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

Great post OP. If anyone's in the SE of the UK, I'd be up for a visit.

@newton_john - where are you based?

....spouse is out of town north of Boston with our crew on installation for <6 wks.

I've projects and the 'todo' day2day (pet and place upkeeps) but the opportunity to play whatever and the way it sounds best for the moment is now probable 24/7 time unimportant (luck of the site 👍 ).

I'm not all that hard to find if one has paid attention at all.
 

*Drops gloves (...I don't drop mics. )*

It's not just a audiophile thing. Most middle-aged, old guys and gals tend to be lonely.

You could forget about the audiophiles living in other states and invite some non-audiophile older guys and gals over (in your area) for listening to some music and hanging out. Who knows? They might actually turn into audiophiles...

I could count somewhere in the vicinity of 15, 20 people within the last 2 or 3 years who may have become audiophiles after i showed them some stuff, i.e., moved on from tv speakers/laptop speakers/sound bar/etc to some of the affordable rigs.

Ime, a small minimalist hometheater rig tends to be the gateway drug for some form of audiophilia. Start with exposing the non-audiophiles to some music videos, concerts, netflix series or whatever in a room that looks like a regular living room, not some lab.

@daveteauk 

At the other end of England in Cumbria

I am currently feeling blessed with some wonderful friends in audio. Just over past couple of days alone:

• had a morning in the NE of England with one who used to work in hifi retail and manufacturing
• spent yesterday with another in Lancashire - we went to an industry presentation by someone who works in recording and manufacturing at Linn
• Chatted for a couple hours on the phone with a third in Canada
• Exchanged emails about football with a fourth who also has worked in hifi retailing

We are five quite different people who share a music and hifi obsession.