Qualitative differences - audiophiles vs regular people

[GUTB]

So, what is it about audiophiles, or hi-fi aficionados if you prefer, that allows us to appreciate hi-fi where a regular person doesn’t? I thought about traits that we seem to share in general:

 

1. Higher IQ / intelligence

2. Professionally successful

3. More thoughtful in nature

4. Middle or upper-middle class

 

Are we just higher-quality people and something in our genetic makeup also predisposes us to enjoying hi-fi, and by extension hi-fi music? What are others’ thoughts on this?

[psjug]

5. Compulsive spenders

6. Failures as musicians

7. Narcissists

 

just to play devil's advocate

[PleasantSounds]

no offense, but if you look at audiophiles vs "regular" population, you're likely to find many more:

 

8. Geeks

9. Snobs

10. OCD

11. Fairytale believers

12. Elderly males

13. People unwilling to compromise

 

[buonassi]

Subbed. This oughtta be good

[GregWormald]

According to the majority (and the majority is always right) we are crazy.

[Ralf11]

less slurotypical

[diecaster]

This reminds me of identity politics.......

[firedog]

males. like gadgets. get obssessive about hobbies and having the best.

[Keith_W]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

males. like gadgets. get obssessive about hobbies and having the best.

 

This is exactly it. I get to meet plenty of different people from all walks of life in my profession, and men are all the same. They obsess over their hobbies, be it carpentry, model building, duck shooting, fishing, cars, motorbikes, bee keeping, boating, calligraphy, art, etc. If you show a tiny bit of interest they can rabbit on for hours about the finer points of their particular hobby. 

[Bystander]

[PeterSt]

6 hours ago, GUTB said:

1. Higher IQ / intelligence

2. Professionally successful

3. More thoughtful in nature

4. Middle or upper-middle class

 

Wow. So this is how you think about yourself, right ?

[mcgillroy]

Perhaps audiophiles are professional trolls and Gutb just tries very hard to get to the top of the hill - or the bottom of the cave...

[JoeWhip]

All I can say is WOW.

[mansr]

8 hours ago, GUTB said:

So, what is it about audiophiles, or hi-fi aficionados if you prefer, that allows us to appreciate hi-fi where a regular person doesn’t? I thought about traits that we seem to share in general:

 

1. Higher IQ / intelligence

2. Professionally successful

3. More thoughtful in nature

4. Middle or upper-middle class

You forgot one:

0. Neurotypical

[firedog]

2 hours ago, mcgillroy said:

Perhaps audiophiles are professional trolls and Gutb just tries very hard to get to the top of the hill - or the bottom of the cave...

He keeps telling us he is neurotypical, although he seems to use the word with the opposite of the now commonly accepted meaning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotypical

[Melvin]

GUTB reminds me of Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, save for the fact he's not funny but cringeworthy.

[mav52]

52 minutes ago, mansr said:

You forgot one:

0. Neurotypical

Neurotypical or the excuse there of.

[GUTB]

Yes, I am in fact neurotypical. 

 

It’s undoubtedly true that we are virtually all male and older. I could certainly add male to the list, but age may be correlated with developed IQs?

[Summit]

I think audiophiles are far more fixated/obsessive with the audio gear themselves and how they sound, measure or which components they are using than other people. Some audiophiles are more interested in technical aspects, audio scheme and measurements while others are more interested in how the gear or records “sounds”, however for both groups it’s about the hardware.  

 

Other than the more than common passion for listening, evaluate, reading, tweaking, talking and thinking about audio gear or different audio codec’s and their pros and cons, I don’t think we are so different  

[adamdea]

 

13 hours ago, GUTB said:

So,

....What are others’ thoughts on this?

That you must be kidding.

[Confused]

I’m obsessed with generalisations.  I have no idea why.

[Ralf11]

the gender bias is the only really interesting factor here

 

and one can easily construct an "evolutionary story" about why 

 

males are obsessed about gadgets because males who were obsessed about sticks, fire-sharpened sticks, and stone tools would have been selected for in all species of Homo, and maybe some pongids too

 

females are obsessed about social relationships, not objects, and this is common in many other social primates

 

back to the OP... anything I could say might be interpreted as a personal attack, even if it was a recommendation from the DSM

 

[semente]

Neurotic?

 

Neurotic habits are automatic or ritualized patterns of overt behavior that people engage in to alleviate anxiety and provide a sense of familiar security. The problem is that, carried out over the long term, the habitual patterns are maladaptive. A classic example is the anxious drinker.

[Speedskater]

More and more:

a] a high level of suspension of disbelief

[davide256]

Grass is always greener on the other side of the audio fence..

No audio system is ever finished...