Anyone in this hobby lonely like me and wish they could “hang” with a fellow audiophile?

My experience has been the opposite- when I was young, there was a thriving audio community in Pittsburgh in the late '60s and early '70s where I was in school, lots of hobbyists who would get together, the hi-fi thing being the common theme for socializing. When I moved to NYC in 1981, it was burgeoning with stores, both gear and record stores and I met lots of folks, fortuitously, the woman I would marry worked part time for a "golden ears" who was the backbone of the NY Audio Society. That fellow, Chuck Lamonica, was a wonderful, generous spirit and the meetings, usually held at a member's house in Rye, NY, were a hoot. We would have a yearly dinner with the Chinese Audio Society at a big dining hall in Chinatown where the Asian guys would order the craziest stuff to see if us gringos would eat it. Met the guy in charge of used records at Tower on Lower Broadway and when records were being phased out, bought tons of stuff with his help and made regular trips to the Princeton Record Exchange.

Time passed, I had less time for audio, spent a fair amount of time with fast little Italian sports cars and had a similar experience in attending events, meeting people and socializing. 

Moved to Austin, starting in 2012 as I began to phase out of my law practice and though I met a few audio enthusiasts here, I don't regularly participate in any events, frequent any retail establishments but on occasion, do travel to Dallas to visit with Albert Porter.

I guess I'm the opposite in that my world has "shrunk" as I've gotten older. I'm now in my '70s, still avidly listen, have a substantial record collection and do converse with like minded people, but much of it is remote now, not in person. Part of that may be age, part of it may be how our culture works now with the Internet being the glue rather than in person encounters. 

I think you are asking the right questions. Don't know if there is an audio group near you or a retail store where you might find others pursuing your interest. I think in some ways, though I was a pretty focused listener and serious buyer of some rare records, the social part of the hobby was in some ways the most important. 

Sadly, too, as I've aged, I've lost friends with whom I shared some of these experiences. I'm ok being a bit of a hermit but it isn't the best approach to living a full life. I leave in a couple hours for a driving event in the Ozarks, where I expect to meet some new friends who share a common interest. I do think a lot of us don't talk about loneliness, isolation and life enough-- it is certainly an issue for people as they age. I can only encourage you to reach out and try to connect through whatever means you can, including this board-- the "community" aspects are rewarding both as a recipient and as a contributor. 

I created a private hifi FB group six years ago when I resurrected my rig from a 15 year hiatus. The group has close to 1k members world wide now. It has led to meeting other audiophiles in NYC during a hifi vacation last year. I'll be going back there again in the next few months.

A buddy and I also created a local audiophile group. We have about 10 active members in the group. One of the members rented office space downtown for an audiophile club about a year ago. There is a ton of gear and albums in the club from various members and any one of us can go there anytime. Somebody joked it's a holding place for gear we don't want our wives to know about regarding our recent purchases! Last Saturday a few of us met up there for a couple of hours and then walked to a bar and listened to live music before going home for the night. 

It's been a blast hanging with the boys. A bunch of us also host listening sessions at our homes too.

Florida’s middle to northern east coast has a couple of audio clubs with different levels of activity. The Orlando area also has an active group that does stretch in both directions along I4.  Space Coast has a group and Jacksonville/Palm Coast also has some activity.  

Really struggling to get this site to work today. Lost two long replies to this thread already, but I am not going to be beaten by it.

I am no different from most here, an inward looking INTP type. 

For me, listening to music is solitary because my wife can’t sit down to listen, only have music in the background when she’s driving or exercising.

Sometimes, I think I wouldn’t have had any friends at all if not for my wife. She’s the exact opposite to me - an ESFJ, a natural leader and an outgoing extrovert, who once posed nude for good cause. A lady said to me at our wedding that marrying her I’d never be short of friends. That was prophetic. She has taught me much about how to socialise successfully. 

Yet despite my introversion, I have managed to make a few good audio buddies under my own steam.

First off, my ex-Linn dealer in the north of England, who went to work for a well known loudspeaker manufacturer has become a close friend. He has a similar system to mine, but is also into home theatre in a big way. My hifi mentor in many ways.

Second, another guy in the south who worked hifi retail from the Steve Hoffman forum. He is a bit of an authority on setting up LP12s. We exchange long emails about audio, football and life in general every couple of weeks. Never spoken to him, but still consider him a good friend - like kids had pen pals in the old days.

Then, I have a very good friend in Canada who has travelled north America and Europe helping people set up hifi systems as a hobby. He befriended me on the old WAM forums when I got cancer. We bonded because we had both lost our first partners in tragic accidents involving buses. He has dozens of audio friends. I talk to him on the phone every week. An obsessive tweeker for which he got driven off the WAM, he is into surround music, which I dabbled in for while, too. He writes articles for an online audio magazine.

I have another friend who I met through the WAM. We both clashed with a highly opinionated intolerant moderator there, who banned my friend. Over the past few years, we’ve gone to the North West Audio Show and occasionally travel the 100 miles between us to chat about audio and other stuff. Like my wife he works for the National Health Service.

There’s a chap with a similar system to mine who is friend on Facebook. We met through the dealers. He goes on record finding trips to the US. We occasionally speak on the phone about our systems. We actually co-operated through the dealer to acquire some parts for our loudspeakers by cannibalising a perfectly good pair.

My current dealer and one of his friends have set up a monthly vinyl club at our local pub. It has been going for a couple of years now and is very popular. Occasionally, my daughter and younger son will go if they are around, my wife too sometimes if I twist her arm. My kids aren’t really audiophiles, but they are all into vinyl. We’ve got to know many people at the club.

Finally, there’s a friend with a nice system who lives just round the corner from me, who I met through my dealer. He’s quite a bit younger than me, but we still get on well. We usually go the vinyl club together. It was because of him, my sons and the vinyl club, that i bought another turntable and stated buying records again last year. I am so pleased that I did that and became a born again vinyl lover.

So, I consider myself blessed with many good hifi friends, more than I would have thought possible twenty years ago. It’s a hobby that’s full of surprises.