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I'm frustrated with people who don't ...

Sorry for a long post...
Recently I was at a 3-day meeting out of town for work. For an evening activity we had a cook out at a colleague's house. While there, we gathered around his deck and a small fire in the back yard. I found myself in a group of 6 guys discussing hobbies. I mentioned my love for audio and began to describe my system and music library. Almost instantly, I was "pounced" for believing that any "hi end" component is worth the money compared to anything else one can buy from Best Buy. "Digital is digital" one guy stated, "an $89 player is as good as anything else out there". I attempted to defend my position but in no way was I able to convince anyone. I told them the next time they're in town, I'd have them over to my place and let them hear the difference, but I know most will not acknowledge the quality of sound. Footnote: I've known these guys for 3-5 years and they are professional level headed guys, I wasn't bragging, I made no grand statements that my system is better than anything else, I just talked about my interest and brought it up when they asked me. The icing on the cake was their disbelief that my system can only play one CD at a time... "you don't have a carousel on your CDP?" Man, I was frustrated.
mijknarf
thefalls1117
74 posts
 
I also sympathize with you but you are fighting a losing battle.Change the subject and don,t waste a "good fire poking night" on a people that have the "best rack system" money can buy and even brag about it.To each his own.
Lugnut sums it up well.

I get frustrated when friends/co workers who ask my opinion on audio equipment ,who think I'm some sort of an authority because I own audio equpiment that no one has heard of,and then shrug me and my suggests off with answers like....
...I don't need THAT kind of equipment..
...no,I'm only looking to spend $200 on a complete system..
...500 on a cd player..ARE YOU CRAZY!!
... you are right..I'm going down to Radio Shack and buy the best system they have....
...How Much!!!..no way that would definitely cut into my beer money.

and then climb into their $40,000 car and speed away..go figure!!

Do yourself a BIG favour and just enjoy this great hobby that only the gifted (..lol..) understand.
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
I just tell people that is it really great that they are happy with their components (cheap ass best buy stuff), and just explain that I can hear a difference and it causes me to spend way to much money that they are saving.

Actually, I'll talk about my video system since people can see the difference versus hear the difference.... 103" Screen blows everyone away and they start asking that how much I just state it cost less than the 400 DVD's I have..

In person they sit there with their mouths on the floor (video system), but sit them in front of my audio system they say wow that's dynamic or clean but they don't know how to listen critically or even care.. their 64kbps MP3's sound good to them...

I avoid talking prices because as everyone stated no one understands (even here on the forum) why 3 of my cables cost $16,000? This is a really painful discussion with my engineering friends... a wire is a wire..

Any high end hobby people don't get.. many people on this forum wouldn't understand why I have mountain bicycles that cost $5k either?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,242 posts
 
Despite the hyperbolic language used to describe sonic differences the audiophile world is about subtle nuances. The general public is simply not into nuance. Whether it's music, cars, politics, food, sports or religion most people (American's anyway) only want direct, unambiguous, readily digested, instantly gratifying morsels of information. There's a reason why it's call "pop" culture.
ellery911
549 posts
 
Even with myself being on the low end of the food chain here I get a little ribbing from a good friend on how much I spent as he is listening to 20 year old mass market stuff with mismatched speakers. I just tell him that compared to people on Audiogon...my stuff is just a molecule in the drop in the bucket...Then he tells me my stereo sounds good and that he doesn't understand why anybody would need to spend more...guess I did a good job of passing the buck.
ljgj
955 posts
 
Just face it. This is an insane hobby where we are never satisfied. We are crazy to pay what we do for this stuff. Thousands for recorded sound coming out of a Marshall or Fender amp with $10 stings on the giutars. The sudios use eq's galore but we cannot without messing with purity. Your friends are correct - you are insane. You just appreciate your insanity and along with the rest of our population thrive on it and will defend it to the wallet. They are insane in their own hobbies. Just talk about music - you will save yourself a lot of grief. We only represent less than 1% of the population otherwise Best Buy would carry our stuff. Notice high end TV is in Best Buy at prices we pure audiophiles think is absurd. They also have a refrigerator with a TV built in the door for 2599.00. I bought the 399 one. Refrigeratorphiles are not happy that I do not understand.
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