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Do "audio enthusiasts" like many of us here at ASR consider audio to be a hobby?

xr100

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As Hendrix showed us a dominant 7 sharp 9 chord can sound pretty awesome in overdrive (Purple Haze, Crosstown Traffic). :) Perhaps you just need to get the instrument in the hands of the right person and they‘ll find a way.

I play keyboards, not guitars--so apologies for the oversimplification. :) I'll have to check out those tracks, thank you.
 

murraycamp

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"Audiophiles who are really into the gear have lost their way." And yet it's typically audiophiles who spend crazy money on gear who say this.

Word. My observation as well.
 

xr100

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Yes, it's hard to do subtle on a forum, so apologies for missing the joke.

No worries--one does have to be careful to keep the peace on Internet fora! :)

However, I do question the need for room treatment. If treatment is necessary, then either the room is very sparsely furnished and uncomfortable, or otherwise unsuitable, or the 'speakers are poor, especially their off-axis performance that causes the total energy to have a weird frequency response.

It is something of a can of worms with different approaches possible, and as you suggest, depends on the room size, polar response of the speakers (and their locations), soft furnishings and bookshelves etc.

For instance, the "Linkwitz" approach (dipole/open-backed speakers in an "ordinary" living space) could be contrasted with that of (Earl) "Geddes" -- monopole speakers with smooth and controlled off-axis response, narrowing up into upper mid/high frequencies without the typical beaming of the midrange driver handing over to a wide dispersion tweeter, reducing lateral reflections etc. Fully implementing his ideas more or less requires at least a heavily modified/custom room, and aside from mid/high frequency treatment, it is strongly suggested to pay attention to the "modal" region in "small rooms" (i.e. any domestic room!), i.e. below Schroeder frequency, including multiple subwoofers with software optimised EQ to produce the smoothest response.

(All set out in his book which may be downloaded from http://www.gedlee.com/Books/HomeTheater.aspx)

A more recent example of a design intended to work in "untreated" rooms is Bruno Putzeys' "cardoid" speakers.

Seeing some of the adverts in magazines for loudspeakers, with lots of glass and chrome, shiny wooden floors and not a carpet in sight, does make me wonder how those 'speakers would every sound good.....never mind they never show any cables connecting them........

It looks nice, and it probably better represents (listening rooms of) those strange customers for whom audio is not their lifelong obsession. ;-)
 
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Patrick1958

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Hobby that started in the early nineties with a blown woofer. Replacing it with a woofer that had (almost) the same parameters sounded like nothing. Started reading on speaker building and so enrolled in that hobby. Build subs, two way transmission systems, two way BR systems and sattelite speakers for my then used Surround system. Made several speakers for acquaintances and friends. This hobby ended when i moved to another town (work related) and lived next to a student dormitory. Today more mixed hobby/enthousiast. No more speaker building but more concentrated on headphones (not building :D) and optimizing the signal path from computer to headphone and everything in between. I'm always captivated with the sound of new (mostly second hand) headphone and my existing collection. I enjoy trying different eq settings ranging from graphic to parametric to convolution settings.
 

Juhazi

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I could say "yes". I read several magazines, forums and websites daily for fun, and have bursts of making diy speakers. This has been going on for 50 years so far... And I have other hobbies too - and a family+dog and profession!
 
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Midwest Blade

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Hobby...yes I am pretty sure that would be a good way to qualify it for me. Was more obsessive in my earlier years and drifted out when home theater was all the rage. My music tastes have changed dramatically over the years but my gear has been constant throughout that time with only some minor tweaks. Have to say, it's not really about the gear or the music for me, more of a common relationship seving each other.
 

JJB70

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In my case my interest in audio is separate from sound quality. That probably sounds silly but I think electronics have been audibly transparent for years and that if you just want good sound quality it is probably harder to get electronics that don't sound fine. Speakers and headphones are different and room set up essential but once you get a decent pair of speakers set up well you are sorted (and even with speakers I don't think you have to spend that much).

However, I find pleasure in high standards of design and construction and love classic equipment. It's not about the SQ (although I think a lot of classic gear still cuts the mustard if measured), it's about taking pleasure in beautifully engineered equipment.
 

RayDunzl

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7879 posts to ASR. Yes, that's a hobby.

5.6 posts a day.

Maybe more in the beginning when there weren't so many people around to fill the gaps.

You're at 2.6 per day.
 

Sal1950

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Hobby for me too, although initially I had high hopes of a business!
I read a post by you earlier that you hadn't a single passive speaker in house to audition a amplifier.
Not a good position to be in if you want to run a profitable HiFi business.
 

Ceburaska

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Only a hobby as I change things, get dissatisfied, find my system unsuccessful, etc etc.
From 2001-2013 and from 2018 onwards, not a hobby.
Phew!
 

Purité Audio

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I read a post by you earlier that you hadn't a single passive speaker in house to audition a amplifier.
Not a good position to be in if you want to run a profitable HiFi business.
Why active speakers offer better performance , I do carry Gradient of Finland just waiting for a pair of Revolutions, they are active too btw.
Keith
 

Sal1950

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Why active speakers offer better performance , I do carry Gradient of Finland just waiting for a pair of Revolutions, they are active too btw.
Keith
Not debating the performance of actives, only the limited market share for a pair of active $15 - $30k speakers in the real world.
 

Purité Audio

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The Hedd Type 5 are £700 per pair, the Type 20 £3k per pair, both Kii and D&D will introduce smaller/cheaper models.
I don’t see the point of selling poorer performance , and the continual upgrade promise, I let others do that .
Keith
 

RayDunzl

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I don’t see the point of selling poorer performance , and the continual upgrade promise, I let others do that .

Open two shops.

They come into one, you can't convince them of "the science", send them around to the back door where all the good stuff is.

(or vice versa)
 

DonH56

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What is meant by "audio"? In any event, it is a hobby for me, as my day job is something else now. In the past I have worked as an audio designer, tech, installer, live sound man, recording and mixing engineer, and general gadfly but past college was never my full-time job. On the other side of the mic I have performed and played for many years on trumpet, sometimes with my wife, usually for fun but every now and then got paid to play.

I have to say my first knee-jerk response was more along the lines of "Hobby? More like obsession..." :)
 

audiophile

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The process of achieving better and better sound quality in my room by trying different gear, speaker placement, room treatment, etc. was very rewarding. Yes, I can call it a hobby in itself, but it's all done with one goal in mind: get the best sound possible within the budget and space restrictions and then spend hours and hours listening to and enjoying the music.
 

Doodski

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I consider my longtime pursuit of electronics and a core electronics education to solely come from my search for better sound and for my lifelong dependency on music that resulted in me being employed in consumer electronics for ~24 years before I went industrial. I listen to music for several hours+ per day at this time and I don't really know what I would do if I was cut off. Life would be frustrating and missing something important if I was cut off music. I depend on music and consider it more important than movies and reading fiction. For me music is essential and more than a hobby.
 

Severian

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I don't consider my interest in music to be a hobby, but my interest in audio gear and the science behind it, and continuous pursuit of better sound is absolutely a hobby.
 

Burning Sounds

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I keep trying to make it about music only, but not very successfully. Certainly in my teens it was about music and remained that way until my 30s when I was living in the US and subscribed to Speaker Builder and Glass Audio. That's when the DIY set in. Transmission line sub for my Maggies (didn't blend well) and Curcio mod Dynaco ST70 - excellent, still have it.

Between then and now I've rebuilt Maggies into new frames, replaced the ribbon tweeter, and built active x-overs using tubes and later spent a lot of time working on software based x-overs and EQ. About 5 years ago when I (allegedly) retired, I built my LX521s and finding no need to look any further for speakers thought I'd shaken off the hobby aspect. But no, a couple of months ago I built some LXMinis just for fun.......can't seem to get rid of the hobby part....:)
 
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