Am I right for this forum?


I’ve been an Audiogon member for some years now; I remember (fondly) "millercarbon," for example, which will mean something to some of you. And I’ve been a lover of audio equipment since high school—so, for over 50 years (I graduated in 1973). And yet...more and more, I find myself alienated from this forum, even though I do still read it regularly.

I do have what I consider a very "high-fidelity" system. I’ve written a very long account of my "audio journey," complete with many photos, but not "published" it on this site. I’m also a member of our local audio club, which includes several very well-heeled members who have systems costing more than most homes (one of them owns equipment valued at nearly a million dollars, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg: his system is housed in a separate structure purpose-built for it that cost well over a million). I play cello and guitar; my wife plays piano, my daughter piano and violin. We play those instruments in the same room occupied by my main audio system, and so I can attest to the "fidelity" of that system’s reproduction.

And yet...my system cost me less than $3,000 in total. I don’t lust after any particular "upgrade," even though I read reviews and all the many accounts of improvements in "SQ" documented in this forum.

So...am I an "audiophile," or not? Do I belong here, or not?


I’m listening right now to a wonderful bit of Mozart. I also love Tool. And Christy Moore. And Eva Cassidy. And so many others. I agree with Nietzsche: without music, life would be a mistake. But am I an audiophile? Do I belong on this forum?

Any sympathy here? Anyone else feel alienated from the "audiophile community" despite loving the miracle of audio technology?

128x128snilf
audphile1 no harm done, no offense taken. Farts happen.

And a correction, by the way. As my overlong narrative concludes, $4,000 is a more accurate estimate of what I paid for the components in my system than $3,000. I guess I should read my own words more carefully. 

Of course you belong as much as anyone else does.  I would ignore the Stuart Smalley comments.

Stuart Smalley?

@snilf 

I am not familiar with the actual equipment that is listed for your system, however, I am familiar with some of the brands listed (NHT, NAD, Maranzt) and you have a TT and a DAC and a line conditioner . . . I am thinking you got some pretty good bargains to get all that for 4k?

@larsman  , I vaguely remember that character . . . wasn't Al Franken the one who portrayed him?  What I was wondering was how Stuart Smalley got into the conversation?

@immatthewj - Stuart Smalley was a character on Saturday Night Live in days gone by....