Can speakers cause mental illness?


It's important to keep in mind that speakers can in fact cause mental sickness. We are all chasing something which ultimately cant be found. Every new purchase brings nothing but temporary pleasure. The long term effects of this hobby are despair, frustration, depression and possibly even suicide. 

We are being tantalized with the promise of perfect sound which is ultimately unobtainable. 

The scheming speaker companies are certainly partly to blame for this. They are always thinking about what speaker they will put on the market next. They are responsible for making us believe that if we buy their new speaker designs we will be more happy than before.

There are hundreds of different speaker companies out there and we are led to believe that each company offers something different. But when you really think about it, you will realize that cant possibly be true. What we are being offered is just the same basic recipe with minor variations in crossover tuning, port tuning and frequency response. Most speakers are not fundamentally BETTER than other speakers. And therein lies the deception.

The irony is that high end speakers were invented to allow music lovers to experience the maximum level of pleasure from music. Instead what they have done is cause misery and depression. Its a fact that most audiophiles are simply unhappy with what they have. That is why there are forums like this with hundreds or thousands of folks who are desperate for advice on how to achieve even better success.

The level of unhappiness and despair does not go down as you spend more money, contrary to expectations. People that buy Magicos and Wilsons are no less unhappy than those that buy cheaper speakers. 

Being a speaker enthusiast is like being a drug addict. Its a neverending cycle. We want more and more and in the end it often leads to death. 

Listening to a new speaker is a bittersweet experience. You will hear new things that you may have never heard before but then you always begin to hear problems which were initially inaudible.

This is a dangerous hobby. Do it at your peril. 
kenjit
@oldhvymec As oldhvymec pointed out,

50% of ALL people have some type of mental illness (they admit to), the other 50% are in complete denial.... That is a fact..
So that explains why many of us here will deny that we are unhappy. We may say that we are happy with our speakers but secretly we could be severely depressed about not being able to have what we really want. Perhaps we have even given up trying due to a loss of motivation.

I never claimed that speakers alone causes mental illness. The obsession with sound quality can be regarded as mental illness. It is not hard to see that constant disappointment can lead to depression which is of course a mental illness. 

The fact that you have spent large sums of money and been ripped of can also make you crazy. 

Different people will have different tolerances. As such, not all audiophiles will suffer mental illness as quickly as others. 

The main point to remember is that the damage can be long lasting or even permanent. 

Many speaker designers would also fit the criteria for narcissism if you have a look here:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc...

Lets list a few of them:

  • Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance
  • Exaggerate achievements and talents
  • Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior
  • Be envious of others and believe others envy them
  • Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious

If you put a group of speaker designers in a room it would be mayhem!
Mental illness is clearly ubiquitous when it comes to the high end speaker industry. Those wooden boxes are not as harmless as you might think.
I usually would never respond to a post like this but I couldn’t help myself this time you obviously didn’t book yourself an appointment and listen to Vimberg Tonda!
The bleeding hearts and the artists
Make their stand
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall

- Pink Floyd
Happy Holidays All
you obviously didn’t book yourself an appointment and listen to Vimberg Tonda!
Why should I give them a chance? Are they custom tuned to my ears? If not, would they be willing to do so?  Where are the measurements to show that they have less than 0.001% distortion 20hz to 20khz? Where is the cumulative spectral decay graph comparing them with other cheaper speakers?