Audiophiles mostly aren’t music fans

[AAamazing]

Audiophiles are in love with sound. Music fans are in love with music.

It’s not the same. Not even close.

And I am a music fan. Hands down. And proud.

for years I’ve had a pair of large advents, a marantz 2240b, a gold ring turntable, and adcom 555.

And it’s been great. Maybe cost me 1500 bucks in all.

I decided to step up and got a set of mordaunt short high end speakers, a classe amp, halo parasound phono preamp, and an avid turntable. TOTALLY broke the bank for me. Used it was a 10k investment.


And it was a huge mistake.

The good stuff sounds AMAZING. BUT, the average stuff sounds awful. Zero middle ground. That’s just dumb. Made me listening to only certain music. And I became searching for what didn’t sound like crap. The opposite of what I hoped.

I was so disappointed. I am selling all the new high end stuff and going right back with my old set up. A setup that makes 95% of my albums just kick ass. The high end stuff made like 15% of my collection listenable.

Apparently I am not an audiophile despite having played professional guitar all over the world. And recording in the best studios in the USA. And being a tone junky.

Eye opener.

 

[AAamazing]

Bonzo who goes to classical concerts 50 times a year probably is just an audiophile junky too ... just because he loves to listen to gears.

I don’t understand

Im
Speaking clearly of recorded music only. Music fans and audiophiles aren’t synonymous. I love music. Most of it isn’t recorded high enough quality, or mastered to sound good on an audiophile system. It becomes more about audio aesthetics than art.

 

[bonzo75]

Audiophiles are in love with sound. Music fans are in love with music.

It’s not the same. Not even close.

And I am a music fan. Hands down. And proud.

for years I’ve had a pair of large advents, a marantz 2240b, a gold ring turntable, and adcom 555.

And it’s been great. Maybe cost me 1500 bucks in all.

I decided to step up and got a set of mordaunt short high end speakers, a classe amp, halo parasound phono preamp, and an avid turntable. TOTALLY broke the bank for me. Used it was a 10k investment.


And it was a huge mistake.

The good stuff sounds AMAZING. BUT, the average stuff sounds awful. Zero middle ground. That’s just dumb. Made me listening to only certain music. And I became searching for what didn’t sound like crap. The opposite of what I hoped.

I was so disappointed. I am selling all the new high end stuff and going right back with my old set up. A setup that makes 95% of my albums just kick ass. The high end stuff made like 15% of my collection listenable.

Apparently I am not an audiophile despite having played professional guitar all over the world. And recording in the best studios in the USA. And being a tone junky.

Eye opener.

Different hobbies, music listening and audio gear. With some overlap. You just need to be comfortable which set of the Venn diagram you are in

 

[cjfrbw]

Music isn't sound?

 

[bonzo75]

Music isn't sound?

Sound isn't necessarily music

 

[AAamazing]

Sound isn't necessarily music

Exactly. High end audiophiles focus on sound. Not the music.

 

[AAamazing]

Different hobbies, music listening and audio gear. With some overlap. You just need to be comfortable which set of the Venn diagram you are in

Agreed. It just blew me away how crappy most stuff sounds as you increase gear quality. Then you are chasing a sound aesthetic. Not musical one

 

[bonzo75]

Exactly. High end audiophiles focus on sound. Not the music.

That's not true either

 

[cjfrbw]

OP is trolling, but audiophiles are a complex lot. Pigeonholing is in the eye of the beholder.

I would say if somebody is happy with a boom box, they can count themselves lucky that was where it ended for them.

 

[kodomo]

I don't think stereotyping works anywhere. I love and enjoy good sound because I feel that is the best way to convey what is recorded. Most of the stuff does not sound like crap on a good system, that seems to be your very limited experience with good systems, variety of recordings and different people.

I can be considered an audiophile and I am a lover of music, I always believed it is the thing that I love the most. I also play instruments, worked in studios, owned a studio, studied acoustics formally... I closely listen to music at least for a few hours every day, and have record collection of a few thousand LP's and about 1500cd's. I love going to concerts and I enjoy listening to records at home, and they are two different things, two different types of experience.

 

[gian60]

One my friend has
Vivaldi stack
Viola pre and Bravo II
Coincident Reference speaker
Cable Stealth and Elrod

And 200 CD

 

[bonzo75]

One my friend has
Vivaldi stack
Viola pre and Bravo II
Coincident Reference speaker
Cable Stealth and Elrod

And 200 CD

With that I would find it difficult to listen to more than 20 CDs of movie scores, played while watching TV

 

[JackD201]

Agreed. It just blew me away how crappy most stuff sounds as you increase gear quality. Then you are chasing a sound aesthetic. Not musical one

I've found that there is an inflection point. While crap will always sound like crap there is that point where familiar recordings can be vaulted up to another level of appreciation.

It appears that you took the path of "detail" where the said "details" were malformed. It is surely reasonable that going back to a more forgiving presentation would reap bigger dividends as was the case with you. There are few things I hate more than having the feeling that a recording has been ripped apart and thrust at me where a coherent, moving, breathing work of art should be in its place.

 

[Folsom]

I think OP has legit argument in a way. Not all hyped gear is good. And we all have different preferences.

The Adcom 555 is not junk, and was very much audiophile during release time. Marantz 2240 didn't have a high damping factor, a littler more THD might go long way in not over-analyzing records. I can't comment on TT because TT/cart setup ability is one thing, and cartridges are another... I don't even like a lot of carts. Was he using silly cables? No idea on speakers. No real experiences with either and not sure about models (no info given).

I think Jack is probably right, he bought some "detail" gear to some extent. A helping guide to choose stuff what he would have liked more would have been good. But perhaps also there is some inevitability that not all albums will sound great; but I do suspect that it wouldn't be a majority as that is not a problem I have. Some albums sound better-fantastic, a lot are enjoyable but obviously not as riveting.

Personally I think there is a big failure on tone for many audiophile type stereos, but not everyone listens for that. At the same time I think there's a lot of tone-only stereos that sound annoying to me. Martin Logan + McIntosh is one possible such combo where it's a mono tone that never ends - not really any better than no tone.

 

[parkcaka]

I am also a music lover first and then an audiophile.
I never listen to demo albums that has great sound but no real musical content.

My system plays 95% of my music archive great. I am amazed every time. Every time.

Maybe you just didn't have the chance to try the equipment that really speaks to you. You maybe gave up early.

I know it's not easy to find the right equipment. It has taken me nearly 20 years.

With love and respect,

Cagdas

 

[Folsom]

New challenge. If the OP isn't a troll, I suggest we find someone in his area to introduce him to a different sound that isn't just his old gear, but is exciting. But it must be a very well made decision if the person showing does not want to be upset if he does not enjoy it - and a mutual pact about not price shaming must be made.

I don't expect anyone to necessarily want to introduce OP to something, but if he's legit trying to explore and not troll then proof is in real life listening not internet argument. Otherwise I suspect silliness like douche-bag YouTuber "proving" audiophile stuff is nonsense by doing everything but trying audiophile stuff (like connecting dozens of random non-audiophile cables or something).

 

[Tango]

I don’t understand

Im
Speaking clearly of recorded music only. Music fans and audiophiles aren’t synonymous. I love music. Most of it isn’t recorded high enough quality, or mastered to sound good on an audiophile system. It becomes more about audio aesthetics than art.

I apologize I misread the content. I just deleted my earlier post.

Kind regards,
Tang

 

[gilles13]

I love music, have around 1300 classical vinyl and CD. I often go to concert.
I became an audiophile I think at around 14 years old, after the different times my grand mother obliged me to listen to E Caruso on old 78 records on an awful phonograph. The sound was total crap and she was thrilled.
For me it was an ordeal.

 

[bonzo75]

I love music, have around 1300 classical vinyl and CD. I often go to concert.
I became an audiophile I think at around 14 years old, after the different times my grand mother obliged me to listen to E Caruso on old 78 records on an awful phonograph. The sound was total crap and she was thrilled.
For me it was an ordeal.

I will remember to come over when your apogees come back from Henk, to listen to your harmonia mundi and old Decca

 

[christoph]

One my friend has
Vivaldi stack
Viola pre and Bravo II
Coincident Reference speaker
Cable Stealth and Elrod

And 200 CD

No Streaming to millions and millions of tracks?