Do Audiophiles really like music?

I first found out about Audiophile Nervosa a little over 12 years ago when my girlfriend secretly purchased a solid state Mac preamp and amp I had pointed out to her at an estate sale for $25.00 each. They were way cool and retro looking but at that price I was certain those old things did not work. Besides, the glass on the preamp was broken.
Little did I know that they would completely blow away my new Pionneer AV receiver.
They looked Cool, Retro and sounded better than my modern stuff! Perfect to play my 5,000 LPs. My collection was suddenly unexplored territory.
I may not be much of an audiophile buy it's nice to have something that looks the business and sounds decent at the same time to play my LPs.
Say, who were the first audiophiles? Were they acousticians? I remember in high school that some guys would hang out in the boys' room singing Doo Wop and getting this cool echo sound. Were they audiophiles? I have recordings of polyphony that were recorded in courtyards that give the music a neat acoustic. I've also sat on concrete benches in parks where you could sit 100 feet from your companion and merely whisper a conversation. I've experienced the same phenomenon in domed buildings. Was all of that by design and does that make those architects audiophiles?
I'm sorry...it's a quiet day here being President's Day. I better go do some work. My girlfriend is off today and I know the last thing she would do is turn on the sound system. Oh well!

I like the gear but the music takes priority, as I just sold most of my system. One of the reasons is I didn't think I was getting the value for what I paid for the system. By value I mean I had more money invested in the system than anything else (except the house) and wasn't using it enough to justify the amount of $$$. Sure, it was great when I was listening but I can't even listen to it every day.

Anyway, I downsized into a considerably less expensive system & might downsize even further. Depends on how this next round goes.

My music enjoyment is not limited to just recorded music, as I have the pleasure of running sound for a few bands. I can't tell you how fascinating it is to be able to adjust just about every aspect of the performance to the way I like it. It’s not an ego trip but full involvement with the music.

Also, by downsizing my system, now my software is worth more than the hardware. I also am going to make myself buy more music instead of gear & have already acquired about 15 CD's since the beginning of the year, which although not a huge amount, is more than I have in the recent past.

Over the years I've associated audiophilia with gear that can do a better job of reproducing the recorded medium but therein lies the danger, as has already been mentioned. One can get carried away with the ability of the gear & focus on that aspect to the exclusion of anything else. It's not simply a matter of economics but what it was that made you start listening to music in the first place.

No doubt the gear can be very nice but w/o the music, it's no more than a high performance engine sitting on an engine stand.

Do people with good stereos like music? Of course. The real question is whether they like music more than they like equipment.

One of the major problems in evaluating which they like better is that there is more good gear coming out than good music.

I have about $50-60K in my 2 channel rig, 1200+ cd's, about the same number of lp's, and I still buy 2-5 new things each month. However, at least half of what I buy is older stuff. And half of the new stuff I buy ends up being crap. So when I buy music, about half the time it's nothing new, and half of the rest of the time it's not so great.

In constrast, when I buy a new piece of gear (like my Cary SLP-05 preamp last month), I rekindle my relationship with all my music, and it makes me want to go buy more.

BOTTOM LINE: you could figure this out by asking how much music people are buying, whether they play an instrument regularly (and by play, I mean actually play, not "know how" to play) and whether they go out to hear music. The real music lovers (in my opinion) are buying, playing and going if they are physically able.

Rich

What started me in this hobby is my love for music. I have little musical talent and those that do just amaze and inspire me. Of course you have some that are so analytical that they go overboard. But they help make the equipment cutting edge for those of us that love the mystical sound that is music.

Tmrhu, excellent point about live music and the sound levels, and that's one reason I invested in a pair of custom ear plugs (175.00 and worth 10 times that) that attenuate frequencies evenly. I refuse to hear live music without them.