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What is the definition of Audiophile?


DaQi

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2 hours ago, Teresa said:

Which components are those?

 

I thought audiophiles were after realism, as in the absolute sound.

 

High-end designers I’ve meet strive for that absolute sound, which is as accurate as possible to the original event, the correct timbre of instruments and voices, accurate reproduction of the ambiance of the recording space, and the feeling (as close as is possible with current technology) to being in the presence of the music being played, i.e. transparency.

 

Except for speakers, most of components over $1k have nearly identical specs. Yet some sound various degrees of warm and some sound various degrees of cold. Suggesting to me we are not yet close to total accuracy. 

 

I’ve been to sound shows and audio dealers and the only company I know of that purposely colors the sound of their products is Bose and they don’t publish specifications.

 

So which sounds more accurate to me, cold or warm? I believe warm to be the most accurate as when I listen to acoustic music live in a good performance space it sounds very warm.  

 

Seriously I would like to know which manufactures you two are speaking of, because if they deliberately color their sound and move away from realism they are not audiophile IMHO.

 

Many speakers, even expensive (or high-end) ones are deliberately  "voiced" to achieve a distinctive sonic signature; how else would they stand out in A-B comparisons at the dealers'?

A notable example is the BnW 800 series.

But speakers are the most flawed component and you do have to make compromises when designing and end up choosing particular sonic shortcomings over others as a result.

 

In regards to electronics, the Modwright I mentioned in another thread is a real "effects box", quite a feat considering that we are talking about a transistor amplifier.

AN Kondo's amplifiers are also famously publicised as representing the "artist's" vision of what domestic audio should sound like. Same is true other well known Japanese "tailors".

Abbingdon Music Research is another example.

Have a look at the measurements performed by Stereophile; there are loads.

"Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes

 

HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256)

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1 hour ago, davide256 said:

Makes me wish that audio hobbyists had some basic certification credential options.  Kind of like ham radio licensing to insure/verify some basic level of knowledge. Of course that would make life harder for the snake oil peddlers in audio...

And of course, you wouldn't need those qualifications would you ?

 

How a Digital Audio file sounds, or a Digital Video file looks, is governed to a large extent by the Power Supply area. All that Identical Checksums gives is the possibility of REGENERATING the file to close to that of the original file.

PROFILE UPDATED 13-11-2020

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1 hour ago, davide256 said:

Makes me wish that audio hobbyists had some basic certification credential options.  Kind of like ham radio licensing to insure/verify some basic level of knowledge. Of course that would make life harder for the snake oil peddlers in audio...

 

Why????????????

 

That is a club I would not want to join....

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On 11/23/2017 at 10:16 AM, gmgraves said:

 

That would depend on why he finds himself in the industry in the first place. Is it just a business to him, or is he there for the love of music and his ability to present that music as realistically as possible to the audience (IOW, a passion),  

 

I'm so sorry I forgot to mention that they're in the industry because of their educational background and passion for music. 

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16 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

 

Why????????????

 

That is a club I would not want to join....

Certifications exists to demonstrate that someone has  trained in a body of knowledge; if they are worthwhile certifications they include testing to verify you retained/understood the training. If you are more than an amateur you accumulate these as a matter of course over the years in technology businesses.  We'd see fewer mistaken arguments if social motivation existed to get basic online literacy credentials. On this site,  certification in DAC's, servers, PC hardware and networking would be invaluable to creating a more socially cohesive audiophile community.

Regards,

Dave

 

Audio system

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then people would just brag that they helped run a telecomm co. and are certified

 

besides, a big question is who does the certification (or as Aretha put it: who's zooming who)

 

I'm certainly not opposed to certification of electricians (to prevent your house from being burned down), plumbers (to prevent...), lawyers (to prevent unwanted deaths or bankruptcies), or MDs (to prevent neuro-surgery thru the duodenum), etc. but it can be carried too far.

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4 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

then people would just brag that they helped run a telecomm co. and are certified

 

besides, a big question is who does the certification (or as Aretha put it: who's zooming who)

 

I'm certainly not opposed to certification of electricians (to prevent your house from being burned down), plumbers (to prevent...), lawyers (to prevent unwanted deaths or bankruptcies), or MDs (to prevent neuro-surgery thru the duodenum), etc. but it can be carried too far.

Not to mention that it serves no purpose on a hobby-based forum.

George

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On 11/21/2017 at 1:21 PM, GUTB said:

Yes on the used gear. Amp and speaker tech hasn't significantly improved in the last 10-15 years. Everyone needs to get themselves that Pass, Audio Research, VAC, Linn, etc. Just as long as it isn't too ancient you'll be super well off.

 

Have you guys heard 15 ips master tapes? Those players freshly refurbed are going for less than $1-2k right now. If you have a vinyl setup you could pay $8k for a TriangleArts Zues cart OR you can pay half that used just because it has some hours on it.

 

This comment about tech not improving does not match my experience at all.  The temporal coherence of Wilson Audio’s latest designs. The Interport Coupled Cavity of ELAC Adantes.  The ribbon improvements on Maggies.

 

Things have become massively better in just the past three years!

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11 hours ago, Lee Scoggins said:

It seems many object to the term audiophile as in popular culture it represents a bad stereotype of the condescending elitist.

 

But it really means just a lover of good sound...

 

Perhaps we best destroy the stereotype by praising anyone who enjoys a modest system...make recommendations based on a new person’s budget...don’t look down on anyone who cannot afford expensive speakers.

 

And most of all entertain opinions of those who have different listening experiences than we do.  Some like MQA, some don’t.  Some like DSD, some don’t.

 

The focus should on the music then secondarily building a system that optimizes what can be done for a specific individual within their own realistic budget.

 

Yes, but isn’t it also implicit that an audiophile is a purist then it comes to SQ? Never really satisfy for long time, or it’s just me? ;)

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On 11/28/2017 at 9:41 AM, Summit said:

 

Yes, but isn’t it also implicit that an audiophile is a purist then it comes to SQ? Never really satisfy for long time, or it’s just me? ;)

 

Never being satisfied is a symptom of audiophilia nervosa. Audiophiles are at risk of developing audiophilia nervosa. However, most audiophiles never develop the disease.

 

My system is the best I could find at the price I could afford, and I love listening to music through it. Indeed, I've been very happy with my speakers for over 25 years. I know there are more accurate systems but they cost more and more money all the time and mine is already paid for.

 

This is why I liked Lee Scoggins statement that "the focus should on the music then secondarily building a system that optimizes what can be done for a specific individual within their own realistic budget."

I have dementia. I save all my posts in a text file I call Forums.  I do a search in that file to find out what I said or did in the past.

 

I still love music.

 

Teresa

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It doesn’t need to be more complex as audiophiles vs non-audiophiles. The non-audiophile simply has much less value in audio. They use budgetary constraints as an excuse, but they’ll spend thousands on home theatre setups, 10s of thousands on not just one car, but 2 and 3 cars for the household, home extensions, new floors, etc. They have the money, they just don’t care that much about sound quality.

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15 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

I am never satisfied.

 

 

I upgrade my system at least every 20 years.

 

You're once-in-20-years upgrade path somehow included an Apple TV?

 

The audiophile contingent here at CA stands ready to offer recommendations for many reasonably-priced high performance source components when you feel like reaching for quality sound.

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Equipment ages (mostly the capacitors)... a 20 year old anything is going to sound very different today than at original purchase time, never mind the quantum leap technical advances in newer designs. Trouble is, such glacial pace changes in sound signature go largely unnoticed until you make an A/B comparison.

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21 minutes ago, mjb said:

Equipment ages (mostly the capacitors)... a 20 year old anything is going to sound very different today than at original purchase time, never mind the quantum leap technical advances in newer designs. Trouble is, such glacial pace changes in sound signature go largely unnoticed until you make an A/B comparison.

O my god now I’m thinking about servicing my 15yo amp ?

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On 2017-11-29 at 8:48 PM, Teresa said:

 

Never being satisfied is a symptom of audiophilia nervosa. Audiophiles are at risk of developing audiophilia nervosa. However, most audiophiles never develop the disease.

 

My system is the best I could find at the price I could afford, and I love listening to music through it. Indeed, I've been very happy with my speakers for over 25 years. I know there are more accurate systems but they cost more and more money all the time and mine is already paid for.

 

This is why I liked Lee Scoggins statement that "the focus should on the music then secondarily building a system that optimizes what can be done for a specific individual within their own realistic budget."

 

Yes I admit I do suffer a bit from Audiophilia Nervosa, not the worst symptoms (hence the emoji used), but why else read and talk about how audio gear sound? Those music lovers buy their gear and then they are done and focus on listen and analyzing their music. Can one be a SQ purist aka perfectionist and not strive for sound quality perfection?

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On 29 November 2017 at 9:05 PM, Lebouwsky said:

O my god now I’m thinking about servicing my 15yo amp ?

 

Well worth thinking about, just had my power amp overhauled, re-capped etc after 13 yrs of ownership (and I wasn't the first owner either), result: a big upgrade in SQ.

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3 hours ago, rodrigaj said:

 

The audiophile press is very much like the Arthur Murray business model. It is intended to make you feel wanting (and buying). That deprived feeling is not enjoyable and does not enhance musical appreciation.

 

I think that is right - the "audiophile press" (almost entirely) in that sense is nothing but a long advertisement and marketing scheme. 

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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