Music lover or audiophile?


I think you have to decide, are you a music lover or audiophile?  I know the majority will say, both.
 I’m not so sure though. The nature of audiophilia is to get in there and fiddle with the tools, like any other hobbyist.  The difference in our hobby though is that presumably, our ultimate goal is to have the best musical experience we can get. The hobbyist is never really finished. The manipulation of the materials is the fun. The music lover, however, wants to get the most out of that esthetic experience.  
By continually plying materials, the audiophile is on an endless quest for better sound.
 After years of this quest, I’ve decided I can be a music lover or an audiophile.  I’m happy listening to my system now the way it is.  So, I’ve decided to be a music lover once again.
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rvpiano,
What did I miss?


You posed "being an audiophile" vs "being a music lover"  as an explicit dichotomy and said you’ve moved on from being an audiophile to being a music lover.

Correct.
Just reading the headline might lead one to believe it’s the “usual false dichotomy.” But reading the whole thread clarifies the full meaning of the declaration.
Post removed 

From your first post to your subsequent replies, you’ve upheld the false dichotomy.

You started with telling people "I think you have to decide, are you a music lover or audiophile? "

Which is a false dichotomy. As you acknowledged, the majority will say "both." Because it’s a false dichotomy.



I just get annoyed when false propositions like those are promulgated in regard to audiophiles. "Audiophiles just care about the gear, they don’t really care about music!"
You can speak for yourself, to tell us you became overwhelmingly focused on the gear/sound. But generalizing this to telling people they have to decide between being an audiophile/music lover is just false.


I certainly DO know what you mean by getting crazy thinking about the gear a lot. I’ve been there. But even at those points I personally never stopped being a music lover. It’s not a "virtue" that I remained a music lover, just a plain, dull old fact. If someone is far more skewed to being interested in the gear for most of the time, I don’t denigrate that in the least.


In any case, I’m glad you feel you’re in a better place, able to enjoy things.