At a certain point, while reading the forums and learning about audio, I realized I did not want to be an audiophile, just as you’ve put it, to the point where it intrudes on simple enjoyment of music.
By then it was too late, I had already become one.
I had to make a conscious decision that there are times to be critical and times to put that aside.
That doesn’t mean that the critic is subdued completely, but it’s a habit that can be developed that puts the critic back into proper perspective.
Like meditation: one decides to sit quietly for five minutes without thinking, and simply ‘be’.
A thought occurs, ‘Did I pay the gas bill?’
The mediator says, ‘I can think about the gas bill all I want in five minutes, but now I will not.’
The Buddha spoke of it as an exercise, like lifting weights, but for the mind.
So, I’m still always hyper-critical, but I don’t dwell on it as I used to.
I focus on the music and all the things my system does well.
I recall the years of listening to garbage-quality audio and the really cool thing I’ve put together that makes music fun like I needed it to be.
Incidentally, I initially misread the topic as ‘unbecoming OF an audiophile’, like ‘unbecoming of an officer.’
And I thought, Bose?
