I keep my audio quiet. Most of family does not even know of its existence. It is visually stunning compared to Best Buy gear, so it has dropped the jaws of friends and cablemen. There's always the 'What's that?', and I hate explaining what phono stage is to someone who does not recognize the word 'turntable'. When they inquire about the stereo, I quickly get off the subject. When people ask for component recommendations, I just tell them B&W 302s and stay away from Bose (sadly, the Bose part almost always elicits an argument). I have been in audio a short enough time to realize that it is bazaar. Way more bazaar than golf or photography. Laymen are used to those kinds of weirdos. All this is okay because normal people are boring.
Why do people think I'm nuts involving audio?
Let me start by saying that I don't drink, drug or smoke and that my only vice is audio. I've been a Mac junkie since '80 and to date, I own a Mac system that I've put $40,000 into. To me, it sounds WONDERFUL! I'm very much into music, as opposed to philes that appear to be more into "sound" than music, at least this is what I'm gathering from the stuff I read.My problem is that NOT ONE person I know has a system that's more than maybe $1500, and mostly everyone I know thinks that I'm mentally "defective", although they all love the way my system sounds! They just think that I'm NUTS! I have money, so I'm not being irresponsible to anything, I just LOVE audio. Two weeks ago, I took a 4 day trip to the McIntosh Labs in Bingimton, about 170 miles from my home. A guy from Audio Classics in that area set up a tour of Mac for me and I just loved it, BUT, took major heat from my friends about taking an "audio" vacation. SO, is there anyone out there with similar experiences with friends who can advise me on how to respond to them? Thanks, A SANE AUDIOPHILE!