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Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE?

107.77.208.56
Posted on July 7, 2017 at 13:42:29
3+4=5
 Stealing the thunder of the latest Stereophile "As we see it"
Where in the great Jason Victor Serinus bring us the though of thinking of our audio nervosa not as a mere 'hobby' but rather as a 'lifestyle'.

Hell yeah. That is way more to the point.
So I agree totally with calling my audio fixation a
LIFESTYLE.. and walk on happy with my new self admiration.

So now, when folks visit, and gape at the giant door size speakers dominating one end of my living room.. Along with a full wall of electronic dodads. Plus the walls everywhere covered with albums in both CD and LP.. even the bedroom..
This is not madness, nor some mere hobby. NOW I BOLDLY can proclaim this is a LIFESTYLE.

I feel better already.

 

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RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE?, posted on July 7, 2017 at 14:03:39
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Both for me.

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE?, posted on July 7, 2017 at 15:06:04
jedrider
Audiophile

Posts: 15168
Location: No. California
Joined: December 26, 2003
 Use to be a HOBBY for me as I fiddled a lot and collected a lot.

Turning into a lifestyle as I listen a lot now.

 

Lifestyles of the Poor and Not so Famous? (nt), posted on July 7, 2017 at 17:59:53
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 (nt)

 

Neither, posted on July 7, 2017 at 20:18:29
Mike K
Audiophile

Posts: 13976
Location: 97701
Joined: September 23, 1999
 I like music. I like equipment which makes the music I like sound
reasonably realistic. Once I have the equipment that does that,
I am happy and see no reason to change it. I do, however, enjoy reading
Stereophile and TAS. And I enjoy reading INTELLIGENT music reviews.

John Marks is by far my favorite equipment and music reviewer.

Lack of skill dictates economy of style. - Joey Ramone

 

Music... sound... lifestyle... BOSE..., posted on July 7, 2017 at 21:04:40
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 The entire Bose method of advertising the past 30 or so years has focused on LIFESTYLE
(a term I despise) to great effect.

REALLY despise the "lifestyle" music concept.

Hobby... yeah some of it is.

Passion? Certainly a lot of it is.

Obsession? Sure there have been years of that, some more obsessful than others.

Overall though, it's just a way of life, no big deal, no explanations necessary, no need to define it.

But glad you're digging your lifestyle.

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

hifi is a hobby; music is (still) a passion for me (nt), posted on July 8, 2017 at 06:33:49
mhardy6647
Audiophile

Posts: 16018
Location: New England
Joined: October 12, 1999
Contributor
  Since: October 23, 2016
 nt
all the best,
mrh

 

I've called my passion for music a lifestyle for Decades. Glad to see, posted on July 8, 2017 at 07:20:36
artemus
Audiophile

Posts: 15273
Joined: March 12, 2001
 others who understand. I can understand it being a hobby for some. But I began buying records when I was 8 yrs old. I'm 66 now. I had a good audio system from my late 20's. Before that I had adequate systems. But my 20's brought about a good system (HK 730, Large Advents) which stayed as my system for nearly 20 yrs, at least the HK 730 did. I never thought of myself as an audiophile. I don't care for jazz, dislike most female vocals and have no desire for the music mostly played in the shows and as demo disks in the, mostly now defunct, stereo stores.
Sorry for the long post.
=========================
You paid HOW MUCH for that electrical receptacle?!!! Are YOU nuts?

 

Coping Strategy, posted on July 8, 2017 at 08:29:49
jedrider
Audiophile

Posts: 15168
Location: No. California
Joined: December 26, 2003
 Yes! Definitely.

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE?, posted on July 8, 2017 at 20:11:07
AudioSoul
Audiophile

Posts: 4594
Location: north central AZ
Joined: July 9, 2005

I read an article once about some Japanese audiophile/music lovers that live in tiny apartments and drove crappy cars just so they can enjoy better tube electronics with large horn loaded high-efficiency loudspeakers. Now that is a lifestyle. When I looked at the pictures I wondered how the can get great sound from speakers that look WAY to large for their tiny living rooms. In some cases, it was one room that combined the living, bed, kitchen, and bathroom.....

 

Hobby, Lifestyle, & Work, posted on July 9, 2017 at 09:30:45
Jim Smith
Industry Professional

Posts: 1097
Location: Atlanta, GA area
Joined: April 5, 2000
 Always worked in my hobby. Not sure what retirement looks like...
Best regards,

Jim Smith

 

After reading the article..., posted on July 9, 2017 at 10:41:23
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 ..."As We See It" in the latest Stereophile (August), it would appear that our hobby of striving to reproduce music more realistically as audiophiles has morphed into a lifestyle choice of having some decent music reproduction equipment in the home to listen to music with others.

Really? I have both.

Since the younger generation are listening to headphones these days, I'm not sure where they fall in this dichotomy.

 

Music is part of your life, posted on July 9, 2017 at 12:07:00
Bromo33333
Audiophile

Posts: 3502
Location: Ipswich, MA
Joined: May 4, 2004
 Music is Part of your life, the stereo system is a means to an end!
====
"You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you." ~ R A Wilson

 

PERFECTLY stated., posted on July 9, 2017 at 12:19:57
hifitommy
Audiophile

Posts: 15388
Location: canyon country califiornia, orig from buffalo ny
Joined: June 9, 2000
 the music came first (ttens), then my 45s sounded SO much better on my friend's dad's radio shack component (mono) system that he built a cabinet for. i KNEW then i would have to get real equipment for listening.

flash to 30y.o. and more musical desire. flash to 72y.o., still improving.
...regards...tr

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE?, posted on July 9, 2017 at 13:21:58
BillH
Audiophile

Posts: 3913
Location: Baton Rouge
Joined: December 23, 1999
 I really can't say, though I tend toward hobby. But whenever I look at an elaborately styled house I look for some sign of a quality audio system. Most of the time, there isn't one.

 

It's a hobby and a lifestyle. It's a hobble. Nt, posted on July 9, 2017 at 13:45:21
geoffkait
 Nt

 

Do you feel hobbled by it?. , posted on July 9, 2017 at 14:47:26
3+4=5
 The one sense I am hobbled by audio as a hobble is MOVING.
Moving is a total PITA.
Primarily due to moving the media.
Last time I threw away 7,000 LPs (of 13,000) to move.
And I was lucky I was able to use a storage locker at the new place to move my LPs and CDs in advance.
I am hoping to never have to move again... until that last big move...

 

RE: How about sickness?, posted on July 10, 2017 at 14:25:44
rwa3
Audiophile

Posts: 74
Joined: September 28, 2011
 Could be a mental disorder-one where well meaning music lovers start buying and selling perfectly good equipment in order to feed the need for better sound which is often only an illusion. It's a slippery slope folks-quit reading (and believing) the audio rags and get back to enjoying music again and stop with the delusional thinking that your "hobby" will provide satisfaction and happiness or that different somehow means better.

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE?, posted on July 10, 2017 at 16:04:03
Inmate51
 Maybe I should start reading the hi-fi mags again. Who knows - they might have something new and useful to say.

:)

 

I have come full circle., posted on July 10, 2017 at 16:24:21
soulfood
Audiophile

Posts: 3725
Joined: August 9, 2001
 Semantics aside, when I strived to have the loudest and cleanest sounding stereo on the block, it was a lifestyle.

Later on. after reading audio magazines and challenging myself for better sound, it became a hobby.

Now, that days of the pure chase have seemingly subsided, it feels more lifestyle like.

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE? Or FETISH?, posted on July 11, 2017 at 15:50:53
suretyguy
Audiophile

Posts: 3022
Location: western Missouri
Joined: October 9, 2001
 Here are two definitions of "fetish": (1) an inanimate object worshiped for its supposed magical powers or because it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit (2) an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion. (I won't even delve into the sex-related definition!)

For some audiophiles I think either or both of these meanings are more apt than either hobby or lifestyle. Just spend some time on the Vinyl Asylum to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

For me, at different times either hobby or fetish would have applied, but never lifestyle (a much misused and abused word in my opinion).

 

Good point. Particularly for tweaks.. and wires. nt, posted on July 12, 2017 at 11:11:34
3+4=5
 .

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE? Or FETISH?, posted on July 13, 2017 at 12:28:55
BillH
Audiophile

Posts: 3913
Location: Baton Rouge
Joined: December 23, 1999
 Here is an example of an audio fetish--ad copy for a $175 fuse encountered today on A'Gon. Name of advertiser altered slightly, but the rest is verbatim:

"The Beeswax version is identical to the Premiere version the only difference is Audioholic Magnificence uses Beeswax instead of the normal anti vibration fluid, this gives the fuse a very organic flavor but maintains the detail, dynamics and everything the Premier does. The production of this fuse is very difficult, very hard to get the Beeswax into the fuse but the organic sound is too good to ignore."

 

RE: Audio as HOBBY? or LIFESTYLE? Or FETISH?, posted on July 13, 2017 at 18:44:58
suretyguy
Audiophile

Posts: 3022
Location: western Missouri
Joined: October 9, 2001
 In the end, I suppose, if one hears a difference, there is a difference, although I must admit that I used to hear differences that I no longer do. Can't say if that's because I'm getting older with a natural decline in aural acuity or if I've just become jaded.

 

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