Nice! A lot of good responses concerning a somewhat silly (stupid?) thread. I like the direction it took :)
I guess what I was trying to say is that over the past 5 years in this hobby I have seen many different peoples personal set ups from buying so much gear used. The commonality is that 95% of the rigs I've seen have just been set up soooo poorly. They will have some really nice equipment but because of the way it is set up, they are only getting 50%-75% of the equipments actual potential.
I would say that most of them, and some of them have, called themselves "audiophiles". I know that being an "audiophile" really isn't cool but it's like cars, most men like them and talk about them like they are experts in the field. I love sitting back and listening to someone try to school me on cars (some people can by the way).
I think that to be an audiophile it really has to do with how developed a listeners ears are and then being able to understand why a system sounds the way it does and how certain changes will effect the sound. I think this comes with experience and a desire to learn.
I figure that most of you here are what I would consider to be true audiophiles so I was wondering if you have experienced what I have in regards to seeing so many systems set up like junk. It's like I would show up to buy a Classe amp and they would have it hooked up to $3000 bookshelf speakers sitting on the ground hooked up with 18 guage wire from radio shack. Oh, and another one that I just remembered; whats up with people just cranking up their system as loud as they can in order to try to impress you?
There are so many other aspects of sound quality that I look other than how loud it can play. I don't judge a car by numbers or sheer outright speed. There's so much more to the experience. How does it feel? How does it sound? How does it speak to you? When you turn the knobs, is it a refined, machined feel, or a notchy plastic feel?
Just because I drink alcohol occasionally does not make me a wine connoisseur. I imagine a wine connoisseur looks at the wine, swishes it around to see the legs (? or something like that), smells it, then very carefully tastes it. Then they can describe all the flavors and body. They can pick up on hints of flavor that the grapes took on in their respective environment. I, on the other hand, can tell if it's red or white, sweet or dry and that's about it, and there is a lot lost on me when it comes to wine.
I think the same can be said for many so called "audiophiles", but I suppose like Cypher said in the Matrix, "ignorance is bliss", so crank it till the windows rattle and you go deaf :)
I guess what I was trying to say is that over the past 5 years in this hobby I have seen many different peoples personal set ups from buying so much gear used. The commonality is that 95% of the rigs I've seen have just been set up soooo poorly. They will have some really nice equipment but because of the way it is set up, they are only getting 50%-75% of the equipments actual potential.
I would say that most of them, and some of them have, called themselves "audiophiles". I know that being an "audiophile" really isn't cool but it's like cars, most men like them and talk about them like they are experts in the field. I love sitting back and listening to someone try to school me on cars (some people can by the way).
I think that to be an audiophile it really has to do with how developed a listeners ears are and then being able to understand why a system sounds the way it does and how certain changes will effect the sound. I think this comes with experience and a desire to learn.
I figure that most of you here are what I would consider to be true audiophiles so I was wondering if you have experienced what I have in regards to seeing so many systems set up like junk. It's like I would show up to buy a Classe amp and they would have it hooked up to $3000 bookshelf speakers sitting on the ground hooked up with 18 guage wire from radio shack. Oh, and another one that I just remembered; whats up with people just cranking up their system as loud as they can in order to try to impress you?
There are so many other aspects of sound quality that I look other than how loud it can play. I don't judge a car by numbers or sheer outright speed. There's so much more to the experience. How does it feel? How does it sound? How does it speak to you? When you turn the knobs, is it a refined, machined feel, or a notchy plastic feel?
Just because I drink alcohol occasionally does not make me a wine connoisseur. I imagine a wine connoisseur looks at the wine, swishes it around to see the legs (? or something like that), smells it, then very carefully tastes it. Then they can describe all the flavors and body. They can pick up on hints of flavor that the grapes took on in their respective environment. I, on the other hand, can tell if it's red or white, sweet or dry and that's about it, and there is a lot lost on me when it comes to wine.
I think the same can be said for many so called "audiophiles", but I suppose like Cypher said in the Matrix, "ignorance is bliss", so crank it till the windows rattle and you go deaf :)