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This weeks stereophile has this:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/snob-appeal-0

I think he doth protest too much and builds a strawman against which to
tilt. It appears to me he first offers the observation of someone who
declares that "audiophiles" are indeed snobs and otherwise, and then
demonstrates the very thing in himself while claiming to run through the
strawman.

[Oregonian Haruspex]

On 2013-12-02 19:26:26 +0000, said:

This weeks stereophile has this:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/snob-appeal-0

I think he doth protest too much and builds a strawman against which to
tilt. It appears to me he first offers the observation of someone who
declares that "audiophiles" are indeed snobs and otherwise, and then
demonstrates the very thing in himself while claiming to run through the
strawman.

Audiophiles as snobs, this is hardly a new idea. In every hobby there
are people who simply enjoy what they are doing, whether they use basic
instruments or equipment, and then there are those who obsess over
their equipment to the point that its ownership, care, maintenance, and
showing it off may perhaps exceed actually using it to listen to music,
take photographs, etc.

If you feel the need to enumerate the brand name of your gear, point
out the metallic content of your cables, talk about "jitter" outside of
your job as an engineer, sure, you're an audiophile snob. If you just
happen to own some nice equipment with which you enjoy music, you're
probably a music lover.

So, to reiterate, if you tend to like to talk about your gear, you're
an "audiophile" (ie snob, gearhead) and if you like to talk about music
then you're a music lover.

[Bob Lombard[_3_]]

On 12/3/2013 5:45 AM, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

Audiophiles as snobs, this is hardly a new idea. In every hobby there
are people who simply enjoy what they are doing, whether they use
basic instruments or equipment, and then there are those who obsess
over their equipment to the point that its ownership, care,
maintenance, and showing it off may perhaps exceed actually using it
to listen to music, take photographs, etc.

If you feel the need to enumerate the brand name of your gear, point
out the metallic content of your cables, talk about "jitter" outside
of your job as an engineer, sure, you're an audiophile snob. If you
just happen to own some nice equipment with which you enjoy music,
you're probably a music lover.

So, to reiterate, if you tend to like to talk about your gear, you're
an "audiophile" (ie snob, gearhead) and if you like to talk about
music then you're a music lover.

I don't consider those techno-audiophiles to be snobs, that seems quite
inaccurate. Gullible and deluded maybe...

In the great majority of cases, one doesn't 'just happen to own nice
equipment'. He has paid a 'nice chunk of change' for it, and there must
be some reason why he walked past the 'mid-fi' displays to get to it.

bl

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[Audio_Empire[_2_]]

On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 2:45:44 AM UTC-8, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
On 2013-12-02 19:26:26 +0000, said:



This weeks stereophile has this:



http://www.stereophile.com/content/snob-appeal-0

So, to reiterate, if you tend to like to talk about your gear, you're
an "audiophile" (ie snob, gearhead) and if you like to talk about music
then you're a music lover.

Just to be clear, are you saying that those two states of being are mutually
exclusive? Can't one be both a music lover and enjoy the equipment and the
technology behind it?

[Oregonian Haruspex]

On 2013-12-06 02:17:09 +0000, Audio_Empire said:

On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 2:45:44 AM UTC-8, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
On 2013-12-02 19:26:26 +0000, said:



This weeks stereophile has this:



http://www.stereophile.com/content/snob-appeal-0

So, to reiterate, if you tend to like to talk about your gear, you're
an "audiophile" (ie snob, gearhead) and if you like to talk about music
then you're a music lover.

Just to be clear, are you saying that those two states of being are mutually
exclusive? Can't one be both a music lover and enjoy the equipment and the
technology behind it?

Why not? I don't care what gets other people off. A gear obsession
isn't really a bad thing in my opinion, but it usually has nothing to
do with the love of music.

Making an automobile analogy, there are people who obsess over every
little detail of their classic cars, bring them to shows, and so forth
with the purpose of showing them off. Then there are the people who
actually drive these things up and down the highway. Sometimes they do
both, but you'd be surprised at the number of classic cars that are
trucked into car shows.

What people do with their hobby is their business, but I reserve the
right to have an opinion on it.

[Scott[_6_]]

On Friday, December 6, 2013 7:47:26 AM UTC-8, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
On 2013-12-06 02:17:09 +0000, Audio_Empire said:



On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 2:45:44 AM UTC-8, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

On 2013-12-02 19:26:26 +0000, said:







This weeks stereophile has this:







http://www.stereophile.com/content/snob-appeal-0



So, to reiterate, if you tend to like to talk about your gear, you're

an "audiophile" (ie snob, gearhead) and if you like to talk about music

then you're a music lover.



Just to be clear, are you saying that those two states of being are mutually

exclusive? Can't one be both a music lover and enjoy the equipment and the

technology behind it?



Why not? I don't care what gets other people off. A gear obsession

isn't really a bad thing in my opinion, but it usually has nothing to

do with the love of music.

I think maybe you don't know what "mutually exclusive" means. If they are mutually exclusive then a passion for one precludes a passion for the other. So it goes beyond having nothing to do with each other.



Making an automobile analogy, there are people who obsess over every

little detail of their classic cars, bring them to shows, and so forth

with the purpose of showing them off. Then there are the people who

actually drive these things up and down the highway. Sometimes they do

both, but you'd be surprised at the number of classic cars that are

trucked into car shows.


There is no doing both if they are mutually exclusive.

[Audio_Empire[_2_]]

On Friday, December 6, 2013 7:47:26 AM UTC-8, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
On 2013-12-06 02:17:09 +0000, Audio_Empire said:



On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 2:45:44 AM UTC-8, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

On 2013-12-02 19:26:26 +0000, said:

snip

Making an automobile analogy, there are people who obsess over every
little detail of their classic cars, bring them to shows, and so forth
with the purpose of showing them off. Then there are the people who
actually drive these things up and down the highway. Sometimes they do
both, but you'd be surprised at the number of classic cars that are
trucked into car shows.

Take from a dyed-in-the-wool classic Italian sports car buff. You really can't
practically do that. A car that is shown on the Concours circuit must be better
than 95 points (a perfect restoration is 100 points). That's actually better than
new for many cars. When you drive a car, it wears. When it wears, it loses points.
restorations are so expensive these days (500 hrs @ US$100/hr+ just to refresh
an 80-90 point car to 95 points+) and takes so long, (up to 6 months for a
refresh) that none but the most filthy rich do that. Show cars, for the most
part are NOT driven unless a tour is a part of the concours, like it is at
Pebble Beach. Even then, many "trailer queens" do not participate.


What people do with their hobby is their business, but I reserve the
right to have an opinion on it.

I'm not arguing with you, I just wanted to know if you thought that an
audiophile couldn't be a music lover as well.