Should people with no turntable or reel to reel be considered audiophiles?

Glupson said only an audiophile can be deluded into thinking directional wire and wire elevators work, but before that said they don't get sucked into that thinking. Which is it?

French Fries is right on the money.

Vonharaland - people come to PCA meetings with all kinds of cars, especially if it's raining. I think the only technical requirement for actual PCA membership is if you own or once owned a Porsche. Nobody has ever been kicked out of a meeting for any reason. We're nice. I'm sure that includes former members who didn't pay their renewal dues.

Nicola - you ARE definitely an Audiophile, but not a Porschephile (or not even a car guy).

Who is barring the doors to the masses as far as Audiophiledom? The problem is most people in our society don't care about getting the highest quality - they care about the most convenience (and cost - maybe). It takes time to place a record on the platter, brush it for lint, take the albums into sleeves and then into their jacket, and then keep them perfectly vertical on the shelf. Twice as often for 45s, which sound better (another discussion). I think any Audiophile is at least a little OCD (as I'm sure I am) or else their albums probably sound like crap. As I said many times - it is a self defining term.

And yes 928 owners are certainly welcomed in with open arms. We like rare cars and they have mostly been covered to parts cars.

Separate question that I haven't been able to get answered in another discussion about phono stages (not sure why). What is the advantage of a balanced input or output for phono stages? Is that feature only available on very expensive models? Is there a special MC voltage where this feature is helpful?

Sorry for the divergence, but this discussion seems to be getting a larger audience.

"Glupson said only an audiophile can be deluded into thinking directional wire and wire elevators work, but before that said they don’t get sucked into that thinking. Which is it?"

I would like to clarify, but I am fully lost with that sentence. I somehow do not remember it. I would think that, overall, other people ("non-audiophiles") may be more prone to believing in whatever "audiophiles" say, cable elevators included, than audiophiles. Audiophiles waste more time thinking about these kinds of things. Normal people just shrug their shoulders.

What is the advantage of a balanced input or output for phono stages?

Good question. When you find one let us know.