31 pm »

Quote from: Cartman

Why do you ask?

I was thinking specifically about use of DACs which seems to me to be prevalent here (or just talked about alot). Until coming here, I didn't realize it was still popular, but I don't really visit the digital forum of AA (since digital is the tool of Satan).

Carlman · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 Oct 2003, 03:17 am »

TY... for some reason your original post didn't sink in when I responded to this earlier today... so, the DAC thing was lost on me.

I got into DAC's because it made sense to me... before I was involved at all on any forums... and I went my own path in hifi because I only knew one person with any hifi knowledge which was somewhat outdated.

So, to answer your original post, I don't know. Sorry for the brain fart.

Brad V · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Oct 2003, 06:33 pm »

Quote from: pretzel_logic

I frequent the Asylum on a regular basis and quite honestly love it's format. I like the fact that each thread can have a specific sub-topic and though the display thread function can make it difficult, in general I think it's easier overall. Now I haven't found a search function here yet if there is one but at AA that's a huge plus. I also listen to 99% vinyl and though I visit the tube asylum as well as other sections the vinyl asylum is tops.

Brian

Like Brian, I also like AA, in the fact that each thread can have a specific sub-topic. On AC, you have to read everything from beginning to end, where there is juch wasted time, especially if people go off-topic.

As far as Vinyl is concerned, I don't see any AA people moving here. I've posted many times on the Vinyl section on AC, however it pretty much stays dead and no posts for months at a time. I wish that more people would come over though.

Have a great day,

Brad