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A hearty thanks to all of you who responded to my Hi-Fi-Fetishism post! Amazing range of opinions; some I expected, others I didn't. It made me think about so many things.For some, the term "audiophile" was problematic, and (to them) connoted an elitism based more on image than on substance. I can see that. But like most stereotypes (pardon the pun) they exhibit a range (again, sorry)of attributes, some of which I think we all have.
One thing I noticed is that much of the comments focused on the relationship of the audiophile to his/her equipment rather than the relationship to music. This is the "Vintage" site, so that may explain a lot of it.
But for me, it was music, and wanting to hear it better than the Close-and-Play of my youth, that made me improve my "rig" over time. I have an audio restoration friend (osirisstudio.com) that has helped me understand that you really don't need to spend tons of money for decent sound. In fact, I get a lot of musical pleasure just from recording my vinyl albums to a MiniDisc recorder and then listen to them with little earbuds; sounds pretty good to me. What's most important is the music, and how the music makes me feel, and how I can listen again and hear new things I had not heard before. Jazz, mostly. Jazz seems to provide the most interesting manifestation of music for me.
That said, I can attest to the lure of equipment, the tinkering that can go with it, and fun of building and re-building sound "systems." I'm actually glad I posted my post to you "vintage" folks because not only do I collect vintage material culture (telephones, radios, drink mixers, etc) I am an historian by trade. My life revolves around understanding the "vintage" of everything.
Thanks again for some excellent insights!!
If any of you are interested in the gender/audio thing, I suggest the below article; it is at least amusing:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue3/deoro.htm
Follow Ups:
Click below.Al
- http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=2278ba40c82ccf03&clickedItemRank=3&userQuery=American+Popular+Culture+Conference&clickedItemURN=http://www.popularculture.org/&title=PCA/ACA+2007+NATIONAL+CONFERENCE&moduleId=matchingsites.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=3&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults (Open in New Window)
I have about 3000 records. It always was and still is about music for me. I discovered vintage equipment while scowering the thrift stores for records.
Here is the parent website of the late "Gizmo" mentioned in the preamble to the article you linked. I always enjoyed my conversations with Harvey and although I didn't always agree with him, he never failed to be entertaining and thought provoking.
I was surprised that no doctors answered you, so here's one. I did not and do not know engineering, diy work, etc. although I can solder and could/did put together a Hafler amp in the past. I am kind of clumsy at these things. I love music of most kinds.I learned about audio and particularly music from my family (male side). Dad loved classical music, esp. Germanic stuff. I have about 500 plus records plus many more available some day (from late Dad's collection and others). About 400 CD and other digital (only 10 SACD). And lots of cassettes and some VCR.
I believe that women in general love to hear nice sound and music if they cannot see the gear or if it's visually appealing. If it's involving a lot of work, no (I must say that my wife turned the record over, a Lincoln Mayorga Vol III, and started it without incident the other day on my Linn LP 12). Side note, I don't listen much to those old audiophilia records, but kind of like that one and we were showing relatives re old antique valued records.
I have both vintage and modern systems, and to me, it's all in the music. I love both systems. I don't tinker as much as most on here, and my systems are cheap(ish).
Your questions with my answers--What are the basic psychological and emotional attributes of the male audiophile?
I would say they are control freaks and detailed people. They may be introverts and have a tough time expressing their emotions as well. They often like forums like this, where they can type away and express themselves semi anonymously.Is there a "control" issue with men and their manipulation of recorded music?
Yep, and women don't generally bother. Except Elizabeth, Teresa and some others on AA. So generally, yes, but it can go both ways. If a woman is on here, or other boards, they generally are more very controlling!Do men "listen" to music differently than women?
Sure they do. Music is emotion and landscape and feeling to gals, as opposed to more detailed and picky for men. But men also respond to the other aspects. It's actually Men are from Venus,...
Tancred,Thanks for the response.
Since you went to a hardware oriented site, it is logical that would receive a hardware oriented response.
Had you gone to some music appreciation site, I think you would have found a lot higher percentage of female involvement. (offhand, I don't know of such a site)
However, I would not be too quick in dismissing our interest and love of music for it's own sake. Were we not interested in the music itself, it's likely we would have chosen some other technical hobby like photography, or cars, woodworking, or model building as an outlet for our tinkering urges. (I think most of us have several) In my own case, it was the desire to have music in the home at age 15 that got me started on the hobby back in 1953. I quickly discovered that I liked the hardware side a lot.
I think the guy with a $100,000 system and 20 records is an abberation. I have over 450 CD's myself and I'd guess most of the others here on this forum have large collections as well. I also go to the public library and check out CD's of music that looks interesting for possible addition to my collection.
The test might be whether the person listens to his system or to the music. A common thread in reviews and discussions is whether or not the system gets in the way of the music. This happens more often to the audio hobbyist, since we're "tuned" to be sensitive to system faults. However, once the system reaches a certain level of perfection, the music transcends the system. It does not take a lot of money to reach that point, but it does take a fair amount of time and effort.
Don't jump to any conclusions about music v. equipment. What drew me to the equipment was a better way to hear the music. After all, your question was about fetishistic behavior, and it's hard to be fetishistic about music, IMHO. Unless you'll only play harpsichord music from obscure French composers or something like that.
...I do like harpsichords and pipe organs; they seem to go together.
Dave
Later Gator,
Crank up your talking machine, grab a jar of your favorite "kick-back", sit down, relax, and let the good times roll.
Forgot to fill in the box.
Amen to what Jerry pointed out, Tancred! Am currently listening to Fleetwood Mac's 1974 KSAN Live Show, pre-Stephanie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham Big Mac attack, on da computer room's Rotel RX-602 through modded ESS Model 10s & Sony CDP-CE535 cd player. Only thing missing are the Pacific Stereo ads! Bob Welch is unleashing some amazing licks, & La McVie sounds as sultry as ever! From the same Record Plant Sausalito studios which that confessional "Rumours" would emerge a few years later. We vintage fanatics listen with our memories as well as with our ears, Tancred! Have noticed that youngsters seem to prefer vintage systems for home theatre playback. Later they discover how "bitchin'" their music sounds! Us gray auld goats just prefer bein' sonically sledgehammered via Sansui 9090 through hemp-reconed V30s! 'Tis total bliss!!!
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