Confronting your own realities...
I've always wondered about how we as hi-fi enthusiasts or audiophiles (choose whichever you prefer) see ourselves. Ultimately, it should always be about music and good sound, and not the equipment for the equipment's sake. Trouble is, some people are more sincere about this than others and genuinely achieve that aim, whereas others might think they're sincere but are actually just kidding themselves on
For example, I find *some*, and I stress SOME, so as not to upset everyone in that category, more obsessive D.I.Y-ers like that - they might think they're in it for the love of music, but often with their equipment they spend more time with the hood open fiddling and farting around, tweaking this and that, than sitting down listening to and enjoying the music it makes. I'd love to know the ratio of tweaking-to-music listening with some of these guys. However, if that's what 'does it' for them then fine; it's their money and their life, so good luck to them, but that definitely isn't for me.
It's one of the reasons why I've never embraced D.I.Y audio to any great degree. Yes it has many very valuable benefits, and I understand why people enjoy it, but quite simply aside from my unquestionable 'hamfistedness' with a soldering iron, the temptation for constantly fiddling is just too great, and thus also the potential for taking your eye off the ball as to what it's meant to be about is even greater: enjoying recorded music in the home to the highest standard of fidelity... It's a bit like the chap you see next door who spends the greatest proportion of his time underneath the bonnet of his car than in the driving seat... What are these guys really - simply car mechanics enthusiasts or genuine car driving enthusiasts? The same parallels can be drawn I feel with hi-fi and music amongst audiophiles and hi-fi D.I.Y-ers.
The other thing I would ask you to consider is this:
How genuinely confident (and I stress the word) are you about your beliefs in hi-fi? Are you a staunchly objectivist testing and measurements boffin or an equally staunch subjectivist who trusts his or her ears implicitly - and most importantly given the thread title, do you become uncomfortable and defensive when someone of the opposite mindset robustly challenges your (often) ingrained beliefs and prejudices, or are you genuinely open-minded and always receptive to new ideas and willing to embrace change?
And here's the clincher... Would you be willing to admit that you may have made some mistakes in arriving at your current beliefs and so realise that they perhaps need some updating or reassessing?
Let's expose and confront our own realities. How do you honestly see yourself in this regard? Hence the title, let's do some introspection of our genuine hi-fi and music loving motives - and be as honest as possible!
My belief is that in hi-fi some people are too stuck in their ways and also that others are kidding themselves on that music is more important than collecting or fiddling with the boxes. Discuss...
Marco.
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Originally Posted by Steve Toy
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