The Loneliest Hobby PART 1

As Roy Orbison penned his lyrics to Only the Lonely, he may well have had in mind those thousands of us who are audiophiles, passionately pursuing our hobby in complete isolation. We marvel at the detailed presentation as the Beatles sing about their lonely-hearts club, but for most of us in the audiophile world, there is no club. Only lonely hearts. We listen to these songs and many others in magnificent fidelity… but all by ourselves (see Eric Carmen, All by Myself). There is no one sitting next to us. We are in our listening rooms… alone.  

Even worse, many of us are “audiophiles anonymous,” not willing to admit to our addiction in public, mostly because past attempts at sharing our enthusiasm for our gear with friends has only led to embarrassment as they have walked away with puzzled looks on their faces and wondering if they should assist us in finding some professional help. And their concern pales in comparison to the worry and agony that rages silently in the hearts of our significant others. They watch helplessly as funds for college and kitchen remodels evaporate as we seek our next fix with our purchase of the latest speaker cables and power conditioners.

No one will ever understand us. But we press on, sinking ever deeper into the abyss of our internal psyches, defiantly sitting in solitude as we profoundly ponder the tonal nuances of our new XLR interconnects.

Is our hobby the least understood? Is it one of the loneliest and self-isolating of hobbies? Are concerns about our sanity valid? Is this self-isolation and self-indulgence actually unhealthy? Or is it beautifully and gloriously therapeutic? What, my fellow asylum-mates, do you think?