Confessions of an Audiophile

[Nikhil]

This showed up in my Youtube feed and I liked what he had to say.

 

 

[Nikhil]

 

[JoeWhip]

Leaving Hi fi is an interesting question. I have in the past. When my kids were young, I couldn’t justify spending the money. The noise would keep the kids up too. Same with my wife. I would still listen but would pick my spots. When my younger son started to get into writing and singing, I lost my audio room. I was losing it anyway, as part of it was a home office. So for several years, I didn’t even turn on the hi fi. I was busy with other things and my home theater room picked up the slack as did attending live events. About 6 or so years ago, I got my room back and enjoyed the hi fi again. Funny thing is, I still have the same equipment as before. Most is 20 years old. I just changed the DAC to get into computer based audio. I still attended a few audio shows a year and quickly learned that newer gear isn’t always better. Far from it. I also came to fully appreciate the role of the room in putting together a system. Sometimes, your equipment is just fine, it is your room that needs fixing. Almost three years ago, the section of our house that housed the educated room was demolished as part of a remodel. I took what I learned over the years and designed another room in what was attic space to be great as a sound room and still work as a bedroom in the future when someone else owns the place. So, I had no system at all for 6 months but enjoyed listening to music via my laptop or you tube with headphones and enjoyed it. While I love the new room and the ancient kit, I could live just fine without it, as long as I could still enjoy music at home in some other form. Sorry for the rant.

[Samuel T Cogley]

My only comment is that Record Store Day and the rise of digitally sourced vinyl (a scam in its own right) has pushed vintage vinyl out of the record store bins.  I'm not a fan of Record Store Day and the destruction it has wrought upon the availability of vintage vinyl.

 

Using Amoeba Music Hollywood as an example: In the Aughts, vintage vinyl was plentiful and some gems could be found at reasonable prices.  Now 90+% of the vinyl there is digitally sourced and there's just no bin space left for vintage vinyl.