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 2 responses by paulfolbrecht

What a bunch of stinky and illogical poo is being hurled at poor Doug here.

Can you guys read? All Doug did was make a pretty much totally objective observation, that this gentleman's system was definitely not "state of the art" by any reasonable standard. Rather than kicking him for it, it seems fairly obvious to me that he respects the man for being satisfied with it and for not putting too much emphasis on material things. I could be wrong about that, but he certainly is not snottily, derisively dismissing the man as a human being over his inferior stereo!

So, you guys who believe it was "mean" to make this objective observation apparently believe that the system in question is indeed "state of the art"? Will you be trading in your systems for Denon receivers and Klipsch Best Buy speakers then? Or do you agree that the system is plainly not "state of the art" (meaning in the category of the very best audio systems available) but just think it's not "nice" to say so? But Doug just said that to us, here, who ought to know what he's talking about, not to the man's family!

So, there was clearly no moral judgment going on here, not of behavior or beliefs much less total holistic judgment of the man.

(I am wondering if part of the reason Doug is getting blasted is his stated Christian affiliation. Given all the snide rhetoric of hypocritical "judgment", that strikes me as likely. It seems the one thing that people who hate Christianity *think* they understand about it is that "you're not supposed to judge", but they really don't understand the doctrines at all. Of course Christianity requires judgments about many things to be made; if not, it would be a bag full of meaningless moral relativism. What's forbidden is judgment of a soul itself, in whole, which is not our domain. Doug pretty clearly wasn't doing anything like that yet some here want to believe he was. For example, I have corresponded privately with one individual who chimed in here with guns blazing at Doug who expressed to me his disgust with all "organized religion". Of course, he didn't include that tidbit here when he decided to make himself an expert on Christian morality. You know who you are, and here's my quote for you, courtesy of Cardinal Neumann: "Lovers of sin are poor judges of the Gospel.")
I knew exactly where you were coming from, Doug.

That was a nice follow-up.

I hear you still can't ski worth a shit though. I judge your skiiing to be sub-par. I've written a treatise on the subject that is to be published in The New Yorker upon your death.