I Was at a Funeral of An Audiophile...


the other day, and the visitors were subjected to 70's rock music not only in the atrium but also in the chapel up until the moment the service began. The obituary read that the deceased was an audiophile and had a "state of the art" system. I had seen that rig; it was a "Brick and Mortar Special", with a Denon 7.1 surround receiver, nondescript front end and Klipsch lower end, package deal speakers. The surrounds were not placed well, solidly Mid-Fi.

But... the man loved his gear and the music. Completely deluded in terms of where he stood in the hobby, but had a passion for it. I'm guessing he bought the line, along with the equipment, from some salesman that he was getting a "state of the art" rig, and was very proud of it.

I have thought about having my Christian music favorites played at my funeral; I would want people to hear music which speaks of transcendent values. I would want them to hear the beauty in the message and the music, even if played on a wretched building PA system.

When the family found out that I also am an audiophile and understood terms like "calibration" of the system - the deceased calibrated his system often to get perfect sound - they were amazed that there are others in the world like him. I smiled and said I could relate to his desire for beautiful music, an attempt at capturing a feeling, experiencing perfection, if you will.

It's sort of like how we love our cars, and it won't make a bit of difference when we're gone how wonderful our ride was. We may observe another person's rig and wonder how it sounds, and we see some people with modest systems and others with outrageous rigs. There's no telling if that owner is truly satisfied and enjoying their time with it.

One thing came through at the funeral, however, and was very positive. As much as the family marveled at how much he loved his stereo, they knew he loved them much more. His rig brought him happiness, but he kept family as priority. You could say he died a fulfilled audiophile.
douglas_schroeder

Showing 8 responses by chadnliz

"Completely deluded in terms of where he stood in the hobby"
Even at a funeral we get judged........might have left that part out of it to be honest.
Sometimes you just pick the wrong words at the worst possible time to say them.......happens to us all i suppose. We all make stupid comments, if it were not for the one tacky line it would have been a nice thought.
Lets hope that doesnt make it into a review :)
I have been flamed more than once for my words, you get used to it.
No what sucks is the OP and others in this thread confuse "audiophile" with equipment price and "percieved" quality. Being an audiophile used to mean you cared about music and wanted to try your best to make it sound good but that has obviously been lost on some.
Maybe they guy didnt make much cash, maybe he didnt have any exposure to more quality gear, maybe he had a life that gave him varied joy so he spread his focus on more than just buying gear....maybe it was good enough for him too?
Or maybe he met some of us and got soured on our definitions of what being an audiophile is truely about and thumbed his nose at us, and perhaps rightfully so. It wouldnt take more than half a lap around a audio convention to scare off some pretty sane folks and I know this because I have been in the company of many in our hobby..........its a scary bunch.
God speed to the person who inspired this, and I hope he doesnt laugh to hard at us all for the at times misguided actions far too many of us our guilty of.
The bottom line was he was judged and wrongfully so IMO.
Now I know the next time I say something that many take issue with I just had the "guts" to say something many others are thinking.......I will assume they secretely agree with me. Thats gonna make life alot easier!
Shad, Sonny Bono would love that collection........maybe not :)
What too soon? lol
Hey I read all posts, and like you said "I just had the guts to say something", what is that only a one way street?
When you say something its considered brave, when I do not so mush........hmmm.
I dont think I am alone in this as witnessed by remarks from others, I didnt see any sign of apology so I dont feel any need on my part. Honesty is best and thats honestly how I feel. Cheers