Audiophile or Music Lover?

Are you an Audiophile or Music Lover?

  • Audiophile

    Votes: 66 17.1%
  • Music Lover

    Votes: 321 82.9%

  • Total voters
    387
To be a music lover you really don't have to be an audiophile. However, (my opinion) to be an audiophile you have to be a music lover. Unless you just collect and repair. Nothing wrong with either. :)
 
Audiophile or music lover?

Haven't personally known anybody in my lifetime who does not love some type of music.

It's like asking Food critic or food lover. Going out on a limb here and guessing that even food critics love food.
 
I'm a music first person, but I guess i might fall into the "both" category depending on how you look at it. I definitely appreciate and enjoy hearing how different systems sound, but my listening is almost always to the music, rather than the system (assuming I'm not trying to evaluate some repairs I've just made).
 
I'm a music first person, but I guess i might fall into the "both" category depending on how you look at it. I definitely appreciate and enjoy hearing how different systems sound, but my listening is almost always to the music, rather than the system (assuming I'm not trying to evaluate some repairs I've just made).
I'll throw this out: I've had a very good hi-fi and I actually currently have one in the PA I put together and the speakers it uses that I built from scratch. But what I've been using the last couple of weeks as I work in my garage and in my "mancave" that I'm working to wire and finish, is a 1960's console with it's speakers connected to a modern 100 wpc class D amplifier. The difference is staggering. With the console, it sounds like nice music. But it's got serious peaks and valleys in the mids, poor quality highs, and little "real" bass, though it is a little boomy. It's definitely better than a clock radio, though.

But when I bring in my PA and play the exact same sources, it almost sounds like having a live band in the room. And to be clear, it's not because of volume. It's just clear, dynamic, etc. It's as much better than what used to be considered a "good hi fi" back in the day as that hi fi is better than a pocket transistor radio. It's huge.

And when you listen to a six figure priced hi-fi system, it brings it to yet another level. Though the point of diminishing returns has definitely been hit way before that. That is, it's better, but not THAT much better. For me, this PA or it's hi-fi equivalent is the sweet spot regarding quality and investment. But that's just me. Others feel differently.
 
I never had a critical listening ear. It amazed me how stereo mag reviewers could hear the subtle differences between interconnects or even elevated cables off the floor. Not me.

I can enjoy music in my living room, on my MP3 Player, in my truck cruising after midnight going no where. My system is decent and at 65 my hearing is less than what it was. Enjoy what i have as I knew it was fine when I was younger.
 
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Let’s not do this again.
I want to provide a some context to my short and somewhat terse remark in the previous post.

There seems to be some degree of controversy as of late with regards to the definition of audiophile. In those instances, it stirred up a lot of emotions which usually leads to behavior ( in the form of their responses) that is not admirable.
I am all for listening and reading different opinions and POV’s from others but not when when it digresses.

i guess I am a little gun shy on this topic thus, my quick reaction.
 
I'm both, but I actually voted "music lover" because music is the reason I like audio equipment.

Some people have no interest in music itself, and just like to own very expensive stereo equipment (ideally stolen from someone else so they don't have to pay for it.) I actually met one person like that, he was a malignant narcissist! When I found out he had been stealing from me for years, including all my nice instruments and equipment, even though he didn't really like music, it was NOT pretty and I'm lucky I didn't go to prison for what I did to him :)

Anyway, the two go together if you consider yourself an audiophile. Not much point to it if you don't like music, except for the above-mentioned case I suppose :)
 
Both. I don't see why one would be an audiophile without being a music lover, but I've met people like that.
You don't have to be an audiophile to be a music lover but to me the opposite is hard to comprehend. I can see people buying fancy equipment to impress other people but if they don't enjoy listening to it on their own then they're audiobrags, a whole different breed.
 
Obviously, you need at least a third category:

✔️ BOTH

But your post reveals the difficulties and balancing acts involved with this hobby of ours.

Whenever you alter the organism that is the system, you alter its synergy. Over the decades, I’ve added new pieces of gear that in many ways sounded much better (were noticeably higher in the hi-end chain) than what I already had; but, sometimes, despite the virtues of some new pieces of better gear, the system then sounded too refined, too clinical, too distracting, less live, less alive, less emotionally involving. Or the new and better components just didn’t work with what I already had. (Less synergy.) Sometimes, my gear, improved and more revealing, has highlighted bad recordings so that I’ve had to jettison music from the lineup. And sometimes, new pieces of gear have forced me to be too invested in and focused on what newfound nuances they revealed about the music, which brought me too far away from the pure enjoyment of the music itself. In those instances, I’ve, perhaps, pulled back on some gains to maintain that delicate balance and to retain what I love about listening to my stereo: that it makes me love and appreciate the music/musicians, without actually inspiring me, instead, merely to love and to worship at the altar of my stereo.
 
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You don't have to be an audiophile to be a music lover but to me the opposite is hard to comprehend. I can see people buying fancy equipment to impress other people but if they don't enjoy listening to it on their own then they're audiobrags, a whole different breed.

"Audio-braggers" (good one) might be a sub-category in the audiophile category. Not that the categories are to be so confined to one or the other only but begs to tell why is one here in the first place. And there are many subcategories to both the audiophiles and music lovers. Like there's the music lovers who collect records, tapes, reels, CD's or downloads then wants to get the best out of his playback sessions and so venture afterward into audio gear and audiophile stuffs.

Then you have a sub category of "music lovers" that are records collectors who only collect and never listen to their priceless collectors items but brags to have them all. They're nicked named 'stamps collectors' sometimes. They're records collectors braggers if you will. Then you have record collectors who do play their rare records but are not bothered at all by audio gear and play their music with sheer enthusiasm on pitiful racks worthy your early childhood days set-up.

So there are music lovers who are not audiophiles. Just as there are audiophiles who are not music lovers. Some are just genuinely impressed by playback rendition, performance, technology and/or design. Not necessary emotionally by the music itself but by how it is rendered. Only intellectually if one's willing to understand that. Seeking only on the 'cold' approach and not on the 'warm' one. Often also serious tweakers if not engineers and designers themselves.

Then you have the rich 'hipster' kid who only gets expensive home furniture. The audio gear is part of the furniture things to have. Show-off more than bragger actually. Then you have your bragger who will go on in length about the specs to impress and emphases over the set-up and not about music and/or it's support. What we often confuses for the audiophile here could actually be an 'audio geek'. Audiophilia is generic and is what brings us all here for audio gear.
 
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