Audiophilia Syndrome

[pkane2001]

21 minutes ago, GUTB said:

He noticed some people aren’t audiophiles and that makes him me?

 

What makes you two similar is the unreasonably narrow definition of 'audiophile' that excludes way too many of us. 

 

[pkane2001]

36 minutes ago, audiobomber said:

People who believe that it's all just ones and zeroes, expensive cables are foolish, competently designed equipment (amps, cd players, etc.) all sound the same, and double blind testing is the only standard, do not want to be called audiophiles, and mostly use the term pejoratively. That sentiment comes across clearly in the OP.

 

Again, you're just picking an arbitrary distinction and presuming to know what others think. I may not fit your definition of audiophile, but I am, and have been for 30+ years. Because I understand something about the underlying technology and chose my components carefully and deliberately does not make me less of an audiophile than you or GUTB. 

 

Now, if you were to call me an audiophiliac then I may have to disagree. I've recovered from that disease a long time ago 

 

[pkane2001]

5 minutes ago, Summit said:

Sure Audiophilia can get out of hand and become an obsessive-compulsive behaviour.

 

We also have some people that seems to be obsessive with everything that they consider to be snake oil products.  

 

There are certainly folks at both extremes. What I often find is that the people near the middle get pushed into one of the extreme groups, just because it makes it easier to classify them this way. That's not fair to them.

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, GUTB said:

Those are the signs of an audiophile, except for the focusing on the inexpensive side of things, which may or not be a sign of not being an audiophile. Not having a preamp seriously calls your audiophile credentials into question, but that may just be lack of experience born out of a focus on trying to achieve maximum value.

 

You're too funny! I suggest you and your fans have a formal meeting and a vote to determine if I am or I am not an audiophile, as you appear conflicted on the subject.

 

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, accwai said:

 

That's assuming most would care all that much about how they're labelled and whether the labels are fair to them.

 

Besides, it's a big world out there. People who are far beyond the stereotypes could also exist. Audiophools that only play a handful of approved recordings to show off their system eh? Sure, but there are also those with audio system, music collection *and* musical instrument collection of gigantic proportion. Contrary to popular belief, they also have the necessary knowledge to use that stuff real hard. And they've been around enough to have contact with people with even larger collection than theirs and they're perfectly comfortable with that.

 

The obsessives are the ones fuzzing over the labels and counter-labels. Whatever rocks your boat eh...

 

It's not the labels that bother me, it's the assumptions that are then made about people based on these labels. 

 

[pkane2001]

51 minutes ago, GUTB said:

It's said that BMWs are "drivers' cars". In the neutortypical sense, "drivers" in this context refers to people who value the thrill of driving a high-performance vehicle.

 

If someone comes along with a Mazda, can he call himself a "driver"? The thrill aspect is subjective, right?

 

The answer is...no. Subjectivity is often used to hide objective facts. In the realm of human behavior and psychological response, out of the billions of people populating the Earth objective realities can arise as generalities. BMWs are high-performance cars, and Mazdas are not -- everyone knows this. "Everyone" is generality, but a meaningful one. We all simply intuit the fact; arguments using subjective stances are really just efforts to deny the thing everyone already knows.

 

Audiophiles in the neurotypical sense just means someone who values high-performance audio.

 

What is your obsession with the word neurotypical?  It has no relation to the subject being discussed, and yet you mention it in every other post, and multiple times in this one.

 

Sorry, but high performance does not equate to high cost in cars or audio. 

 

Enjoyment of cars and audio can be derived from inexpensive equipment— high performance driving is driving at the limit allowed by the automobile and can be done in a Toyota or in a Ferrari. Same with audio equipment— you can enjoy inexpensive equipment as long as you know what you’re doing.