Audiophile demographics?

@artemus_5 Unfortunately, much of the rock from the 80s and 90s that she wants to listen to is not well recorded or mastered so she criticizes the system. The 60s and 70s rock is preferable. Prong, Osborne and Metallica sound more like noise than Allman Bros, Steely Dan and Led Zep. She doesn’t appreciate Yello which sounds spectacular. 78s are more enjoyable to me than Osborne. My high end audio system in my custom listening room can make most music sound good to great but some music is just too much like noise for me. Actually, the 2nd system (better than 95% of audiophiles systems) has 3 10" woofers and are tighter and punchier so that her rock sounds faster. When I pick the pop or classical music (she gets bored with jazz) she just sits and enjoys it. I appreciate her input though as to system changes though. I have 25,000 LPs/7,000 CDs/7,000 78s to choose from.

That's more than a lot of stores

@djone51 Fascinating article, djones. Thanks. This is a complex issue, and for reasons sketched in the article, not always easy for the lover of technology to get fully clear on due to the myopia inherent to any strong attachment, including technophilia.

I tend to think of technology much more broadly -- as ways of accomplishing tasks or experiencing states of mind/body. And technologies can be very simple. Most primitive, perhaps, is a simple technique: "How to open a pickle jar," for example -- is a technology. Next, we might think of simple tools; a hammer is a technology. And of course things get more complex from there.

If we agree that technologies can be as simple as techniques, then the gender "difference" becomes diluted. Even if one supposes women in their "typical" [please note the scare quotes] roles -- cooking, sewing, etc. -- there is deep involvement with technology. My daughter, for example, just came out of one of those wonderful restaurant supply stores raving about the variety of whisks they carried. She’s in love with the technology of the whisk because it will empower a wider range of techniques in her baking, for a wider range of purposes.

The question comes back, perhaps, to a more typical male love of technology that "disburdens" one -- that allows one to press a button and watch the machine deliver the end product. This, perhaps, is one source of the article’s reference to the atavistic love of power which men find in technology. The female whisk-lover wants to be empowered to do something (bake, e.g.) whereas the male device lover wants to make something magically appear -- like a wizard or god. Different ways of being in the world, no?

That said, there are many men on this forum who are more like bakers -- DIY’ers, electrically-versed, etc. They love the technology only fully once they understand it and perhaps engage with it. They make things, get their hands dirty, chat with other hobbyists. Like a sewing circle, no?

So, like most things, there’s a spectrum, and personality is a heterogenous mix of different traits, a collage not a solid color. Frankly, the more perspectives on this hobby, the better. What would be really interesting would be to see more women in charge of audio companies. What would change? What would it bring? 

I would say she looked at the whisk as a tool to perform no matter how it subjectively looked. If only we would approach audio technology in an equally rational way.