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Music lover or audiophile?

I think you have to decide, are you a music lover or audiophile?  I know the majority will say, both.
 I’m not so sure though. The nature of audiophilia is to get in there and fiddle with the tools, like any other hobbyist.  The difference in our hobby though is that presumably, our ultimate goal is to have the best musical experience we can get. The hobbyist is never really finished. The manipulation of the materials is the fun. The music lover, however, wants to get the most out of that esthetic experience.  
By continually plying materials, the audiophile is on an endless quest for better sound.
 After years of this quest, I’ve decided I can be a music lover or an audiophile.  I’m happy listening to my system now the way it is.  So, I’ve decided to be a music lover once again.
rvpiano
bemused
122 posts
 
Indeed, music lover first, audiophile second.
What came first?
Music, of course!
limomangus's avatar
limomangus
2,033 posts
 

I would say a combo ,indeed.

deep_333
2,452 posts
 

The nature of audiophilia is to get more out of even the crappiest recordings.

Guys who don't know how to execute that will be sitting around with their 3 records on repeat. I run away as fast as I can when I see a dude who falls in this category.

Music First!

The nature of audiophilia is to get in there and fiddle with the tools, like any other hobbyist.

2psyop's avatar
2psyop
1,941 posts
 

“I think you have to decide, are you a music lover or audiophile?” Really? Why? This is a ridiculous statement. Why? Because it imposes limitations on humans that does not reflect reality. Also it sounds arrogant, pretentious, shortsighted and stupid. IMO.

kerrybh
690 posts
 

Seems like a false choice. There is more than enough music that I really like that is well engineered and sounds great in my system to keep me satisfied. I've never found a need to listen to music I don't like. Or that is a terrible recording.

The music I like is more enjoyable if it is well engineered and reproduced on a quality system as opposed to poor system. A lot of folks are perfectly happy listening to music on a $100 bluetooth speaker and that's great if it works for them.  But the idea that if you like high quality equipment you must not be an audiophile doesn't make much sense.

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