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Any other lone audiophiles here?

By "Lone" I mean you have no other local audiophile buddies. That describes my experience. My wife and I usually listen together. I have no other friends to borrow equipment or to audition theirs. In spite of that I believe I've done a pretty good job of putting together a system which is very good. I've done it strictly by reading reviews, etc and lots of research. I see the situation as both an advantage and maybe a curse. The advantage is that Maybe I don't know what I'm missing. The curse is may be that I often wonder IF I need to upgrade? Or am m missing something.? Like right now. I just bought a CJ CT5 preamp which is silly good.So now I wonder about my amp? The CJ retails for 8x more than my silly little tube amp...a Bob Latino ST-70. Yet I believe that amp is fully pulling its weight while hooked to a preamp which is silly good. Surely, this amp can't be the be all end all. However It did replace an amp which retails for 4x its price. Who knows? maybe its the ST-70 which needed a better preamp to show off its stuff. Nonetheless, I enjoy the music  immensely. and all the advice I've gotten from people on the forums over the years. FWIW, I also play drums  and have played live. So I DO know what live music sounds like. So, maybe I'm not shooting totally in the dark.
128x128artemus_5
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douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Artemus, oh, wow, I just looked at your virtual system; you're grousing about wife asking you to build a dedicated room!!! Woa! JUMP ON IT! 
That is a primary way to really gain in the hobby. I built my own room and it is by far one of the best things I ever did as an audiophile. It's hard to overestimate the influence of a great room. I wanted a room that was like a mastering studio, and that's what I got. The intimacy and quietness is wonderful, allowing me to hear deeply into the system performance, a radical departure from using the living room as I used to. 

It took me 8 months to build my specialty room as I am not in the trades, because I took my sweet time to make sure it was as close to perfect conceptually as possible. I LOVE the result and it's pure pleasure every time I use the room. I sought the approval of my wife, and she was generous, saying, "I don't care what you do. I don't care what you spend." She asked for new furniture for the family room; she got it! 

Re: Audio friends - you build it and they will come!  LOL 
inorganic's avatar
inorganic
19 posts
 
I like the approach Elizabeth has taken.  I am surrounded by genius-level performers and composers.  Like Artemus_5 I have no audiophile friends around me, no audiophile stores with in an hours drive...but I have a great system.  I have been doing this for many years, and with the care and guidance of an old but distant friend, I have been keeping up to date equipment wise.  After all, it really is the music that keeps me here, music well presented.
d2girls's avatar
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d2girls
1,029 posts
 
yes, absolutely. as a young working professional, and female, i have yet to meet a peer who is into hifi stereo as much as i am.
its a bet depressing because whenever i go to hifi shops to make a purchase i get treated like an amateur, and with 0 respect. excuse me for taking an interest in your hobby, you crusty old men.

its funny because by turning me away by acting like snobbish cocks, they're just losing out big time.. not now, but 15 years down the road when the market is drying up even more then it is now and a lot more stereo hifi shops begin to close up after being unable to adapt to the changing market.

bondmanp
1,799 posts
 
I used to be a lone audiophile, then I found my local audio club. Not only have I made a few dozen new audiophile friends, but I have heard all sorts of gear and speakers in their homes, audio stores and even at manufacturers’ facilities. And my musical horizons have been greatly expanded, too. All this for $60 a year dues. IMHO, it’s the best bargain in audio by a huge margin.
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