Audiophiles on Audiogon.

@russ69 , then similarly, how can you tell that a $20,000 cable improves the sound over a $100 cable, unless you listened to both, without the knowledge of which one you were listening to at any point in time.

I work on developing technology for batteries. Myself and my competitors have access to almost any equipment we want due to how big the $ prize is. Anytime we have a positive improvement, no matter the quality of our equipment or how sure we are we did not make a mistake, we still repeat the experiment several times, preferably with independent teams, just to be sure.

It's just a hobby, but would it not be prudent to assume we could be mistaken before we assume with limited information we are absolutely correct?

I’m about as "kooky" as they come, proud of it! Call me what you may, but it’s whatever floats your boat and makes you happy. I will say that I don’t buy things that cost outrageous amounts of money, as for one, I do not have that kind of money, secondly, I like to find the underdogs so to speak, that perform well above their price point. However, I will also say that I’m not shopping at the local best buy for my stuff. I feel what I do own is pretty respectable equipment that was not exactly cheap to maybe a more reasonable or frugal person. Tannoy, Sugden, Naim, Cyrus, Ear, Avid, Music Hall, Graham Slee, AKG, Shure, Sennheiser, Musical Fidelity, Wharfedale, Martin Logan, Aiwa, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, Pro-Ject, Chord, Atlas, Audioquest, Ecosse, HifiMan, Sony, Ortofon, Goldring, Hana, Technics, Tavish Design, Rothwell, Border Patrol, Stein, Ringmat, Jensen, Atacama, Butcherblock Acoustics, Isanoe, Vibrapod, Blutac, Furman, Fostex, Beyerdynamics, Audio Technica, Denon (103), Record Doctor, Disc Washer, Vinyl Revival ( I'm sure I'm forgetting some) are just some of the brands I’m using currently. It is my one and only hobby and it makes me content. You would hate to see what I’ve paid for some of the records I own 😳 lol....

....b o r i n g...

You will not like the rest of the article Mahgister though perhaps there is some truth. He did get off the rails a bit and made a comparison that I found rather offensive and I will not repeat here as it showed rather poor judgment on his part.

An audiophile will waste days comparing the sound of power cords or different kinds of solder, but won't even notice that his speakers are out-of-phase. An audiophile never enjoys music; he only listens to the sound of audio equipment.

@jackhifiguy , it is good form to provide a link to material you reference:

 

https://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/audiophile.htm

 

 

Rockwell depict an image in white and black...

He must sells to add views on his site...

He must be provocative and stay a bit provocative...

 

i was an audiophile myself till few months ago...

Why?

Because i dreamed to own a system with a minimal sound quality ..

But with no MONEY...

I choose a basic relatively good one and investigated slowly how to implement an optimal working for this system... I will not repeat here what i did...

The main part was simple experiments in acoustic among other simple experiments ...

Suffice to say that i am very happy now ...The audiophile normal stage is behind me and music here forever with a minamal satisfying quality superior in my room to my 8 headphones.....

Then there exist an audiophile stage in any musical life, the question is how to pass this necessary stage and integrate his lessons with success... Audiophilia correspond to a STAGE in life and is not only a STATE of being it is not only an obsessive hobby, it can and must be a learning experience......

Some buy and plug because they have the money to do it and they upgrade... Some buy and plug and forget it because they dont have the time, the room or the patience to do what must be done to exit the obsession for good sound and pass through it with REAL acoustic learning...

All people want a good sound...

Then characterizing all audiophiles to be only of one species : deluded one is only that a provocation...it is not a quality attached to some consumers zombies only, it is a normal stage of variable time lenght in the life of someone listening music...

Some provocation are creative , i take what you speak about this way...

Other provocations are only negative stirring of the pot with closed mind indiscriminate attack to sell something here or in another forums ...

I prefered listening basic experiments in acoustic instead of focusing on the GEAR brand name and design , this was an opening of the eyes... The best design are too costly for me anyway but it is easy to afford nowadays relatively good one at relatively low price...

Minimal mechanical control of vibrations and some control to decrease the noise floor of the house, acoustic treatment and control, all that is enough to reach a MINIMAL treshold of satisfaction...

This treshold exist and is easy to be evaluated by many acoustical criteria...

It is a relative treshold but it exist and this is all and the only message i can communicate in this site...

If someone ignorant and not crafty like me can do it anyone can... 😁😊

But it takes times and basic elementary studies for acoustic experiments...we must dare to experiment for sure...It takes time, i could do it because i am retired...And the other bad news it take me a dedicated room... But it is possible to do some thing in a living room for sure...

Then all "audiophiles" are not gear fetichist....Some pass the stage and the test...

Listening must be LEARNED , nevermind if you are an audiophile, an acoustician or a musician or an engineer...

Being audiophile is not a hobby FOR LIFE , it was one limited in time for me, it is indeed a normal stage in the life of any musical lover...Using this label to insult people is only most of the times a way to demonstrate our own acoustic ignorance...This is my experience...

 

You will not like the rest of the article Mahgister though perhaps there is some truth. He did get off the rails a bit and made a comparison that I found rather offensive and I will not repeat here as it showed rather poor judgment on his part.

An audiophile will waste days comparing the sound of power cords or different kinds of solder, but won’t even notice that his speakers are out-of-phase. An audiophile never enjoys music; he only listens to the sound of audio equipment.