Why Do You Love Being an Audiophile?

I don't love being an audiophile. Don't hardly even like it. At all. What I love is music. Specifically, the cathartic pleasure that some music brings. It just so happens that even as hard as this is (building the kind of system that can deliver this), I get a whole lot more of that from a good system than by running around to concerts hoping for a good performance.

No. I do not live being an audiophile. Being an audiophile has required that I learn physics, acoustics, psychology, electronics. Woodworking. Soldering. Sheetrocking and sewing. I've had to learn more stuff about more areas of science than most actual scientists. And then after learning all that science to listen to the most whackily unscientific nonsense - because it sometimes turns out to actually work. 

Being an audiophile means walking into a store and asking to hear something and instead of "sure" and they actually let you listen you have to endure 5 minutes of questioning the likes of which you can never be quite sure how much they're trying to one-up vs actually help you.

Being an audiophile means having a system the whole reason for which is to disappear leaving only the music, only to have people who experience this magic want to talk about nothing but the system.

I do love sharing it with them though. And when I'm listening to it myself. The two times when I have to say its not so bad being an audiophile. 

Audiophile?  Not really......MusicphIle assuredly. Unfortunately getting to the best music reproduction for your ears requires you to graduate from audiophile academy a long and ardeous curriculum. And it's never ending education. When you think you got it you find out you are mistaken.
I do not give my opinions on equipment, everybody hears different but will ask for advice when something is bothering me with my system. Continous education!

You must be a musicphile as precursor to audiophile

 The chicks....

My grandfather pieced together a synthesizer that worked with tubes and he waved his hand over it to change sounds. He kept tubes, wires, capacitors, diodes, flux, soldering irons and many interesting things in two large flat metal boxes under the bed. I was fascinated by all of this, as a small child, and today I think I am the only adult in my neighborhood with a home audio tube amplifier.
Although I liked audio and might think myself a music luver, even an amateur audiophile, I think many audiophiles knowledge is not a lack of expertise, but they treat topics that are highly subjective as “ yes I know what is the best” and I don’t like the arrogance some of these same people have, including myself sometimes, about the subject. Blowhards, including sales people, are really irritating. The fun, easygoing and healthy exchange of ideas on websites like these are what I enjoy very much. High end Audio is just fancy boxes of wires that sometimes sound great, one should not take it too seriously. Great music is much more meaningful, but still even that is very subjective.

@2psyop  that thing your grandfather created is a theremin.Think of the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations" or the " Ooooooo" sounds in old horror movies.Those things are a blast to play with:)

I'm just a music lover that became fascinated by how putting together various components and tweaks can change the entire listening experience from average to "the band is in my room".I 've found it to be an isolating hobby though,the only audio buddy I have is my own brother.And you folks here of course.I don't feel smug or superior to people I know who are thrilled with their home theater in a box.They do leave me baffled at times though.My niece had placed four small speakers and a sub all along the left wall of the seating area.Huh?!She had no interest in my offer to set them up correctly.Oh well...

I like power meters.


Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Erik

The music.

What I learnt in my journey;
1) Enjoy the music; that's what all the equipment are for.
2) A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
3) Understand the character (SWOT analysis) of each piece of equipment.
4) Experiment.

At times I wish I could just be happy with MP3/AAC playing through a Bluetooth speaker or a Bose Wave Radio like my friends, but I can't. The music deserves so much more. So do my ears. It's been a long and sometimes frustrating road to good sound but it's been worth every moment of my time, never mind the cost. My friends think I'm nuts of course. Funny though, one such friend recently commented on how good my system sounded .. "like the musicians are right here in the room with us". Thrilled my soul to be honest. However, she couldn't care less about having a stereo system of her own. Yes, a solitary pursuit for many of us. I enjoy being an audiophile for the most part and am happy to have a couple of acquaintances who at least have similar passion.

It is a privilege to be part of the upper echelons of humanity. It's a lonely place, however.

Music and sound are companions, so perhaps not such a lonely place after all.

@noromance :

"It is a privilege to be part of the upper echelons of humanity. It's a lonely place, however."

"The downside of being better than everyone else is that people tend to assume you're pretentious."

Despair, Inc.

Seems a weird question to me.
I really love music and really enjoy listening to it on my high end audio system.
But I don't go around thinking "I love being an audiophile." 

Not sure what I would "love" about being an audiophile.  Would it be...that I get to listen to music I love on my high end audio system! ?
Seems kind of redundant.  It's in the job description.
I don't know of any particular "perks" of being an audiophile aside from that.  It's not like it's a chick-magnet or anything.

I love being an audiophile because it keeps my wallet thin and light.

I love being an audiophile because:

1. I love to see the face of my wife each time I bought a new expensive equipment
2. I love discussing amplifier and all of its glory
3. I like snake especially the big one ... (some people might disagree ...)
4. I love to see the expression of people each time I play music through my system. They were like:" how come the music is so ... 3D"