Does it have to sound good for you to like it?

Oh, so "audiophile" is about gear then. Well, this is exactly what Alan said ;-)

He has tons of real gear in properly treated rooms at his workplaces :-) For some reason I don't think they elevate cables off the floor.

Does great recording quality make average music sound better and almost acceptable ?

By the way, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd is average quality. Who produced it ? Great album, though.

@inna - Ultimately, the band decides. Parsons own recordings are better. But then again, technology improves with time. 1975 and 1990 is a big difference. I just got 2018 remix of Animals on vinyl, haven't have time to dig into it.

@drbay 

Some of the best songs in the world are very poorly recorded. Eg: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack. 

Beautiful song and an amazing singer. I have my parents to thank for exposing me to her and many other greats as a little kid (I was born in 1964). Dad had a reel to reel that was like a hard shell suitcase. I wish I knew what is was.

Have you listened to the Qobuz HR version of First Take? It sounds pretty good to me. 

@simonmoon Great back-story, thanks for sharing.

For the vast majority of time, I listen to music, and pay almost no attention to how my gear is performing. I am a music first audiophile.

Same here.

et al

Each to his own, but I was honestly just trying to apply a little levity and the statement doesn’t offend me. It’s just someone’s opinion after all.

If everyone is honest, this part "Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.” is sometimes true for everyone here as simonmoon suggested.

Who doesn’t have a set of reference material to audition gear or show your system in its best light to a friend?