Should people who can't solder, build or test their speakers be considered audiophiles?



  So, if you bought that Porsche but can only drive it and not fix it do you really understand and appreciate what it is? I say no. The guy who can get in there and make it better, faster or prettier with his own hands has a superior ability to understand the final result and can appreciate what he has from a knowledge base and not just a look at what I bought base. I mean sure you can appreciate that car when you drive it but if all you do is take it back to the dealership for maintenance and repairs you just like the shape with no real understanding of what makes it the mechanical marvel it is.
  I find that is true with the audio world too. There are those who spend a ton of money on things and then spend a lot of time seeking peer approval and assurance their purchase was the right one and that people are suitably impressed. Of course those who are most impressed are those who also do not design, build, test or experiment.

  I propose that an audiophile must have more than a superficial knowledge about what he listens to and must technically understand what he is listening to. He knows why things work and what his end goal is and often makes his own components to achieve this. He knows how to use design software to make speakers that you can't buy and analyze the room they are in and set up the amplification with digital crossovers and DSP. He can take a plain jane system and tweak it and balance it to best suit the room it is in. He can make it sound far better than the guy who constantly buys new components based on his superficial knowledge who does not understand why what he keeps buying in vain never quite gets there.

  A true audiophile can define his goal and with hands on ability achieve what a mere buyer of shiny parts never will. So out comes the Diana Krall music and the buyer says see how good my system is? The audiophile says I have taken a great voice and played it through a system where all was matched and tweaked or even purposely built and sits right down next to Diana as she sings. The buyer wants prestigious signature sound and the audiophile will work to achieve an end result that is faithful true to life audio as though you were in the room with Diana as she sings. The true audiophile wants true to life and not tonally pure according to someones artificial standard.

 So are you a buyer or an audiophile and what do you think should make a person an audiophile?
mahlman
All these posts getting deleted, one a my recent ones as well with one of these reasons given for the deletion:

  • It looked like spam
  • It was abusive towards another member
  • It depicts explicit and/or violent content
  • It contains profanity

I'm guessing no. 2 and 4 read from above. My post contained the word 'crap' written once - I wonder if that qualifies as proper grounds for deletion? Other than that I provided my perspective in a sought considered manner, making me think: 

I doubt the @admins are all over this place constantly doing their ninja thing all on their own turning "unfortunate" posts into digital smoke; there's this option called 'Report this' that when used affects their decision making, and something tells me this option is used in a liberal fashion by some posters simply because they find certain posts by others to rub them the wrong way or otherwise make them feel offended, as if being in honest disagreement sanctions censorship against the other part. Isn't there enough vileness, bashing and empty calories going on already that evades the admins?

Let the hypocrisy continue..
     Exactly, limomangus.  The only reason I know how to solder is because I had to be proficient to pass a H S electronics course.  I'm not really proud of this skill, haven't used it since that class and, hopefully, I won't have a need to the rest of this life.
  I respect the gear designers, admire the quality, precision and the looks of the a/v gear but I love to use it for music and HT more than anything else.  I'm certain there are no prerequisites or qualifications for being an a/v enthusiast, videophile or audiophile beyond those mentioned and I don't believe there should be.  My goals are relaxation and enjoyment, not pretentions, restrictions, snobbery and exclusivity. 
     It seems to me that mahlman would benefit from some chillaxing.

Enjoy
Tim
I soldered some MIL SPEC 12AX7 WAs directly to their tube sockets. I soldered a large number of capacitor banks and power cords to make DIY AC line filter for unused wall outlets. I also completely re-wired a Dynaco PAS-3 preamp with silver wire.
I have wound inductors, soldered crossovers, upgraded components in amplifiers, built many many cables, and speakers.... However, before any of that, and before my Instrumentation and electronics degree, I was already an audiophile.

I consider myself an audiophile because I like to listen to music on a better than basic resolving audio system.

@geoffkait  so how'd it sound after the silver wire?
I say the OP isn’t a real audiophile because He doesn’t record his own music tracks. How can you judge fidelity of playback when you have no idea what the original event sounded like?

And if someone is into LP’s but don’t cut their own vinyl, what kind of enthusiast is that?

No lathe? Then no love... is my saying.