are any of your friends audiophiles?

I'm not sure I even like to think of myself as an audiophile :-)

I have many friends who are avid music lovers - listen all the time to wide ranging music, go to shows, etc.

I have several friends who seem to really enjoy listening to my system and appreciate it for the quality of the sound.

I have two friends that I both see regularly and who avidly seek out listening to music on my system. They seek it out, we listen for an extended period, you can see them actively enjoying the activity.

These same two friends have both bought some nice gear - one let me buy her a full system and uses it regularly at her house. She definitely hears the difference between good or bad, but is solidly in the music-lover camp. I could easily imagine her using the same (very nice) system forever.

The other friend doesn't have lots of spare financial resources, but loves the nice pair of speakers he bought, and I'm sure better equipment in time is something he will pursue.

In general, though, I find people all the time who are passionate about music, but I find very few people who care much about gear or any of the other audiophile trappings.

I am a music lover first and that drove my interests in good playback gear. I do have friends who got into the hobby too for the same reasonas but not because I exposed them to the art of fine music reproduction; this happened independently because they too were into music.

Some folks don't believe that they can justify the cost/benefit ratio, maybe because they son't feel that music should be such a central or focused part of their lives. Even my wife, who does share my hobby interests, will sometimes say I'm like a teenager, which is fine by me because at least music keeps me feeling young, at least in heart.

I believe this hobby is beneficial to health and well being. Plus, the benefits of music listening to mental and physical health are beginning to be understood, but I mean listening, not music as wallpaper. Perhaps a critical mass of such information may eventually push these benefits over and into public conciousness and this will help our friends get aboard.

same as kthomas. the friends with the to-die-for music collections have no interest in anything hi end.