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Am I no longer allowed to consider myself an Audiophile?

OK, I actually have some pretty decent equipment to listen to. But lately I've been inundated with reviews/opinions about the unmatched transparency of the Magico M9 loudspeakers. But at the same time I have been admiring the new Yamaha NS-5000 speakers (about $15K) which are considered quite awesome sounding in their own right. This brings me back to my 1st wonderful sounding  ADS-810-II speakers (2X 8in. woofers, and a dome-midrange and tweeter). Easy to set up, nice wood cabinets, matching stands, less than $900/pair, with remarkable separation of  instruments, great for ALL types of music, and only minor limitations. Anyway, as nice as the Magico's are, the required room and a whole lot of other things that are necessary to make them play music makes me want to complain about all the over-the-top gushing coming from various experts. It's not the cost of the M-9's that bothers me, but the "laboratory conditions" you almost have to place them in. OTOH, the Yamaha speakers got favorable reviews from the Abs,Sound in 2020, so what more do you really need if you have a living room (a couch, a coffee table, pictures on the wall.etc.) to really "listen" when the music takes over? I find the bewildering complexity involved with scientifically "almost perfect" sounding million-dollar systems to be what it is- an experimental approach rather than a pleasurable way to relax and imagine becoming a part of the performance. So I would want to go to a dealer and audition the Magico's,no question about it. But I would bring some music with me, and I'm certain it would be an enlightening experience. But I wonder if it would change my overall opinion about recorded music. 

french_fries
mirolab
219 posts
 

I’m OK with the term Audiophile, but its meaning has gotten tainted over the years! It’s simply someone who loves AUDIO.  Why do people keep proclaiming it’s all about the music??  Is that somehow more virtuous? I want EVERYTHING that I play back to sound realistic and amazing, whether it’s acoustic music, synthesizers, or a babbling brook & croaking frogs. I’m a geek for all sounds!

If you only care about the music, then you’re a Melophile.  (Yeah, a new word, look it up!)  There’s plenty of musicians who dedicate their lives to music, and don’t care one whit about their own audio system.  They are not audiophiles.  They might not even be melophiles.  I know plenty of amazing musicians who know little outside of their own narrow interests.

Oh yeah... and I love the gear too! So What?  I like things that look and feel nice, and are well engineered, and have beautiful wood veneers.  I want to see something beautiful while I hear something amazing, whatever sound it is. 

 

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,411 posts
 

I have known a could melophiles. One was a record store clerk that had thousands of albums which he would play on a portable red and white small suitcase like record player... you know the one that was smaller than the album so it would stick out of the open small case... it had it's own speaker. There is not question... it was all about the music as the fidelity was simply terrible, 

audition__audio
1,773 posts
 

I wont mention are brands only to tell you that we carry no "tuned" speakers. The mere mention of this word by the manufacturer would be a deal breaker.

I am not going to get into this except to say that you are going to have to do better than just saying one sounded real and the other not. Real musician or not.

So please mention the speaker designers, specifically, that understand how instruments sound.

 

audition__audio
1,773 posts
 

Sorry should be our brands. 

mrdecibel
3,304 posts
 

@french_fries Having the mind-set of "being inundated with reviews/opinions" is a very bad place to be, mentally/emotionally. My experience with listeners (audiophiles, music listeners & both) feeling the way you do, is a sign of not being happy with their listening "system". Always searching for better, and I understand. However, it is very unfortunate. A listening system must satisfy the "wants", "needs" and "desires" of the particular individual listener. I listen, focusing on the "musicianship" and "composition". Great recordings, poor recordings, all of it. My best, MrD.

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