How rare is an audiophile

@thsaunders 

Fortunate to have traveled extensively... the common thread of the truly impressive individuals with whom lasting friendships have endured, is their including music in their lives, from epicurean tastes to the raw “thwannng” of a R&R ripping guitar score and even a Swiss mountain horn.

These individuals reflected every level of humanity from the Palestinian whose house was demolished by a neighboring nations bull dozer, to the artisan that fixed my plumbing (as in kitchen sink and also the surgeon when my body needed dry dock and repair) to business people and actually heads of state here and overseas.  

That common thread of “need for music” and appreciation for its complexity has become part of my “elevator chat encounters” that provide an initial “size up” of character.

Nicely put. For 5 minutes or so I was somewhere else. I was a little put out to realise that my teenage daughter hardly shares any of my musical tastes or any deep interest in sound quality, and neither does my wife. Or maybe they secretly do, but just won't admit it yet? I can hope.

I don't believe its elitist to judge people by their tastes in music. Most of the time it makes good sense and gives you an immediate bearing on where that person is coming from.

In those cases where someone is unfamiliar with certain piece of music opportunities can arise where you are able to introduce each other with selections they might find sympathetic. Quite often a personal recommendation can be far more helpful than reading what some critic has written in a magazine book.

Of course, there are those with whom the musical gulf is not easily bridgeable and there's very little that can be done to amend that.

Perhaps it's just a question of where you are prepared to draw the line.

Belonging to an informal (usually 3 member) music club I've been introduced to a far wider range of music than I would have been on my own.

I've enjoyed most of it too, even if I did tend to drift off a little whilst some Drum and Bass was being tested out or some Northern Soul.

Quite surprisingly, I'm even gradually drifting towards Prog Rock, a genre I detested some 40 years ago.

[Back then, it was either punk or prog rock, you couldn't like both].

Anyway, what else is there to do, when one of your best friends loves it?

An associated question might be, how rare is an Audiophile who is also a Videophile? I was intrigued/invested as an Audiophile long before incorporating video in the mix. The custom home that we now live in has both an optimized audio room and a separate home theater room. My wife and I enjoy both rooms and view each as having a different set of priorities. 

We entertain regularly but find that most of our friends would rather see a movie than listen to music. I guess we have one friend of a friend that could be considered an Audiophile. 

I met my wife (of 43 years) on a blind date. First thing we did was listen to my

audio system. She thought it was grand and the rest is history.

Assuming someone who pays $100-$150 for an Ultra Disc One Step from Mofi or UHQR from Acoustic Sounds is an audiophile (I know there are some collectors and speculators in those groups), the number is significant enough for them to make the investments. 30,000 copies of Aja are planned at $150 per pop. I think 40K of Thriller were produced on US One Steps.

Audiophile is a self-described/inflicted term. Some don't listen to vinyl. In the US I'd guess, less than a million, more than 500K. 

@ezstreams In no way attempting to diminish your sincere intent as displayed in your opening post. Possibly, your definition of "audiophile" is not in the strictest form as we have grown accustomed to expect. You appear to be a "music lover" and "lover of family" more than anything else. Nothing wrong there whatsoever.

For now , count yourself lucky in many respects. Not fixating yet over past or future upgrades, cable materials and science mania, acoustic measurement graph reports, , power cord pandemonium , warm side of neutral/plainly neutral/cool side of neutral debates, suggestions of sibilance, system synergy or not etc etc. 

Once you go down this wonderful and weird rabbit hole, there is no going back. 

@sagur80 unfortunately, I do suffer from the audiophile afflictions you mentioned. Being an engineer, i cant help but analyze my system for its weakest link or to think about what my next move should be to improve the sound of the music i love so much.  I love family and music (in that order), but i also love the systems analysis, reading The Absolute Sound, Stereophile, Audiogon discussion form topics, and looking (more like hunting) for the next upgrade. One of my most favorite things to do is to wake up ~4am on the weekend, go upstairs and sit back and listen to music before the rest of my world wakes up. 
It’s all those things that make me wonder (and the reason for my original post) how rare we are as i have zero acquaintances who share this wonderful hobby/obsession.