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How To Field Questions About Your Audiophile Lifestyle...

We Audiophiles often have a bit of "The Adams Family" about us to other people..especially to neighbors and those who come into contact with us often.Here are some of the most common questions that come up and some suggestions on how to field them.

Q."About that stereo of yours,; "what kind is it?"
 A. Looking at your watch, "It's a q
uarter to 5."

Q."How much did it cost?"
 A. "I'm not sure.I stole it."

 Q."How come my stereo doesn't' sound like that?"
 A."You need smarter friends with better advice." "I hear they really kick"is 5 words from hell, if you are really serious about your selections.

 Q."Why do you play "Aerosmith" and the "Butthole Surfers"then switch to that "Beethoven"
 crap?"
  A. "Beethoven was a musician too."He went deaf without any rock music at all.

  Q."Why is your furniture differently arranged than everybody else's, all diagonally?"
  A."It has to do with the lighting,"or "Thats the way the previous people living here liked it."

  Q."Why do you always walk backwards when there is a strong wind coming at you ?"
  A."I like to protect my nice face from aging" or "I forgot my ear muffs today."

  Q."Why do you play your CD player with the top off and why does the Xmas tree near it always have greenish blue lights."
  A.It has to do with the absorption of stray laser..Err it's too long a story."

  Q."Why do you have a Xmas tree still up by your CD player?"
  A."It's already September..Might as well just keep it up now."

I hope this helps.

supertweak
aalenik
67 posts
 

More to the point... Why do you folks avoid answering questions about your hobby & your systems?  Are you too busy - or too good - to deal with the uninformed masses??

I am just the opposite.  If someone expresses interest, I'll answer any questions (yes, even stupid ones) and I'm always happy to demonstrate.

No wonder the high-end is shrinking if you guys dismiss others with such disdainful snobbery.  If they're interested, why not EDUCATE them a little?  Inspire them!  You might even make their lives a little better.

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
As I pointed out recently - as a manufacturer - one should be cautious giving out any information as it can be used against you and we’ve seen a perfect example of that here recently with what’s his name, the Man from Glad.  Moreover, many of the more esoteric and controversial tweaks and inventions happen out of the blue and there may be no obvious explanation acceptable to John Q Public or even to advanced audiophiles.
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
aalenik

It isn't about snobbery. Years ago, I was like you. Wanting to tell the world how wonderful a good stereo system can sound. How relaxing and enjoyable to listen to your favorite music in High Fidelity. After a while, you get a little introverted when people would constantly tell you how foolish you are for wasting time and especially money on stereo equipment. At best they would try to be polite and say they were too busy to listen to music so intently or they could not afford it. When it comes to HEA, it's hard to inspire the "flat earth" believers. IMO.
wolf_garcia
6,702 posts
 
Does somebody actually get "introverted" from "when people would constantly tell you how foolish you are for wasting time and especially money on stereo equipment." Who are those people? That's a tough crowd ya got there. My experience over more than 5 decades of audio stuff (I was roped into running a 16 millimeter projector for a fearful teacher in the 5th grade...now I get overpaid to mix concert sound) is most people are so uninterested in audio freaks they don't care enough to be negative about it. "Your hobby is BAD Clem...hang your head!"
rlb61
789 posts
 
"It isn’t about snobbery. Years ago, I was like you. Wanting to tell the world how wonderful a good stereo system can sound. How relaxing and enjoyable to listen to your favorite music in High Fidelity. After a while, you get a little introverted when people would constantly tell you how foolish you are for wasting time and especially money on stereo equipment. At best they would try to be polite and say they were too busy to listen to music so intently or they could not afford it. When it comes to HEA, it’s hard to inspire the "flat earth" believers. IMO."

+1! Most people are not "interested" in the system. Rather, they look to criticize what they don’t understand, either out of ignorance or envy. I no longer have any patience for that. It’s my money, I’ll spend it any way I want, and I don’t need to justify the cost of my system to anyone. My wife gives me carte blanche to buy what I want, no questions asked (even though I am judicious), so no friend or stranger is entitled to an explanation. It’s that simple.
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