An Audiophile is Anyone Who Loves Audio Regardless of Monetary Status. Agree?

Although I have not been to the various big audio shows, I have often heard attendees make statements about room comparisons. Some would note that the multi-million dollar room did not sound as good or better than another room with electronics costing much less than 200k. I guess maybe the room acoustics make all the difference ??
I don’t think having either a budget system or multi million dollar system would make someone an audiophile.

I have never heard an item that was more expensive than the other one while sounding worse.

Jesus, really?? Because I have. I’ll just start a firestorm if I start naming labels. I’ve heard much worse, or equal with a wide discrepancy in prices.


I'm talking about gear within similar performance envelopes here.  I'm not comparing a small desktop monitor to a mega speaker.

@glupson

Visit a high end audio show and judge for yourself. 

Knowing your room and what is appropriate for your room is very important. I have three different models (design tiers/cost levels) of a speaker made by one manufacturer. The middle and/lower level models work best in my room. The highest cost model is not appropriate for my room (and given the height of its tweeters and midranges, I doubt audio holography would be possible with them if in a seated listening position). Im sharing this as just a small example of when more expensive does not equate to a better listening experience.

 And as a ‘chicken or the egg’ sort of thing, you need to decide what you are building your system around. Generally, you need to start building your system within the constraints presented to you by your intended listening room. After that what you build your system around will be based on what you want to hear and what gear helps get you closer to that goal. This takes trial and error and will change during the course of your journey (unless you just pay someone to do it for you, but then you don’t really learn as much, but is still totally valid audiophilia). As pieces move in and out of your system you will find areas of your setup that need improvement.  It’s fun, takes time...but when you are reliably  having near-spiritual experiences while listening to music, it’s very rewarding!

I have found that speaker choice and room interaction is most important. Making choices regarding placement of speakers, tweeter height, some form of bass frequency control (back wall bounces will kill your bass!), flooring and general room treatments will have the greatest impact on the listening experience. Amplification is next. Thirdly something that cleans up the power feeding your gear is of great importance.  Balanced power solutions are integral to my system. 

@vinny55 :  "Speak for yourself @N80 im nowhere near rich like you and evil? Imperfect yes.. evil is a stretch. Your just saying that to make yourself feel better."

That is exactly the response I'd expect from you. You accuse people of being wealthy, as if it is a crime, but then excuse yourself from the same crime as if you are the one who gets to decide who is wealthy and wicked and who isn't. Funny how the cutoff is just north of your wealth level. So typical.

@bretmcee:  "@n80 yeah, maybe just don’t use analogies my friend, because using one poorly does the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve."

Actually, the analogies served their purpose perfectly well. Picking apart an analogy while failing to grasp the primary point is just as bad as a bad analogy.

"All of your analogies require a career in something or specific training. Audiophilia, by globally accepted definition, requires neither being a professional, nor any type of training."

All of my analogies require a certain level of experience. You focused on the wrong common denominator trying to support a point that is unsupportable.

"Also look at the definition of the word aficionado."

Actually, I think you are the one who needs to look it up since it includes elements of knowledge about the subject and a "fervent" pursuit of it. So lack of experience and first hand knowledge of a subject certainly disqualifies one as an aficionado. Listening through ear buds as you sole audio experience does not qualify one as an aficionado not matter how "enthusiastic" one is.

Wishing something is true is far different from the truth.

But in the end, I don't really care how you or vinny want to define audiophile. In your worlds where word meaning has no concrete value then anything goes. But it seems a bit ironic....no, hypocritical would be the better word, that you want to define audiophile any way you want but then have very specific, and hateful, labels for those you define as wealthy.

And you can't argue with someone who has their own definitions for everything.

You live in a magical world. I hope life is good there for you.