Young audiophile objectivists!!

[klettermann]

Came across an interesting thread on Audiophile Style that started with a factual question (“are younger audiophiles more objectivist?”) but quickly moved away from anything that could be answered. Early on it’s acknowledged there’s no data, but instead of stopping or reframing, the discussion shifts into experience-sharing, philosophy, and whether evaluation is even necessary. At one point, the idea of evaluating claims is reframed as people being “uncomfortable,” which I found telling.

What stood out to me, though, was something more practical: room acoustics barely came up at all. There’s a lot of discussion about components—DACs, amps, cables—but almost nothing about what’s happening at the listening position. That’s interesting because the room is one of the few areas where:

• differences are large,
• they’re easy to hear,
• and it’s straightforward to check whether a change actually made a difference.

Even when room correction was mentioned, it was framed as something guided by listening rather than something to verify or understand. It got me thinking about the difference between (1) discussions that aim to answer questions and (2) discussions that focus on sharing experiences and opinions without any way to assess them. Curious how others here think about that distinction, especially in audio—and also why room setup/measurement seems to get so little attention in some of these discussions despite its obvious impact.

Arre young audiophiles mostly obectivists

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Young hi-fi enthusiasts almost never identify as audiophiles, and many consider it akin to a slur (they associate it with snake oil, prioritizing gear over music, obscene pricing, boomers listening to Dire Straits and Steely Dan, etc.). As for room stuff, well, the vast vast vast majority of young hi-fi enthusiasts listen via headphones. Most young people live in shared housing, for one, but also, it's cheaper to buy (and DSP) headphones to SOTA level than it is to do the same with speakers, and most young people are not rich.

 

[klettermann]

I agree. But did you look at the thread? It ignores all that and spirals off to a degree I've neve before seen

 

[Chrispy]

My first thought is also a lot is headphone/iem driven with the youngest right now. Owning/renting enough real estate for large speakers etc is getting hard.

 

[Chrispy]

What about Audiophile Style is interesting or worth any time?

 

[tmtomh]

What about Audiophile Style is interesting or worth any time?

Exactly.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

I agree. But did you look at the thread? It ignores all that and spirals off to a degree I've neve before seen

nah, not giving that site my time or attention

 

[klettermann]

It's strictly entertainment value, but to a level I've never seen. I have a twisted sense of humor.

 

[Chrispy]

It's strictly entertainment value, but to a level I've never seen. I have a twisted sense of humor.

Best to kind of describe what the links lead to, no extra clicks to the undeserving counts a bit too plus saving us some time/grief if we haven't already run into that site.....

 

[klettermann]

the thread completely abandons the OPs question, which is itself framed in an absurd way, and immediatley gegeneratges into an unending and unbased objective vs subjective rant.

 

[Chrispy]

the thread completely abandons the OPs question, which is itself framed in an absurd way, and immediatley gegeneratges into an unending and unbased objective vs subjective rant.

"abandons the OPs question" which is you?

 

[klettermann]

NOT me. In fact the logic of the op is quite outlandish.

 

[Talisman]

Young hi-fi enthusiasts almost never identify as audiophiles, and many consider it akin to a slur (they associate it with snake oil, prioritizing gear over music, obscene pricing, boomers listening to Dire Straits and Steely Dan, etc.).

100% agree

 

[Chrispy]

NOT me. In fact the logic of the op is quite outlandish.

Why you should summarize the links before we click on 'em