Should people who can't solder, build or test their speakers be considered audiophiles?



  So, if you bought that Porsche but can only drive it and not fix it do you really understand and appreciate what it is? I say no. The guy who can get in there and make it better, faster or prettier with his own hands has a superior ability to understand the final result and can appreciate what he has from a knowledge base and not just a look at what I bought base. I mean sure you can appreciate that car when you drive it but if all you do is take it back to the dealership for maintenance and repairs you just like the shape with no real understanding of what makes it the mechanical marvel it is.
  I find that is true with the audio world too. There are those who spend a ton of money on things and then spend a lot of time seeking peer approval and assurance their purchase was the right one and that people are suitably impressed. Of course those who are most impressed are those who also do not design, build, test or experiment.

  I propose that an audiophile must have more than a superficial knowledge about what he listens to and must technically understand what he is listening to. He knows why things work and what his end goal is and often makes his own components to achieve this. He knows how to use design software to make speakers that you can't buy and analyze the room they are in and set up the amplification with digital crossovers and DSP. He can take a plain jane system and tweak it and balance it to best suit the room it is in. He can make it sound far better than the guy who constantly buys new components based on his superficial knowledge who does not understand why what he keeps buying in vain never quite gets there.

  A true audiophile can define his goal and with hands on ability achieve what a mere buyer of shiny parts never will. So out comes the Diana Krall music and the buyer says see how good my system is? The audiophile says I have taken a great voice and played it through a system where all was matched and tweaked or even purposely built and sits right down next to Diana as she sings. The buyer wants prestigious signature sound and the audiophile will work to achieve an end result that is faithful true to life audio as though you were in the room with Diana as she sings. The true audiophile wants true to life and not tonally pure according to someones artificial standard.

 So are you a buyer or an audiophile and what do you think should make a person an audiophile?
mahlman
Give me a break. Just another in a long line of troll posts by the OP, to whit from 2 years ago,

mahlman OP

“What is trully important?

So I read about all these expensive bits of gear here and I have some thoughts. In the world of large money bands and their touring where individual seats can cost well north of 5G is there any sort of restriction on equipment they can buy? I don’t think so and they want fidelity. What do recording studios use for session recordings? Is the idea of true to life important and what do you use to get there? Does real life reproduction matter or is some sort of electronic pure tonal thing the most important even though you will never hear that in live venues.
I am fascinated by the amount of money spent that the pros never spend to get results and the pros are a purely result driven group.“

>>>>>>There is also this jewel, cut me some slack, Jack!

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/so-what-is-real
Like a lot of boomers, I got into this hobby building Dynakits, Heathkits, even an HK Citation 12 kit (1971?), b/c of poverty, a love of music, a fascination with the technology that could re-create a musical experience in my dorm room!  I have always been a "hobbyist" more than a big A Audiophile b/c in my value system, high bucks gear just never fit...I never made that kind of dough.  Being in the business, I leveraged accomodation pricing, points-for-product, and buying good used gear so I've had some pretty fantastic systems, but nothing truly "high end" as now understood.  I definitely count myself a small a audiophile, though, and I suppose It enhances my self esteem at some level to look down on those with large incomes (and no soldering skills) who buy their way in...but they're also the ones by whom I support myself!  So go figure!
He who lives in a glass house shouldn't cast pebbles: 

https://www.machinadynamica.com/mikro-pebbles.jpg
geoffkait22,850 posts06-22-2020 11:16amGive me a break. Just another in a long line of troll posts by the OP, to whit from 2 years ago,

I think most forums have a continuum of people with various talents and abilities.  We come together to benefit from, to be amused, or just to kill time.  There are people here, like me, who are just starting out in this hobby and have very little knowledge.  If I solder anything, it’s because something bad happened. And the people I know have less knowledge than me and ask my advice — imagine that!  

I have benefitted from the advice here that those who know more than me have provided, and I appreciate that.  Some discussions here are way above anything I have studied or done, and I try to understand something and think about it, though I may never use the info.  Likewise, my systems will likely never total $10,000 in value, but I enjoy looking at other members’ top-drawer systems and image owning and enjoying something like that (need to shore the security system!).  

For those whose knowledge and hands-on experience is great, what is the attraction for them?  Do they hope to still learn something new, to discuss the nuts-and-bolts with others who enjoy experimenting?  Do they get some satisfaction at helping the lost find the path?  I sure hope so!  I find it interesting when someone talks about the prominent engineers and how they started out, and how they collaborated with others to create some ground-breaking technology.

Or, maybe they have made friends here and come not so much to be educated as to catch up with what those buddies have been doing (and especially now that we are distancing from others in our daily life).  I hope and trust that everyone gets a bit of what they want when they visit here.

As for me, whatever you call me, just don’t call me late for supper!