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The Definition of An Audiophile

My definition of an Audiophile is a person who seeks the recreation/reproduction of music in their home based on a live event.

The purpose of this thread is to gain an understanding of why the majority of people on this forum only compare components to each other. I don’t understand the terms of one amplifier sounding more musical than another. How about the “cold and sterile” attribute often attributed to Halcro amplifiers. The description “tube sounding” description sometimes applied to a solid-state amp is another example.

Whatever happened to a comparison of an actual live event? I consider myself an Audiophile; as well as, I presume, everybody else who frequents this website. How many of you so called Audiophiles have ever been to a decent live event. I’m not talking about your local Civic Center jam packed with 30,000 screaming punks smoking pot, no offense; I used to be one some time ago. How about a concert in a acoustically correct hall with minimal amplification?

The ultimate goal is unadulterated recorded music from the artist to your ears in the privacy of your home. As we all know every electronic component from the front-end source to the speaker adds some form of signature to the recording. The phrase “the best amplifier is the one that adds the least amount of unwanted distortion or noise to a signal” is a very good description. So when I read a thread on a comparison of a particular amplifier that sounds tube like or more musical then another this only mean one thing; the amplifiers are adding unwanted noise!!

Comparisons of “cold and sterile” are based on someone’s reference, most likely, to a tube amplifier or one that sounds tube like with it’s rounded off music transients to avoid the presumed solid state harshness. Have any of you Audiophiles ever thought that the “cold and sterile” attribute just might be the amplifier with the least amount of added distortion or noise to the original source?

How about the next time someone thinks about asking for advice on the qualities of a particular brand compared to another go to a live event before asking the question. That also goes for all you experts, with all the experience of multiple brand ownership and auditioning ready to give the advice. When you’re at this live event ask yourself this question; does the music sound tube like, cold and sterile, or does it sound like the real thing?
audia
jesusa0
155 posts
 
You know guys, what you get with a nice sounding piece of audio gear is to help to translate or transmit an emotion. What the artist or the producer wanted to transmit.

If not, somebody has to explain to me why a few teardrops always run down my face while I listen Bettye Lavette singing "Talking old soldiers" from the CD "The scene of the crime"

There are no misteries, only emotions.
detlof
1,899 posts
 
You are so right, Jesusa0, but it is still a mystery that music can do that to you, to me, to all of us who love music!

JohnK, Yea, most of the time you'll get your pants wet in the stiff breeze, but sometimes you don't, you come a bit closer, maybe just by shifting an interconnect. Such moments are satisfying, believe me.... (:
nickspicks's avatar
nickspicks
48 posts
 
this one is easy.

get rid of the audio part and focus on "ophile"
webster says: -ophile occurs in words which refer to someone who has a very strong liking for people or things of a particular kind.

in our world its music. and that is broad.
you could be a huge fan of all sorts of music...and listen to dreadful mp3's on your iPod ...and be an audiophile due to the priority you put on that activity.

Me, I love it all. playing it, hearing it, seeing it, the hardware...., everything.
that makes me an audiophile.
its not about how much of a financial investment one has.

does the ipoder w/his 128kbps MP3s enjoy their music any more/less than someone w/a $30k turntable ?
Its true, there are many people here with carts worth more than many modest stereo systems. but that doestn' make them an audiophile.
but it does make me jealous.

as for reproducing live music. it can certainly be done. I record lots of bands. two track ambient from the audience with high-end gear. Soundfield stereo mics, schoeps..etc. you name it...iv'e used it.
I try to re-create it in my house. And after witnessing the real event and then listening to the capture I made...sometimes *but certainly not every time*, it gets nailed and the entire 3-dimensional experience is faithfully recreated in my living room.

your ears may vary. But until you actually go out and hear/see it...record it yourself ...and build a system that you consider "reference" ..as having the ability to spit back exactly what you feed it in terms of presentation (soundstage) and impact...., you are just speculating.

I do it weekly. therefore I feel like I know what I am talking about in regards to my own efforts. I would not presume to say the same thing about anyone else.
It is extremely personal and subjective.
rodman99999
6,131 posts
 
Nickspicks- KUDOS: A man after my own heart. I couldn't have stated it any better(though I've tried)!
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,800 posts
 
As long as there have been humans, there has been music. This says to me that music is not entertainment (although it certainly is entertaining): it is essential.

Some of my earliest memories are that of sitting in front of an ancient 78 player, playing a stack of 78s. I was probably 3 at the time. My home was always filled with music as I was growing up, fed by a tiny 3-tube stereo combo, with which I was fascinated.

Other audiophiles and I do compare notes on equipment- there is a desire to get as close to the music as possible. I have used live performance as a measure- since all performance spaces and recordings are different, I had musicians play live in my house so that I could use direct mic feeds as part of the reference process.

Not finding what I wanted in the state of the art at the time, I started building my own circuits, which I have been doing ever since.

Its funny, I play bass, keyboards (myspace.com/thunderboltpagoda also myspace.com/salubriousinvertebrae) and flute; in orchestras, jazz, blues and rock bands, yet still the desire to surround myself with music persists. I enjoy all aspects of the art of playback, the quality of the packaging, the placement of music in the space of the recording, the strengths of the musicians and the weaknesses too.

Equipment comparisons wind up being common, but like a car, motorbike or camera, much depends on where you go/what you do with it, and it always better when the equipment isn't hindering the experience.
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