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Do Audiophiles really like music?

Or is this more of a hobby where they can over analyze the most minute details and spend more money to "get where they want to be". I have been in this hobby a long time now, and have been around live music for a greater part of my life. I've had a lot of equipment and have heard more systems and tweaks then I'd like to remember. But does any of this allow us to "get closer to the music", the reason we go to such lengths as most would admit. I've discovered the only thing that allows me to get closer to the music is to listen to more of it. Maybe I am growing up, or losing interest in losing even MORE hair over a hobby that's suppose to be enjoyable, but I'd rather listen to music then think of how I can improve my system.

What do you think? I briefly mentioned this in the past, do audiophiles really enjoy music, or is the music just an excuse to get better gear so they can "get closer to the music"?
tireguy
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I have always enjoyed music, mostly classical, since before I had a phonograph (as audio systems were then called). But I have other interests, and one of them is messing around with electronics and loudspeakers. Hardly unexpected for an engineer. There is no reason why loving music and tinkering with audio equipment should be mutually exclusive.
bojack
669 posts
 
I like to think that audiophiles can be divided into two groups -- those who love gear and like music and those who love gear and love music. I've worked with and spoken to people who have multi-K systems and can recite every spec of any piece of gear you mention, but they can't tell you about the last live performance they attended or who their favorite guitar player is and why. (This always confounds the heck out of me.) To me, music lovers have to have live music like a drug, and they make an effort to have it. There is a connection to the music that no system can replicate. People who don't appreciate live music are a minority in our hobby, thank God, but they certainly exist more than audiophiles admit.
jond's avatar
jond
5,960 posts
 
Dude I love music!!!!! More than anything. I followed the Dead around to 65 or so shows, I followed Phish around to about 50 shows. I wanted a great stereo my whole life and when I was finally when I was finally able to afford one I went for it. First I got a Rega Planet, then a Bryston B-60 and finally some decent speakers and a Rega Planar 3. After all of that I found Audiogon and have since lived happily ever after. And I just love music!!!!
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
"Dave - Tool Time was loosely based on my life ;) My name is Tim the Tireguy "

Ahhh, Tim Allen is from the same area of Michigan as I, we even went to different schools.

Dave
reubent
7,072 posts
 
Tim,

It's funny, the more I obsess over my system, the less I enjoy music. Honestly, I enjoy a lot of rock music more on my stock Ford car stereo than on my home rig. It's sad, but listening to some of the poorly recorded rock music that is produced today is just more enjoyable on the low resolution system in my car.

I don't know if that makes me an Audiophile or an anti-audiophile. All I know is I like music. I like to listen to well recoded music at home, but I have to listen to U2 and Ned's Atomic Dustbin in my car because it seems that that was the intended audio rig for these recordings. They sound so bad on a high resolution rig that I can't believe the engineers that created the recording have ever heard a good system. It they had, they wouldn't record this stuff so badly.

Enjoy,

TIC
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