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I Was at a Funeral of An Audiophile...

the other day, and the visitors were subjected to 70's rock music not only in the atrium but also in the chapel up until the moment the service began. The obituary read that the deceased was an audiophile and had a "state of the art" system. I had seen that rig; it was a "Brick and Mortar Special", with a Denon 7.1 surround receiver, nondescript front end and Klipsch lower end, package deal speakers. The surrounds were not placed well, solidly Mid-Fi.

But... the man loved his gear and the music. Completely deluded in terms of where he stood in the hobby, but had a passion for it. I'm guessing he bought the line, along with the equipment, from some salesman that he was getting a "state of the art" rig, and was very proud of it.

I have thought about having my Christian music favorites played at my funeral; I would want people to hear music which speaks of transcendent values. I would want them to hear the beauty in the message and the music, even if played on a wretched building PA system.

When the family found out that I also am an audiophile and understood terms like "calibration" of the system - the deceased calibrated his system often to get perfect sound - they were amazed that there are others in the world like him. I smiled and said I could relate to his desire for beautiful music, an attempt at capturing a feeling, experiencing perfection, if you will.

It's sort of like how we love our cars, and it won't make a bit of difference when we're gone how wonderful our ride was. We may observe another person's rig and wonder how it sounds, and we see some people with modest systems and others with outrageous rigs. There's no telling if that owner is truly satisfied and enjoying their time with it.

One thing came through at the funeral, however, and was very positive. As much as the family marveled at how much he loved his stereo, they knew he loved them much more. His rig brought him happiness, but he kept family as priority. You could say he died a fulfilled audiophile.
douglas_schroeder
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
No what sucks is the OP and others in this thread confuse "audiophile" with equipment price and "percieved" quality. Being an audiophile used to mean you cared about music and wanted to try your best to make it sound good but that has obviously been lost on some.
Maybe they guy didnt make much cash, maybe he didnt have any exposure to more quality gear, maybe he had a life that gave him varied joy so he spread his focus on more than just buying gear....maybe it was good enough for him too?
Or maybe he met some of us and got soured on our definitions of what being an audiophile is truely about and thumbed his nose at us, and perhaps rightfully so. It wouldnt take more than half a lap around a audio convention to scare off some pretty sane folks and I know this because I have been in the company of many in our hobby..........its a scary bunch.
God speed to the person who inspired this, and I hope he doesnt laugh to hard at us all for the at times misguided actions far too many of us our guilty of.
The bottom line was he was judged and wrongfully so IMO.
rwwear
2,873 posts
 
Amen Chad.
douglas_schroeder OP
3,281 posts
 
Chad, did you read my second post? It doesn't seem like you did. You have simply ignored my clear statements that I considered him an audiophile in order to do your bashing. :)
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,393 posts
 
Discussing audio and audiophiles in the context of funerals and death certainly helps put things in perspective.

What else is there to say?
douglas_schroeder OP
3,281 posts
 
Mapman, the other day a young woman I know was partially run over by a SUV at night - albeit slowly, as she was walking in a parking lot after workout (perhaps the driver was distracted by texting, trying to get away with it in a slow moving vehicle?). The clearance of the SUV and very slow speed prevented her from being mangled and possibly killed or maimed for life.

Her pet, her job, her social life, her hobbies - not much of all that was too important at that moment. Perhaps as she lay under the vehicle screaming for the driver to back up the upcoming wedding with her fiance' was the most intense thought besides fearing for her life itself.

It's as she recovers and realizes she'll continue to live that these other things will return in seeming significance.

Part of my post was to recall that we will all face that moment. Then what will it matter if we were the super-audiophile or the dabbler?

Work hard, enjoy the music, but be ready to let it go.

I'm certainly not a fatalist, but your are absolutely correct; it puts things into perspective.
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