Why are audiophiles perceived as being wackos?


I have been pursuing this wonderful hobby of high end stereo equipment and music for almost 30 years. I do consider myself a passionate audiophile who loves to listen to music on a daily basis. The reason for this post is because it has been my experience that the great majority of people who do not pursue this hobby think of audiophiles as being wackos/screwballs because of the amount of time, money, and passion they put towards their systems. I find it very interesting that individuals who spend tremendous amounts of money and time pursuing esoteric tastes such as wines, watches, coins, etc, are considered connoisseurs or aficionados with a serious passion that is often respected even if it is not the other person's cup of tea. Another example would be people who love high end cars/boats who read all the magazines, go to the shows and invest large sums of money to purchase and tweak their cars or boats to get the last bit of ultimate performance out of their prized possessions. So I don't believe the negative viewpoint towards passionate audiophiles revolves around the amount of money that they can invest in their equipment. So my question for all you GON members is what would be your explanation for people outside our hobby having such a negative or condescending attitude towards our passion, where they infrequently would not have the same attitude towards other people's hobbies and passionate but unique pursuits? It would be a pleasure to hear about your experiences and what your explanation would be for this phenomena towards our hobby.
teajay

Showing 4 responses by jay_douglas_2879b79

one more example....if it wasn't for nora jones being classified as jazz, sales of this music catagory would be smaller than someone's paper route
here is something to think about. of all the hobbies mentioned in this thread, ours is the only one not growing. in fact, more music is listened to on pc's alone than all the audio systems(low,mid, or hi end) combined. any growth numbers are coming from home theatre. movies evidently ARE the new rock and roll
the only hobby i know of built on faith, not fact. faith that a copper wire that costs 2k comes from a different source(perhaps another planet) than one that is a few dollars. faith that the propriatary and licensed technology in all cd players is radically different (the cooler the player is). faith that we are trying to achieve the illusion of a live music performance by ordering the zebrawood finish. faith that all of the home audio pioneers and companies who championed affordible music for the masses are heritics. its no wonder most music lovers think we're readt for the purple kool aid.