[Herbie]

I’m a music lover. I’ve always enjoyed making music, creating music, listening to music. Music is my elixir, my way of transforming life’s material stresses into gold and relaxing.

Music lovers simply love music. Nothing scientific about it, no engineering degree required. To best enjoy music, music simply has to be music. To the music lover, recorded music is most enjoyable not when it sounds like music but when it really is music.

A “gear” nut can love music also, but is obsessed with the means, the equipment. You can tell a gear nut from the music lover. The gear nut will invite you over to “listen to my new amp,” whereas a music lover will invite you over to “listen to this great recording of ...”

Of course, the two audiophile types are not polar opposites. The music lover best enjoys recorded music when it is reproduced musically and lifelike on good equipment, not so enjoyable through a Jensen mini boom-box. Likewise the gear nut isn’t likely to get off on recordings of freight trains or farm animals.

I’m not a gear nut, but if you live nearby and want to invite me over to listen to your new amp, I’m game.

Steve
Herbie’s Audio Lab

[davidrs]

Steve,

But not for my music???

You are always welcome at my place in western NY.

- David.

[decal]

Music first and foremost. I like equipment but,to me, it's just a means of delivering the sound.

[roscoeiii]

In general I like to think of myself as a lover and nut.

With regards to music lover vs. gear nut however....

[jimdgoulding]

Music lover.  My gear is my transportation is all.

[Don_S]

I am a music lover. Equipment is only the means to the end. But more specifically, I am a "word person". Even though the beat of rock and roll stirred my youthful spirit, I was always more of a "folkie". Lyrics often inspired me more than the instruments.

I am still that way. But when I invite my friends over it is to hear new equipment because they lack the requisite depth of soul to fully appreciate my music.  We have agreed to disagree. 

[nonoise]

Music is what I care about. The equipment is just the way to get there. They can be mutually exclusive as some are carried away by the music without the need for great gear but there are the rest of us who savor the various offerings out there.
I enjoy searching out great gear but once I've found it, I'm content.

[zeke]

Most people in this hobby are both.

I buy/sell lots of gear, but also buy/trade lots of music.

[jaxwired]

Most people in this hobby are both.

I buy/sell lots of gear, but also buy/trade lots of music.

Right on.  But almost everyone will say they are a "music first" person.  Even the most fevered box swappers will rarely admit they love the gear more than the music.  People consider it more honorable to be a music lover.  People typically are embarassed to admit they love the gear much more than the music. 
And what about me you ask?  Why music lover of course... 

[Tyson]

That's like asking - do you like to cook, or like to eat?  For me the answer is "both" to both questions.

[low.pfile]

after going from 10 to 60mph in the equipment world in the last 5 years. my system is capable of producing the sounds that I enjoy. so 90% of my time is listening to the music in my library (just topped 1000 albums recently) and seeking new music (both new new and old). I've even accepted 192kbps files as they are the only format available for one-off live recordings of musicians I really enjoy. Then there is the live performance experience....the more the better.

Buying new gear/kit is low on my priority list. Getting tix to a live show with 300 tickets and limited edition 7" singles is high. But it's cool to know what is out there and what others are getting psyched on.

I feel having great music in my library to share with my friends in my living room is more enjoyable than squeezing out the n-th degree of resolution from a recording or transient decay/jitter residue. Or even myself for that matter.

So, music, music, music. When it's well recorded that makes it extra special. the music itself is already wonderful.

[midfi]

I'm both...   Love my music and probably couldn't live without it BUT!!!!!  I'm a big Gear Nut as well because I need a decent transporter of said music.  As my screen name denotes, I'm a fan of "giant killers" in the audio world.  You know, the stuff that shouldn't be so good at the price point it's at.  Analog is King, digital is Queen but I'll listen to the Queen if the King ain't available!

[FullRangeMan]

Seems to me, there is no melomanus posting msg in a sub-forum of specialized tube acessories as HerbieAudioLab, we are all audiophiles here.
Unless musiclovers now sport or like fancy tube amps with sweet NOS tubes.

[TerryO]

I've always enjoyed listening to Music. When I was a kid it was Mono 78's and the radio (there were "very" few TVs around).

I suppose that I'm more of a gear nut, as the better the reproduction, the better I enjoy the music, so I really don't break it down too much.
I built a crystal radio when I was a kid and I suppose that has something to do with it as well, and I've always enjoyed building stuff with my hands. Most of my friends are engineers or techs, many of them in the audio industry, so I've learned a lot from them as well.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[Zero]

I go both ways.

[FredT300B]

It might be helpful to think of this as a continuum, with "music lover" at one end and "gear nut" at the other. Where anybody falls on that continuum may vary with the situation. For example, when I listen to my own system, that has been in my room for the last few years, I'm almost certain to focus on the music and not think much about the equipment that's reproducing it. But when I visit a friend's house or an audio show to hear new and unfamiliar equipment, I'm more likely to be a gear nut and focus on the sound of the equipment.

[michaelhigh]

That's like asking - do you like to cook, or like to eat?  For me the answer is "both" to both questions.

I'm 53, been a pro musician since 12, and have only been able to afford good midfi gear for a couple years, so my focus has shifted. All my life it's been a focus on songs and music as a way of life, now, as much as I love music, the gear aspect has taken on a new meaning. I've made lots of lateral moves at a a certain level but yearn for breakthroughs in technology and lucky breaks in the used gear market. To sum it up, my mantra is "thank God for vintage Sansui and Heritage Klipsch".

[jostber]

I go both ways.

I'm a gear nut because of the love of music. 

[FullRangeMan]

I aware Iam not a music lover, as listen music in a bad equip is not good to me, and Iam not gear nut, as bad music in a good equip is not good also.
So seems Iam a audiophile.

[geezer]

As has been said already, all of us (or almost all) are both, but we differ in how much we lean one way or the other. I'd like to get a more definite, quantitative measure. I'd like to see answers to the following question:

How often do you make major changes in your gear (meaning, say, at least half of your gear) ?

In my case, I started in 1955 with Heathkit, and I just replaced my system for the fourth time four years ago, so my switching frequency is about once in 14 years. I'd guess, by this measure at least, I'm further away from a gear-nut and closer to music lover than most who post here.