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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
mylogic
858 posts
 

@glcanon  Oft quoted: “Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to music, Audiophiles use music to listen to their equipment”

If true, then this manner of appreciation reminds me of the song from “Oliver”

 

Consider yourself well in

Consider yourself, part of the furniture

 

Would this suggest that with this line of thought, an Audiophile becomes emotionally part of the (audio) furniture, rather than emotionally involved with the music. In love with the attraction to their business end rather than being inspired by the beauty of a perfect musical performance?

Post removed 
audition__audio
1,777 posts
 

deep 333

Who are you? Certainly no more or less important than anyone else on this forum. Maybe your hearing is poor or maybe like many musicians you think too much of your auditory abilities and cant distinguish between how you wish you sounded and how you actually sound. That little extra gravy in the mids that I get from the Yamaha is really nice. 

You accuse me of being associated with a manufacturer when you are juicing all over a specific brand claiming they tune their speakers and also I think I saw you puking out about another Yamaha component on another forum. You mentioned Magico so I used them as an example.

OK I will come clean, I am the head for marketing for Magico. Feels so good getting this off my chest. 

You might want to think about the fundamental difference between that which creates sound and reproduces it. 

french_fries OP
824 posts
 

Since people are still responding to the issue I raised, I would like to add that I decided not to fret over my choices of furnishings in my "listening room". I tried to avoid an abundance of reflective surfaces. I put sound-absorbing panels (Echo-Busters) on the ceiling, with a carpeted floor. My rack is a "Michael Green Deluxe-Justarack"- a basic design but with 2 inch thick shelves that can all be adjusted. They don't make them anymore, except for Salamander racks which are adjustable but not as solid. My most expensive power cord cost $500. To my ears the source/recording makes the most difference. But I also love my vinyl set of Blind Blake (guitar/voice) even though the sound quality on them as well as on other "special" artists' records (Robert Johnson)  is technically way below average.  I also have about 150 SACD's which I really enjoy- mostly classical. I have an SHM-SACD from Japan of Aja by Steely Dan which is really great. My equipment is pretty good, but I don't yearn for a $40,000 Arm or a $15,000 cartridge. Of course I wouldn't mind having a best friend who has all that ultra-high-end gear to invite me over to listen to music- as long as she likes to listen to A.C.Jobim and Joni Mitchell (and Mozart).

audition__audio
1,777 posts
 

Robert Johnson sounds better with each improvement I make on my system. I own no recordings from bands/artist I dont like. A bonus when a favorite artist releases a great album which is also a good to great recording. First one that comes to mind is "Mule Variations" by Tom Waits.  Sounds like you have a good deal figured out. Given time you can concentrate on the performance and ignore some of the aspects of older or poor recordings. What I like the least is compression.

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