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Thank god I stopped being an audiophile..!


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Of course it has. It now means you can justify the rapacity of the industry using esoteric terms, backed up by pseudo science, and tout it as the must have product if you want to be taken seriously as an audiophile.

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Guest Muon N'
8 minutes ago, bob_m_54 said:

Of course it has. It now means you can justify the rapacity of the industry using esoteric terms, backed up by pseudo science, and tout it as the must have product if you want to be taken seriously as an audiophile.

More abuse of the term, thanks for the example, Bob :D

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Nothing wrong with being an Audiophile. I love the interaction between people and what they have to say. Leads me the right way sometimes.☺️This thread Is a POS to me.

Edited by Wimbo
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26 minutes ago, Muon N' said:

Audiophile does not mean spending heaps on gear, or constantly upgrading, the term seems to have lost it's true meaning completely.

Exactly.

This is why, in my previous post, I asked for clarification about the meaning of the term audiophile. It may well, be one of the most misused titles I have seen.

More accurately and along with the wisdom of @Wimbo  it is the exchange of knowledge and ideas by good people that matter, so why is there any need whatsoever to place a label on someone because of a particular interest which they pursue?

Edited by rantan
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Guest jakeyb77
6 hours ago, steffanth said:

I reached a point with my last system upgrades . . . from denon receiver to emotiva pre-amp and a Cambridge audio streamer . . . . that i am completely happy with my system . .  .. except for the dodgy plate amp in my sub . . .  .i dont see me doing any more upgrades/changes unless something goes bank and starts creating smoke

Given the Emotiva it won’t be long until you get that bang ?

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Guest Muon N'
19 minutes ago, rantan said:

Exactly.

This is why, in my previous post, I asked for clarification about the meaning of the term audiophile. It may well, be one of the most misused titles I have seen.

Yes, I recognised this :thumb:

 

From Collins (British)

noun
a person who has a great interest in high-fidelity sound reproduction

 

(in America)

noun

a devotee of high-fidelity sound reproduction, as from recordings.

 

 

Some dictionary sites appear to have followed the butchery and give meanings that follow that butchery, no longer it seems the public follow the dictionary meanings, and it is flipped over.

 

As with the Cambridge one.

a person who is very interested in and enthusiastic about equipment for playing recorded sound, and its quality:

(For an audiophile the quality of streamed music is sometimes inadequate.)

 

Obviously butchered from it's original meaning.

 

Edited by Muon N'
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Already is  [emoji6]
 
 
Only issue is not so much technology, but physics.    The dimension you have the woofer elevated off the ground, and from the back wall and side walls (in a typical-ish sized room) make chaos for path length cancellations (aka  "SBIR") .... and you get big holes and peaks in the response right around the maximum power/density of most music  (eg. 300Hz).
 
A subwoofer(s) and some EQ .... can work wonders.
 
 
If someone had $2k to spend on active bookshelves  .... then it's a no brainer to spend $500 on the speakers, and then the other $1500 on fixing the bass and EQ.       Audiophiles will say "those speakers are garbage" .... but they'll happily sit there listening to sound with glaring problems in the response that's affecting 90% of the energy.
 
 
.... but people buying expensive sound  (which $2000 totally is scary expensive in "normal people" terms)  aren't shopping on logic.... they're shopping on feelings and prestige   (which isn't so much "wrong" ... it's just "human nature"). 
A good freind of mine, who has sold hifi for many years and has owned many a great setup himself has told me that the Kii Audio 3 active speakers are the best speakers he has ever heard. Even better than the ATC speakers he currently owns.

I have not heard them myself, and probably don't want to at 22k+ ,cos l would want them. But his recommendations is good enough for me.

Just goes to show that times are a changing.
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I think a sign of ‘non-audiophilia’ is when you start preferring Spotify over all of your other more exotic source components.

 

Personally, I am these days a predominantly 60% Spotify listener preferring to discover NEW music and being excited by it - rather than pursuing material that is considered to be audiophile fare on other formats.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve.

 

 

 

.

Edited by Steve M
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13 minutes ago, needlerunner said:

A good freind of mine, who has sold hifi for many years and has owned many a great setup himself has told me that the Kii Audio 3 active speakers are the best speakers he has ever heard. Even better than the ATC speakers he currently owns.

I have not heard them myself, and probably don't want to at 22k+ ,cos l would want them. But his recommendations is good enough for me.

Just goes to show that times are a changing.

 They really do have a great reputation.

 

However I am unable to decipher what this has to do with the title of the thread.

Edited by rantan
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I’m a recovering audiophile[emoji23] the best thing ever did, was stop being one. When I look back at the money I’ve spent because I was continually disatisfied, it makes my eyes water. Then I discovered studio monitors, and I was done. My setup is now Focal Alpha 65’s with a Yamaha WXC-50 streaming preamp. Maximum inputs, streaming, and a speaker that goes clean down to 40hz. Bass and treble controls on the back, mean I can tune the sound to the room. (Audiophiles will say “oh no, you can’t have those it upsets the purity of the sound. Bollocks[emoji23]) Bear in mind, I’m in a near field situation. 
 
I turfed all my records, record player, Stax gear, etc. 
 
Files I use? AAC off Apple Music. Only costs me $11 a month. Tidal? Nowhere near the catalogue size of Apple or Spotify, so why should I spend the extra $20 when the others have far larger choice? Once you drop the audiophilia, it’s quite liberating for your mind, and your wallet. My system comes in at $1299 AUD and my OCD has disappeared [emoji23][emoji23]
 
Yes, that’s a Nintendo Switch. And an IKEA cabinet. That cost me $139 (cheaper then a hifi shelf[emoji23]) and the Focals sit on $8 Bunnings decking isolation pads[emoji6]
C4DD0525-36E6-4E58-97EE-EC9F16F7FD09.thumb.jpeg.97aaaa661ebf4b3a7a064b63b01711eb.jpeg
How much did you spend on the shrink?
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1 hour ago, rantan said:

Exactly.

This is why, in my previous post, I asked for clarification about the meaning of the term audiophile. It may well, be one of the most misused titles I have seen.

More accurately and along with the wisdom of @Wimbo  it is the exchange of knowledge and ideas by good people that matter, so why is there any need whatsoever to place a label on someone because of a particular interest which they pursue?

 

audiophile
/ˈɔːdɪə(ʊ)fʌɪl/
noun
informal
noun: audiophile; plural noun: audiophiles
  1. a hi-fi enthusiast.
    "it puts professional studio sound within the reach of the audiophile"
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Very funny thread

Isn’t the reason for an expensive stereo to make the songs sound as good as possible

I love my stereo

But not as much as the music

Its very expensive by my wife’s standards 

If I was rich I’d make sure I had a system that was very expensive by my standards

My guess is that being dissatisfied with an expensive stereo is because the music you play on it is awful

Country music and rock n roll sound incredible on anything from a few hundred dollars worth of stereo up to any amount you can think of

And I do know about cheap systems because they are all I had before becoming a middle class person

??????

 

 

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Guest Simonon

Maybe the word " audiophile" should be dropped from our vocabulary as it seems to have a stigma attached depending on who you talk to. Maybe we should ban the word altogether and simply call ourselves HIFI enthusiasts or hobbyists. I personally enjoy the banter, technical arguments and wacky beliefs of some. Most of all I enjoy the friends that I have made, seeing and listening to the diverse systems and being introduced to music I have never heard. Long live diversity from DIY, vintage, consumer and hi end. To be honest an active pair of bookshelf speakers and a streamer would bore me to death but thats just me. My interest is in restoring and modifying vintage gear which is where some true bargains lie.
In my time on stereonet I have met the ultra hi enders, mystical believers in the magical properties of crystals, cablers, electronics 101ers, DIYers, vintage restorers, tubers, streamers, phono nuts, technophobes and everyone in between. The binding force being the love of music.
I enjoy topics such as this one and also like a good technical argument and some banter which seems to be missing on Stereonet of late. d0ed8817b5e3fce7684af9ad68ea1cbd.jpg

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Guest jakeyb77
8 minutes ago, steffanth said:

Thats a bit harsh . . . My first emotiva amp is 5 years old and has never skipped a beat . .  My other emotiva amp and the pre are over a year old . . .   I know its not top grade equipment but it does the job for what i need . . . And ive had more hassle from denon and my paradigm sub than i have from any of tje emotiva gear

It’s not a personal attack. It’s a representation of previous Emotiva product reviews and also Tech opinions. Open the lid and have a look sometime. 

I’m glad your products have been an exception. 

 

** BTW three of my amps are on tech benches right now. None of us are immune 

Edited by jakeyb77
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15 hours ago, Grant Slack said:

Hello migasson


I regard you as a $2,000 audiophile, sorry! (new prices for your streamer and speakers is $2,000 total).

 

Non-audiophiles don't buy such nice gear. So, welcome back to the club! :) 

 

I believe our hobby embraces all sorts of mindsets, as long as they have a desire to hear the music with some degree of fidelity. You clearly fit. ;)

 

BTW the music library for Tidal is over 60 million tracks, vs 30+ million for Spotify, and 50 million for Apple.

 

regards,

Grant

Since edited my stuff up?

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I understand where you're coming from Migasson. Many audiophiles downsize after getting off the merry-go-round. However, the experience of having owned and listened to expensive components shouldn't be discarded in my opinion. Specifically, the experience of listening to lossless audio in whatever format that is. A nice-sounding system doesn't have to cost much - as you've found out - but streaming AAC doesn't do anyone any favours!

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Without wanting or meaning to be offensive to the op, his picture shows a room and restricted positioning of components that more than likely wouldn’t improve dramatically in sq even with a high end system, so his decision to cap his spend makes good sense.

It is not uncommon to see pictures of mega dollar high end systems stuck in tiny alcoves up against walls or in rooms that are just all wrong. It’s also not uncommon to read about the many ongoing updates with ever more expensive gear trying to improve what must be a frustrating lack of sq for dollars spent by those who have their system in those unsuitable rooms.  

While money spent on high end gear excites people the most about how to obtain improvements, usually, very little to nothing is ever spent on even the most basic sound treatment to try and off set the rooms issues.

Still I learnt this myself the expensive way as well, it wasn’t until I got a half decent room then spent heaps on getting the correct treatment that I really heard how good my system could sound.

 

cheers Terry

Edited by TerryO
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I think we are comparing Audiophiles with Audiofools, the Audiophile loves music and using a common sense approach improves his/her system to reach an acceptable to them level of fidelity.

 

The Audiofool spends ever increasing amounts of money, believes every way out sales pitch, doesn't really know what he wants, where he's going or how he's going to get there.

 

.

Edited by HypnoToad
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18 hours ago, jeromelang said:

You can stop being an audiophile but there is no reason to start becoming an idiot while you're at it. 

 

The high-class filter degrades sound very audibly. 

 high - class filter ?  caused no issues

 

High - pass on the other hand ?

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