How rare of a breed are we (audiophiles)?

[Axo1989]

Very true. I picked up a nice vintage Swedish Rapid 16 stapler yesterday at my local thrift store for $1 in their throw out bin. Probably 1960s. It was out of action, dirty and unloved, but beautifully made and I couldn't leave it once I picked it up.

Now after a few hours restoration, she looks a million dollars and works like new. Even has an inbuilt brilliant staple remover that slides out and works a treat. All metal, not a single piece of plastic/nylon in it. I think I might get more into staplers and that probably makes me eccentric.

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That thing looks fabulous. What is it used for?

 

[Axo1989]

No plastic on either of these, which are still in use here. Not my pictures, but same.

Inherited from Dad, a 1938 Pilot 402

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And a handheld Swingline Speed Stapler, probably from a similar ancient era.

Seems to be the deluxe version with the crinkle gray finish.

Dad worked for Nabisco from about 1940 to 1983. Cracker auditor worked his way up to Regional Manager for Southeast USA.

When he died, at the hospital, I opened the window and there was a big unexpected rush of air, into the somewhat stormy summer Florida outdoors.

The next day I read in the news that high winds (maybe a little tornado) hit and damaged his office ten miles away about the same time.

Crikey, more of them !!

Before stopping using those sheets of compressed wood-fibre for data output, I recall going solid state and lossless:

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

Perhaps we need to re-visit what we mean by "audiophiles". Many of us, who are more than 40, see an audio system as a shrine with a bunch of components flanked by a pair of speakers... etc ... and with some cable elevators
I surmise that many of this new generation do care about sound, but within a different ecosystem. One could argue that something like the TCZ IEM or .. heck even the airpods, provide Higher fidelity than almost anything available 15 years ago... Yes! That would include some pretty pricey IEM and/or headphones audiophile favor, STAX comes to my mind. It sounds counterintuitive but an iPhone has better performance than any LP-based system you want to assemble , whatever its price...
That, having been said for the portable/mobile, side... Let's dive in our living room. Seems to be the last frontier for Gen X,Y, Z and they haven't cottoned to a pair of spekaers trying to emulate live sound (amplified or not). Perhaps something like the valiant efforts however of SONOS could be tried. I really would like to see some of those reviewed here, I believe they would sparkle..
I believe that the general public needs some education, the Hi-Fi press is mired in the paradigm of separates and the utter BS spewed by the HEA. We, all at ASR know that a modest AVR with DRC (AUdyessey or DIRAC, properly configured) plus a complement of serious but inexpensive speakers in a medium size living room will challenge and, most often obliterate many HEA systems even some priced at 20 times more.. or higher... The public needs to be aware, their wallet will follow ... ASR is somehow at that vanguard.. Will there be others?

Peace.

 

[ErVikingo]

I have converted young ones by letting them experience music in a way they had not before. My kids and their friends are used to their IEM, headphones, etc. Some friends do most of their listening in their cars.

I have played their favorites in my room and the jaws drop. Perhaps my daughter gave me the best feedback, tears.... "I can hear details I was not aware of. Its beautiful". Followed by, can you setup a system in my room? (she now has my Aerials in her room).

The term has become pejorative as it has happened with car enthusiasts, cyclists and other hobbies. Heck, go out with the Leica or the Nikon and people criticize you since "their phone does the same".

IMHO it has nothing to do with subjective or objective, it has to do with the love of well reproduced music and the dedication to listening to music with hardly any other input.

BTW, nice stapler!

 

[ErVikingo]

have a read.......... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiophile

 

[Koeitje]

Can I just say I hate the term audiophile because of the connotations. I just like accurate audio reproduction. The Wikipedia definition of an Audiophile is not accurate because it states that audiophiles aim for High Fidelity reproduction, which we all know is not the case for a large majority of those who call themselves audiophiles.

 

[fpitas]

Can I just say I hate the term audiophile because of the connotations. I just like accurate audio reproduction. The Wikipedia definition of an Audiophile is not accurate because it states that audiophiles aim for High Fidelity reproduction, which we all know is not the case for a large majority of those who call themselves audiophiles.

And ironically, the average person would understand us even less, what with the measurements and science. Those of us who design our own stuff are even weirder. We kind of fly under the radar.

 

[Koeitje]

And ironically, the average person would understand us even less, what with the measurements and science. Those of us who design our own stuff are even weirder. We kind of fly under the radar.

I doubt it, there's two levels to it. The first level is the same: we both want our music to sound the best it can.

The second level is explaining how. One is "this sounds better because I used crygenic left twisted double barrier gold and carbon cables", the other is "in this graph we can see that the recording is reproduced with no errors, distortion or noise". I think the second one makes more sense to more people.

 

[MCH]

you never know, audiophiles are hiding everywhere....

Spoiler

No, not him, but we might have the other under pseudonym in ASR... at least seems he didn't spend a fortune in cables hahaha

 

[fpitas]

I doubt it, there's two levels to it. The first level is the same: we both want our music to sound the best it can.

The second level is explaining how. One is "this sounds better because I used crygenic left twisted double barrier gold and carbon cables", the other is "in this graph we can see that the recording is reproduced with no errors, distortion or noise". I think the second one makes more sense to more people.

You might be surprised how little the average person knows. Just consider how many noobs arrive here and have to be introduced to measurement.

 

[JayGilb]

the other is "in this graph we can see that the recording is reproduced with no errors, distortion or noise". I think the second one makes more sense to more people.

The average person's eyes glaze over upon hearing the phrase "in this graph". Perhaps you work in a technical field, as do I, we tend to underestimate most people's dislike of data.

 

[pablolie]

I tend to click with people that like music, hence many of my friends appreciate music. And they often comment on the sound coming out of my system. Some turned into semi-audiophiles, meaning they asked to help them set up systems, but they don't follow industry advancements, they think Class D is a bra size, and in general just use the system without having much interest for the tech. That is rewarding.

Over the years, I have had 4 friends that share the hobby. I have a close friend right now, and we have a bi-weekly music listening tradition. Glass of wine (or 3 :-D), jazz, classical...

This being Silicon Valley, one runs into very rich folk that think themselves audiophiles, but it's just another excuse to show off their spending power, and I don't bother discuss audio with them.

 

[fpitas]

runs into very rich folk that think themselves audiophiles, but it's just another excuse to show off their spending power

And to them we're even more inexplicable than to the average person. A bubble inside the audiophile world bubble.

 

[imthetxman]

With a two little kids under 6, grills are must for me

And if they're anything like mine were.... those grills need to be made of solid iron.

 

[imthetxman]

Re the thread title..... I think a lot depends on how you define genuine audiophile. I consider myself one based on the fact that I'm constantly looking for ways to improve my music experience. Heck... I'm on sites like this. But I do NOT get too deep into the technical details like measurements. I just don't fully understand that stuff and do not plan to spend the time to learn it.

 

[kemmler3D]

The threshold for enjoyment is much, much lower than even the lax threshold of audibility. At least for most people.

Correct. But experience and Harman testing both show that people do enjoy better sound, all else held equal. The reason they stop seeking it out is not ONLY because it's good enough at a relatively low level. That much is true, but people also buy nice TVs even though they can enjoy movies perfectly well on an iPad. Buying a nice TV is more common than buying nice speakers, but it's not obvious that it should be so.

 

[pseudoid]

And a handheld Swingline Speed Stapler, probably from a similar ancient era.

I would like to play.
I was hesitant to post my stapler, when @restorer-john posted his 'forever' hardware find.
Mine has also outlived its life-span but refuses to die:

NOTE: This stapler was not even cleaned for this photo.
Best part is that it will never require a software update, or a reboot.
YEY!

 

[Koeitje]

The average person's eyes glaze over upon hearing the phrase "in this graph". Perhaps you work in a technical field, as do I, we tend to underestimate most people's dislike of data.

More so than using cryo treated carbon fiber cables? I doubt it.

You might be surprised how little the average person knows. Just consider how many noobs arrive here and have to be introduced to measurement.

Where do I say they have to understand it? If an F1 engineer points at a graph and says "this is the power curve of the engine and it helps us make it perform optimally", people will sort of understand what the engineer means without actually understanding what the graphs says.

 

[ozzy9832001]

You might be surprised how little the average person knows. Just consider how many noobs arrive here and have to be introduced to measurement.

I think this is typical behavior in any hobby. People get interested, read a few articles and away you go.

God only knows how many times I've been called to a family or friends house to "fix" something because they saw a you tube video and thought it was easy.

I'm sure handymen are making a killing these days because of it.

 

[fpitas]

More so than using cryo treated carbon fiber cables? I doubt it.

Where do I say they have to understand it? If an F1 engineer points at a graph and says "this is the power curve of the engine and it helps us make it perform optimally", people will sort of understand what the engineer means without actually understanding what the graphs says.

I doubt people think of audio that way. I could be wrong though; all my friends are engineers, doctors or lawyers. Education does funny things to the mind