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
Hello,
I believe it is our fault for responding To some of these posts. I do appreciate how some knock it down or disprove the post but it might be too little too late. The one thing that worries me is I feel we might lose some new enthusiasts due to some of the posts. I will never be swayed and will stand up to everyone to protect everyone. This can be knocked out in a heartbeat. Harley Davidson is having a tricky time because they forgot to market to the next generation. Let’s hope that does not happen to our passion. I know it’s a free country, but can we chill out on hindering people from becoming audio files . 
"audiophiles"  or "audio files"?
I have been into audio since high school (I am 67) and have amassed a file cabinet of audio stuff, yes my audio files. Proving one can have both ... chill
Baseline requirements for an audiophile;

A true love of music.

An understanding and tolerance for different points of view.

No internet trolls.




Just in case anyone jumped in at the end and missed the first few pages of posts... April Fools.. in June


" @mahlman - glad to know you were just rattling the cage to see if you could ruffle some feathers. "
  I do love audio and spend a lot of time at it in all aspects. Sometimes though the comic theater of the absurd that seems to go with it is a bit more than I can resist. There are some really crazy things around here lurking amongst the nuggets of good.