In my collection I've got some down right awful recordings, and many more that are just mediocre. But I love music and dig past all that to embrace the music. When I listen to well recorded music of course I'm in music heaven, but those who aren't pure music lovers are missing out on a LOT! Of course I grew up in the transistor radio era, too. Might have a little to do with it.
@mewsickbuff You would think so, but I've run into a few guys who can't even listen to a whole song. All they want to do is play test tracks for 30 seconds and A/B test until the cows come home. The best way to shut them up is to ask them what new albums they are enjoying lately! Cheers, Spencer
Too soon? I literally just found this forum. I'm calling myself an audiophile-in-training - and female. I've always had the pleasure of enjoying excellent audio because my father had it set up. that was years ago - now I'm starting my on my own, looking to recreate the goodness. Hope to learn a lot from you all!
@ redridinghood, welcome fellow female audiophile (in the making). I also learned a lot about music systems on forums (and am still learning). You are in for quite a ride, but remember, in the end your own ears will let you know what sound is right for you. Enjoy the journey!
My wife surprised me a couple weeks back. I was doing a 30-day in home audition of a new amplifier. I figured it best to keep her involved for WAF so I did a blind A/B test with her. I played selections from my standard CD Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here," then I played the same from the newer remastered Experience Edition. I asked her which do you like better and she chose the remaster every time no matter how I changed the play order. Then I played Rush Moving pictures FLAC 44.1/16 and compared it to FLAC 96/24 and she chose the 96/24 file (I'm still not sure if the 96/24 sounded better due the oversampling or being remastered but, that is for another thread later). Anyhow there we have it, a recently discovered female audiophile.
Two times now I have been without a preamp and was forced to go direct via the variable output on different CDPs. Both times my wife has said it sounds like s**t. I don't know if it qualifies her but she can hear the difference.
I am loving this thread! And to Papermill..I am happy for you and enjoyed this Axpona show story of yours. I try to encourage women and thank them for coming to audio shows as often as possible. I encourage them to learn more about this fantastic hobby and also give them some education about how I record my music with the best known engineers in the audio world, Al Schmitt and Bernie Grundman and the women often like the stories behind the music I share and learning how the systems respond to music created by these wonderful engineers. Women have great "ears" and I hope more take an interest in this hobby.
My ex was an audiophile although I don’t think she continued after we separated. She was one that would listen to a song 5-10 times to dial in VTA/azimuth with me and comment on the results with surprising details and accuracy. She expressed interest in learning/doing the adjustments herself and got quite good at it. Also preferred tubes over SS.
The wife of one of my audiophile friends is a raving audiophile right along with us. She is well versed in all things audio and has a huge say in what tweaks and/or new components make the grade or are rejected. She attends all the trade shows with us as did my ex and both thoroughly enjoy(ed) them.
There are a few, but few others will take up something that will cut into(destroy?) their fashion , shoe and jewels budget . Not to mention the new furniture .
(1) as written, a politically incorrect original post just waiting to flame up. (2) one of the largest audio dealers in Toronto is a member of the fairer sex.
I’ve sold teo GC cables to about 4 women, probably members of this forum, or at least readers who are audiogon members. The cable reveals much not before heard, but it does it with no false added exaggeration in the disputed frequency ranges--which wire will falsify and distort.. Which is why some guys find it dark, when it is not, no, not at all.
Angie (american sound) has trained many of the people who opened up their own shops, over the years..in the Toronto area. She says she trained her own competition. She’s not wrong.
Regarding women and hearing. the place they use in their hearing range to interpret the cries of children and newborns, is the range the human ear is most sensitive to, and it (the spacial and detail sensitivity) peaks at about 3-4khz.
Women do not like equipment, cables, or speakers that emphasize or distort this region of frequencies and transients.
Men use this range of frequencies to hunt through the jungle and be able to spatially locate things in 3d space, in order to protect or to hunt. Men find this to be exciting and is the detail range of frequencies, which many men look for in audio. I find this sound characteristic to be fatiguing and hard.
Men get excited (in general terms) by it and women (in the same scenario and room) run from the room clasping their ears (in general terms).
Excellent post teo. After 25 years of experience with my (American) wife (boy, can she hear!) and audio, I find what you say about women’s sensitivity to upper mids and highs in the vocal range very true. Many a time she has saved me from getting stuck with aggressive-sounding gear/cables that, at first, sounded detailed/lively/exciting/etc to me but ultimately fatiquing later on (thankfully before the return period expiration).
How about the fact that both Stereophile and Absolute Sound now have excellent female reviewers? In addition to the dealer mentioned above in Toronto, there's also Stereotypes Audio (GREAT NAME) in Portland, OR. Yes, we are out here. I know several women audiophiles, including my sister and best friend (both Harbeth fans). I've been deep into this for about five years--I've put in dedicated lines and acoustic treatment, and have KEF, Harbeth, Silverline, Trenner & Friedl, Mr. Speakers, Vinnie Rossi, Brinkmann, Exposure, Rega, & Line Magnetic gear currently in use in one set up or another. Getting started now with vinyl and tubes. Yes, there are a lot of us! I've gotten a lot of help from this forum over the past several years. Thanks for that -Margot
Let's see, there's Enid Lumley, May Belt, Elizabeth and Sue Kraft, the latter two which post mostly over on Audio Asylum on various sundry topics. May used to post most regularly on AA and Stereophile Forum.
All audiophiles are not music lovers. Not in the sense of sitting down and listening to an entire CD/Album or an entire symphony. Back in the day we would have group listening sessions that would last 4-5 hours. The true music lovers
(and beer lovers)
would show and stay. The guys that would change their system every month, not so much. So I've always said that there are audiophile music lovers and audiophile equipment lovers.
A couple years ago I sold some cables to a woman. We spoke on the phone for hours about audio, the "madness", and music in general. I was amazed the entire time as this was the first and ONLY time I ever had an encounter with a female audiophile. I didn't know they existed.
tgun5, what you say is largely spot-on . However the two groups are not mutually exclusive . Many of this forum are both even though it's only .0000001 of Americans .
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