How "Tribal" are we?


So after several noted books about human "tribalism" have come out, identifying the tribe(s) you belong to has become all the rage, I thought it might be interesting to discuss how tribal we as self identified audiophiles have become.  Originally aimed at corporate organizations, the concept has branched out to include societal groups that either we identify with or others do it for us.  The political applications are obvious....but it got me thinking about tribalism in the audiophile world.  It wouldn't be a tough intellectual exercise for us to readily recognize the existence of the tribal mentality in our chosen hobby.

Tubes or solid state, bipolar or mosfets, stock or designer fuses, wire (wow think of all the "sub-tribes"), moving coil or moving magnet, electrostatic or moving coil speakers and lest we not mention analog or digital, to condition power or not, etcetera. 

After participating in many threads here, it does seem that many of us if not all, to some extent, identify with members of these and other tribes within audiodom.

Honestly, what made me connect tribalism to audio is the controversy? over Tekton speakers and whether or not those identifying with that tribe are real audiophiles or just pretenders because "speakers that inexpensive can't be up to our audiophile standards" (say that out loud with your best Thurston Howell III accent!)

I've never heard any Tekton model but I'm not going to exclude them from audiophilia out of hand.  I for one, would love to listen through a pair of Double Impacts to see what designer Eric Alexander has been able to bring to market at such a modest price.  If they are as good as many owners have attested to here then, as Joe Walsh would say, "Welcome to the Club"!

Back to the overarching topic:  tribalism.  Picking on myself, I would belong to the moving coil speaker tribe, the modification tribe, and moving coil cartridge tribe as well as the Vandersteen tribe.  I think there is something to be said of this communitarian identity that we humans like to adopt for ourselves and others.

One last thought;  when does a tribe remain a tribe and when does it cross the line to become a gang?


128x128hifiman5
I'm not tribal by nature; rather, I'm a closed-minded loner, hah! Though I'll likely high-five anyone I meet who sees things in a similar enough light.

Some of my "teams":
  • Analog over digital
  • Tubes over SS
  • Tannoy speakers
  • Koetsu cartridges
  • Stax headphones
  • American tube amps
  • Solid-core silver cables

mulveling, you are Japanese audiophiles tribe, but you don't seem to know it. Just add reel to reel or Nakamichi deck if you don't have one.
I was reading your text and all the terms that we use in electronic.....I heard this one day : you install behind a curtain two stereo systems.. let say : one at 5 thousands dollar and another one at 20 thousands dollar and you will find someone that prefer the sound of the cheaper one.. just to say that sometimes we imagine that a very expensive sound system has to sound better.. I guess that we go with the idea that it sounds better cause it is more expensive.... maybe what i just wrote down is a bit foolish but you can do the test just for the fun of it.....
There is sometning else we need to take into account: if you go in a music store and it happens that you feel very very good that day.... in other words "you are in a beautiful mood" then, you will have the feeling that every speakers you will listen to sound just perfect as to compare to some days where your mood wouldn't be on the high side.. I know that by experience
Just because I like something doesn't mean someone else does or vice versa or that I am objectively right. I listen to exclusively tubes but I don't think SS is bad or wrong just different. I tend to favor more obscure brands but it doesn't mean big brands can't be good also. I think as a group we worry to much about stuff like tribalism or being right. It's fun to interact with people with different perspectives and viewpoints, it's what makes this site fun, to me at least.