Am I a Audiophile?

Andyjlee17

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Jan 10, 2023
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One day during the Christmas holidays I found myself looking through the small number of vinyl records which I still own. I say small as about 15 years ago I sold, or shall I say my wife sold nearly all of my vinyl record collection at a car boot sale for 50p each
During my review of the records I still have a thought entered my head! “wouldn’t be nice to buy a turntable to listen to the small collection of vinyl records I still own”

Now, I already have a dedicated Cinema room to watch movies in with some high quality equipment that includes a pair of Monitor Audio Gold GS20 speakers and a Pioneer AV receiver. Anyone knows about audio equipment, especially speakers knows that Monitor Audio speakers are one of the best speaker manufactures in the world, the Pioneer that drives these speakers is also considered one of the best AV receivers you could buy at the time.

So all I need is an affordable high quality turntable, so then the search began to which after a fair amount of research I purchased a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO Turntable for more that I was intending to spend. The turntable has an excellent review in all the HiFi websites and YouTube videos I viewed. The turntable was advertised as an Audiophile turntable which the reviews stated as being an excellent introduction into the world of Audiophile.

Well the turntable arrived and I wasted no time in setting it up and placing a piece of shiny vinyl onto the turntable and lowering down the arm to hear the first crackle and pop before the music jumped out the speakers and surrounded the room with this wonderful organic living sound. This is when my love affair with vinyl was reverted and my interest of anything that reproduces sound.

It was then I realised have I become an Audiophile?
What is this word “Audiophile” well its someone who listens to music as a main hobby and the sound system you own is worth more than a small car. Looking at the cost of replacing my audio equipment at today’s prices it would indeed cost the same if not more than a small family car.

Well the answer to these two questions is yes, I may be have become an audiophile as I am fascinated by pure audio, motivated by sound quality and I have become addicted to audio gadgets.
I find myself thinking of terms like "lossless compression & bit rates," "DSD file" and "original analogy source" I spend most days reading articles on audio web sites about Audio formats and can you really tell the difference between Lossless 24-bit/48 kHz & Hi-Res Lossless 24-bit/192 kHz?

Simply owning the latest music gadgets isn't enough; I now want to know how and why these things work. I now find myself watching teardown product review videos on YouTube of audio gadgets.
So the answer to the question, Am I a Audiophile is a most definitely yes especially in listening to vinyl as its far more high-quality. No audio data is lost when pressing a record, It just fills the room with great living sound just as great as the producer or band intended & if you closed your eyes you feel that the band is performing right in front of you.
 
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Andyjlee17

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Yes, I know. But I am fascinated by pure audio, motivated by sound quality and addicted to audio gadgets of all types. And yes I know that Lossless streaming has better audio quality, but you just cannot beat the tactile of vinyl and its organic sound.
 

SteveR750

Well-known member
Yes, I know. But I am fascinated by pure audio, motivated by sound quality and addicted to audio gadgets of all types. And yes I know that Lossless streaming has better audio quality, but you just cannot beat the tactile of vinyl and its organic sound.
You should pop over to the ASR forums, there are a bunch of engineers of many disciplines discussing stuff like this. You'll quickly be able to understand what differences there are between formats and sources etc.
 

WayneKerr

Well-known member
high quality equipment that includes a pair of Monitor Audio Gold GS20 speakers and a Pioneer AV receiver. Anyone knows about audio equipment, especially speakers knows that Monitor Audio speakers are one of the best speaker manufactures in the world,
I think many would disagree with you regarding MA, they are without doubt good speaker manufacturers but not one of the best :)
 

SteveR750

Well-known member
I think many would disagree with you regarding MA, they are without doubt good speaker manufacturers but not one of the best :)
I know what you're saying, but I'd challenge that by asking says who? A woman in a magazine or a man on YouTube? Neither more valid than the OP unless there's some repeatable evidence to demonstrate otherwise.
 

MeanandGreen

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Yes you sound like an audiophile, however I would like to politely recommend you research the following since you have said you like to read about audio and how things work etc.

I suggest you google level matched double blind ABX listening tests/results. Be it for equipment and/or sampling/bit rates.

Learn about frequency response, distortion and signal to noise ratio. As these are the key fundamental issues regarding what qualifies as high fidelity and then you will realise how little it can cost to obtain a truly transparent system.

Research the RIAA curve for vinyl and find out just how far away from hi fidelity that playback medium is when also considering it’s dynamic range and signal to noise ratio.

Look into room acoustics and see if you can tweak your set up for free without spending a penny, just be experimenting with speaker placement. Or maybe then go further still with room treatments and room EQ/DSP.

The speakers and room are nearly always the weakest link to hifi.

Researching all of the above, will give you much more insight into what hifi and audio reproduction is all about. Much more than any of the subjective and highly questionable topics and opinions in the audiophile world. The hifi magazines from decades gone by have a lot to answer for IMO.
 
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MrReaper182

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First off your hi-fi separates system does not need to cost more than a small car. (mine does not) to be an audiophile. If you have an hi-fi separates system and you enjoy listening to music through it then your an audiophile no matter how much your system set you back as at at the end of the day all that matters is how music sounds to you through your hi-fi separates system and no one else. So if you think a £400 pair of speakers sound good then they make you an audiophile just as much as a person who owns a £4000 pair of speakers is an audiophile.
secondly not all audiophiles listen to their hi-fi separates systems fist and the music secondly, I'm an audiophile and my hi-fi separates system makes me listen to my music and not the system. Audiophiles get a lot of bad press and most of what is said about them is not true as have found over the meany years I've been one. The most annoying thing I find that is said that audiophiles are is old men (lots of women are audiophiles too but hardly any of them go on audiophile forums) with a lot of money to spend on hi-fi separates but I became one at 16 years of with hardly any money to spend on hi-fi separates.
 
Yes you sound like an audiophile, however I would like to politely recommend you research the following since you have said you like to read about audio and how things work etc.

I suggest you google level matched double blind ABX listening tests/results. Be it for equipment and/or sampling/bit rates.

Learn about frequency response, distortion and signal to noise ratio. As these are the key fundamental issues regarding what qualifies as high fidelity and then you will realise how little it can cost to obtain a truly transparent system.

Research the RIAA curve for vinyl and find out just how far away from hi fidelity that playback medium is when also considering it’s dynamic range and signal to noise ratio.

Look into room acoustics and see if you can tweak your set up for free without spending a penny, just be experimenting with speaker placement. Or maybe then go further still with room treatments and room EQ/DSP.

The speakers and room are nearly always the weakest link to hifi.

Researching all of the above, will give you much more insight into what hifi and audio reproduction is all about. Much more than any of the subjective and highly questionable topics and opinions in the audiophile world. The hifi magazines from decades gone by have a lot to answer for IMO.
I'm sure I have read that before somewhere....
 

Edbostan

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Aug 5, 2021
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One day during the Christmas holidays I found myself looking through the small number of vinyl records which I still own. I say small as about 15 years ago I sold, or shall I say my wife sold nearly all of my vinyl record collection at a car boot sale for 50p each
During my review of the records I still have a thought entered my head! “wouldn’t be nice to buy a turntable to listen to the small collection of vinyl records I still own”

Now, I already have a dedicated Cinema room to watch movies in with some high quality equipment that includes a pair of Monitor Audio Gold GS20 speakers and a Pioneer AV receiver. Anyone knows about audio equipment, especially speakers knows that Monitor Audio speakers are one of the best speaker manufactures in the world, the Pioneer that drives these speakers is also considered one of the best AV receivers you could buy at the time.

So all I need is an affordable high quality turntable, so then the search began to which after a fair amount of research I purchased a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO Turntable for more that I was intending to spend. The turntable has an excellent review in all the HiFi websites and YouTube videos I viewed. The turntable was advertised as an Audiophile turntable which the reviews stated as being an excellent introduction into the world of Audiophile.

Well the turntable arrived and I wasted no time in setting it up and placing a piece of shiny vinyl onto the turntable and lowering down the arm to hear the first crackle and pop before the music jumped out the speakers and surrounded the room with this wonderful organic living sound. This is when my love affair with vinyl was reverted and my interest of anything that reproduces sound.

It was then I realised have I become an Audiophile?
What is this word “Audiophile” well its someone who listens to music as a main hobby and the sound system you own is worth more than a small car. Looking at the cost of replacing my audio equipment at today’s prices it would indeed cost the same if not more than a small family car.

Well the answer to these two questions is yes, I may be have become an audiophile as I am fascinated by pure audio, motivated by sound quality and I have become addicted to audio gadgets.
I find myself thinking of terms like "lossless compression & bit rates," "DSD file" and "original analogy source" I spend most days reading articles on audio web sites about Audio formats and can you really tell the difference between Lossless 24-bit/48 kHz & Hi-Res Lossless 24-bit/192 kHz?

Simply owning the latest music gadgets isn't enough; I now want to know how and why these things work. I now find myself watching teardown product review videos on YouTube of audio gadgets.
So the answer to the question, Am I a Audiophile is a most definitely yes especially in listening to vinyl as its far more high-quality. No audio data is lost when pressing a record, It just fills the room with great living sound just as great as the producer or band intended & if you closed your eyes you feel that the band is performing right in front of you.
Are you an Audiophile if you go to live events as opposed to listen to domestic music set ups? I went to the cinema to see the Whitney biopic and enjoyed the quality of the cinema's sound system. It was superb and wished my domestic hi-fi shared such scale. I suppose the appreciation of any source of music labels you as an audiophile or music lover, or perhaps stereophile.
 

twinkletoes

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Nov 16, 2021
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OP you have a dedicated home theatre room you are an Audiophile through and through and probably long before that.

It still astounds me what people think Audiophile means and why its deemed a dirty term.

Audiophile, is a chicken and egg term, what comes first? without each other there both useless.

Audiophile isn't a dirty term I don't know what the problem is with it. All it means is you take the time to stop and listen to music, Whether that be a kid listening to there echo dot (or me in the 80s listening to tapes on my walkman) or a gent/lady listening to a multi-million £$ system, you have made that choice to go out and buy the best you can afford to listen to that said music. well to the club your and Audiophile. The trick is not to mix that with GAS.
 

twinkletoes

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Nov 16, 2021
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Are you an Audiophile if you go to live events as opposed to listen to domestic music set ups? I went to the cinema to see the Whitney biopic and enjoyed the quality of the cinema's sound system. It was superb and wished my domestic hi-fi shared such scale. I suppose the appreciation of any source of music labels you as an audiophile or music lover, or perhaps stereophile.

Audiophile

because you didn't say " i enjoyed that movie because it had a good soundtrack" you wrote "i enjoy the cinema's sound system" you then started to think about how you could replicate that home.
 

abacus

Well-known member
Forget stereotypical names as there pretty meaningless really, just enjoy the music/film and if you get the chance to hear it live, do so, (You will usually find plenty of live bands locally in the pubs and clubs, just be prepared as you will find that your high end system sucks in comparison)

Bill
 
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