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Any other lone audiophiles here?

By "Lone" I mean you have no other local audiophile buddies. That describes my experience. My wife and I usually listen together. I have no other friends to borrow equipment or to audition theirs. In spite of that I believe I've done a pretty good job of putting together a system which is very good. I've done it strictly by reading reviews, etc and lots of research. I see the situation as both an advantage and maybe a curse. The advantage is that Maybe I don't know what I'm missing. The curse is may be that I often wonder IF I need to upgrade? Or am m missing something.? Like right now. I just bought a CJ CT5 preamp which is silly good.So now I wonder about my amp? The CJ retails for 8x more than my silly little tube amp...a Bob Latino ST-70. Yet I believe that amp is fully pulling its weight while hooked to a preamp which is silly good. Surely, this amp can't be the be all end all. However It did replace an amp which retails for 4x its price. Who knows? maybe its the ST-70 which needed a better preamp to show off its stuff. Nonetheless, I enjoy the music  immensely. and all the advice I've gotten from people on the forums over the years. FWIW, I also play drums  and have played live. So I DO know what live music sounds like. So, maybe I'm not shooting totally in the dark.
128x128artemus_5
big_greg
6,674 posts
 
Things started out that way for me.  Then I saw the "Olympia Music Club" on Facebook.  I thought about going, but the fact that it was at a local audio equipment dealer's location and that there seemed to be only 1 or 2 people "going" deterred me from checking it out.

Fast forward and a gentleman came to my house to purchase a piece of gear I was selling and proceeded to tell me about this club.  Turns out he is the person that started it and he explained that there were usually 5-7 "regulars" that showed up and that the focus was on music, not gear.  The music was played on some nice gear at the audio store.

From there I've had the opportunity to visit some of the member's homes and see and hear their systems and vice versa.  We usually go out for dinner before our monthly get together and it's always been fun and the guys have a wide range of musical tastes so I'm getting exposed to a lot of artists I'm not familiar with.

It's been a very positive experience and I look forward to seeing the guys every month now.
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
1,992 posts
 
@douglas_schroeder  Another part of my problem is too many hobbies.   Each wants my time and $$$. Music is my #1 hobby though I actually consider it my lifestyle more than a hobby

@bigkidz , concerning what is missing with my amp?, ....Nothing. Maybe it could image better. But I'm not sure that is in its job description. That's the interesting part. I bought the amp just to dabble with tubes. Then I sold my SS amp. IMO, its great. I'm amazed that it sounds so good. 
bluorion
480 posts
 
I'm a lone audiophile too----but I wasn't when I started the hobby in the mid-80s. Our city had quite a few high-end audio stores but sadly, we have 1-2 now (and they're not that nice.) My friends back then have all moved away and we've lost contact over the decades. We all used to go record/cd shopping too. 
So now I'm a lone audiophile but recently purchased some equipment for some folks nearby. I wish I had some close friends to hang out with and listen to music. Oh well....
hifijunky
126 posts
 
I'm in audiophile solitude. My life long audiophile bud passed 2 years ago.
I am in NE NJ and would like to find some people who are local and interested. I know there is NJ Audio Society group but I am not interested in it. So if there is any interest send me a message.
alexberger
935 posts
 
Hi @artemus_5 ,

Me too in the same situation.
When I lived in Israel I had a lot of audiophile friends. Many of them where also music lovers, that even more important for me! We can talk not only about audio but about classical and jazz music. 
Now I moved to Canada and live in Ottawa for 3 years.
My situation is even worse, because my wife and daughter don't share my hobby.
I have other problem - a long time ago I moved from "main stream" audio to vintage, DIY, high efficient speakers and tubes. So, "main stream" audio and audiophile who listen POP music and have 10 "audiophile" CD in their collection are not interesting to me.
I prefer people who don't spend too much money for their system but like and understand serious music to people who spend tenth thousands $$$ for audio. 
On one hand I have a better room and dedicated basement for audio hobby. But on the other hand I have nobody to share this hobby audio and music.

Regards,
Alex.
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