Ok I'll weigh in on this one. The stereotype (pun intended) is one we all know and love(?) of the know-it-all who puts down others for their choices in equipment when possibly their own choices could be called into question that cares more about the equipment than the music it produces. I think there is a part of that sad old sod in most if not all of us...boasting about this or that component and what it can do...but I think most of us also care about the music itself and most of us try to be NOT the stereotype. The war between the two extremes continues unabated and always will.
The music as captured on great recordings are hard to come by so that is driving most of us to preserve old media because there was something magical about the performance. The effort to do that is appropriate. Audiophiles I think are part engineer, part music lover, part artist, and some of them perpetuate the parts of this hobby that make the term audiophile a somewhat dirty word. I am speaking of the proliferation of snake oil concepts and products based on erroneous thinking...and its not necessarily malicious but done out of ignorance or lack of understanding, though in the marketing departments of the companies that make the equipment we know and love, this is deliberate and malicious. The effort some of these companies put into bullshit explanations for how their widget solves some imaginary problem is laughable, but I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who buy into it. If it wasn't so incredibly effective, these companies would have stopped doing this long ago. This 'buyer beware' scenario is one of the things that makes it hard for people coming into the hobby. I for one hate to see people get sold something useless or worse. I for one would love to see this hobby be more about inclusion and making efforts to draw others into the fascinating world that this hobby really is, helping each other avoid the shysters. Educate, discuss, share, and be tolerant of others choices, but when you see someone making a choice that involves real money that you know won't help the guy's system, try to suggest tactfully why the change will make no difference. We will always have the placebo effect to deal with and that really hurts objectivity. Yeah we throw money at all of it like a drunken sailor on liberty attempting to find that elusive nirvana...or the nirvana they can afford. Its a disease I think lol. I try hard to be objective and do what makes sense sonically and seek out value for dollar spent. I'll never be a cost is no object guy. I will always be the guy who realizes that no matter how much I know I still have a lot to learn.
