Audiophiles.

I am not an audiophile.

Audiophiles love audio and equipment, but rarely the music itself.

An audiophile is someone who can't listen for more than a few minutes before stopping to modify the setup, to swap cables or adjust amplifiers.
An Audiophile will spend more money gear than they'd spend on actual music and concerts.
An Audiophile will own stacks of different components, speakers, headphones and amplifiers and will receive their pleasure from fiddling with all this gear.
Audiophiles listen to their harware, instead of listening to what matters, the music.
Audiophiles just as often are listening to sample recordings to test the theoretical responsiveness of their setups.



I, personally, enjoy great music even if it's coming from a pair of iPod headphones (regardless of how much I really DO hate those though).
I know what a great reproduction sounds like, but it's ultimately all about the music, not what's playing the music, not the hardware.
If you let yourself get caught up in the hardware, you have no time to enjoy music.

All that being said. Sitting infront of a grand setup can be, as my girlfriend so aptly put, a near spiritual experience. There is a certain amount of imagination put into listening to music, thats the point of music though. The imagination needs to be put into the music, not the hardware playing it. Never get the two confused!





The images above are of a good friends setup. It is certainly a pleasure to listen to. But is the price worth it? I'd rather go to 400 concerts personally. But, everyone has their preferences. I spend my money on computers and other tech. I like to think i use it to its full potential. But that's not always true.