teajay :
I have been pursuing this wonderful hobby of high end stereo equipment
and music for almost 30 years. I do consider myself a passionate
audiophile who loves to listen to music on a daily basis. The reason for
this post is because it has been my experience that the great majority
of people who do not pursue this hobby think of audiophiles as being
wackos/screwballs because of the amount of time, money, and passion they
put towards their systems. I find it very interesting that individuals
who spend tremendous amounts of money and time pursuing esoteric tastes
such as wines, watches, coins, etc, are considered connoisseurs or
aficionados with a serious passion that is often respected even if it is
not the other person's cup of tea. Another example would be people who
love high end cars/boats who read all the magazines, go to the shows and
invest large sums of money to purchase and tweak their cars or boats to
get the last bit of ultimate performance out of their prized
possessions. So I don't believe the negative viewpoint towards
passionate audiophiles revolves around the amount of money that they can
invest in their equipment. So my question for all you GON members is
what would be your explanation for people outside our hobby having such a
negative or condescending attitude towards our passion, where they
infrequently would not have the same attitude towards other people's
hobbies and passionate but unique pursuits? It would be a pleasure to
hear about your experiences and what your explanation would be for this
phenomena towards our hobby.
A very thoughtful post at the top of every page yet people seem to always respond to the last thing posted regardless of how irrelevant it may be and so I thought better paste it in here so no misunderstandings. I am responding to the OP.
teajay compares audio to wine, cars, and unique pursuits. I have been president of a Porsche Club of America Region, a salt water aquarium club, was in the Tacoma Astronomical Society, played tournament racquetball, was a SCCA Cat 3 racer who did RAMROD and STP, attended wine and champagne tastings, Search and Rescue Team Leader, learned to climb with the Mountaineers, and with a Seamaster and Spring Drive you could say I have dabbled in the watch world as well. None of that is to brag, just to say I have experience in a number of realms that all share the common theme of people taking their interest to extremes.
In the Porsche world they do this to such an extent there are people who only care about Concours, by which they mean not merely shiny but something very specific, the car must be absolutely authentic and in every detail as it rolled off the line at the factory. Or as it crossed the finish line, in the case of a race car. Yes they get that particular.
Most audiophiles, I would not even begin to say are anywhere near as intensely focused on excellence as that. That word choice by the way is the name of one of the premier Porsche magazines in the world- excellence. Lower case e. Understated. As in, "excellence was expected."
My experience with all of these things has always been nobody thinks you're a "whacko". Unless of course you are indeed a whacko. Of which there always are a few, everywhere. But, generally speaking, nobody I met ever thought it was nuts to have an absolutely gleaming glossy Porsche. Heck I can't put gas in mine without someone coming over to strike up a conversation. The vibe I get from them is always one of respect and admiration and camaraderie. Yes. Even at the US border, the freaking border agent, first thing he said was, "I'll be perfectly honest, I always wanted one of these." Border officer!
From the car to the watch to the telescope, aquarium, and yes sound system the typical reaction is.... Reverence. Admiration. Humility. The sense of being in the presence of something special.
That's even the comment someone left on my system page, that he walked in the room and immediately had the feeling of being someplace special. The same comment was made by a woman the first time she sat in a 911, that she felt it was something special. People have been caught more than once staring at my watch. Captivated and puzzled at the same time, because it does say Seiko yet they can see with their own eyes it clearly is no Seiko. Its not. Its a Grand Seiko. Its special.
So I would just relax on the whole whacko thing. If it does come up though just ask yourself, "Is it me? Or is it him?" Remember: they are everywhere.
