Audiophile, Audio Enthusiast or…?

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”            

     There are numerous names we tend to don like hats to present ourselves to the world, simple nomenclature casually used in conversation to abridge an involved passion. My favorite descriptive is Audiophile. The one word hides the depth and complexity of the hobby or profession, while offering a fundamental basic understanding of what it involves. It also helps me from ruining a social interaction by going into a 10 minute rant about audio but that’s just me. So what is an audiophile?  

     An audiophile  is an individual who is enthusiastic in quality sound reproduction. That is the simplest way to describe someone who loves music and wants to hear their favorite artists in better than average quality. Sure you could buy a set of earbuds for your phone for $2 (if you still have an AUX port), but you get what you pay for. At that price point they used the cheapest components just to ship it out the door without a care of how it actually sounds. Those cheap little buds won’t do, you are the type that shops around for the best headphones you can buy in your budget, whatever it may be, spending hours looking through reviews before making a decision. The speakers that your car came from the factory with just aren’t cutting it anymore sounding like a muddled mess on your heaviest tracks so you decide to upgrade to something better. If this sounds familiar, you have audiophile potential. You can be an audiophile regardless of the system that you have or what level you are at, as long as the end goal is the same: your favorite music reproduced at the best quality you can afford.  

     The way I define being an audiophile is a much broader scale than most would consider. For those enthralled in the hobby, and audiophile is someone who takes it to a meticulous level of trying to as accurately as possible reproduce the musical piece to sound “live” and in person in front of you. This is also true, but I have found over my time in the audiophile world that this grouping and separation has created a massive riff in the audio circle. Audiophile has become synonymous with “audio snob” or snake oil, an individual who puts their audio system over the actual music. To quote Alan Parsons, “Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to your music, audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.” I like to consider these individuals as “Gearphiles”, it’s not just about the performance of the product to them but perhaps the brand name association and wow factor. Sometimes it’s both, loving the music, but also loving the gear that reproduces it or what it can do to the sound. 

     Audiophiles are so much more and have such a rich history to be defined just to those select few with exorbitant budgets that walk a tightrope of diminishing returns. They are on the extreme end of the spectrum. The contributions made by brilliant minds paved the road to even simple audio features and equipment used to this day. Names like Arnold Nudell, Nelson Pass, Paul Klipsch, Bob Carver, all made significant contributions to the passion turned to profession that is audio. They loved music and the science behind the accurate reproduction of it, and they made some of the most iconic equipment revered for years for the quality of sound they brought to systems everywhere. There are still dedicated engineers that share the same passion building this generation’s iconic equipment and pushing the boundaries of audio technology. Much like the ever advancing graphics push for realism, the audio world toils for the same goal. 

Nelson Pass sitting in his workshop

     We all start somewhere, usually small. With all hobbies, there are levels to them and groups of differing opinion. Car enthusiasts can range from the show goer to the hot rod builder to the Lamborghini owner. It all comes down to budget, skill set and knowledge. A budget can be built or saved, but skill set comes from practice and knowledge comes from the community. The audiophile hobby is best when shared, helping to usher in the next generation of enthusiasts, and this requires acceptance. Not everyone can afford the best and most expensive, and some will pay extra for aesthetic flair. Some are a mix of gearphile and audiophile, and that’s ok too. If we were all the same, how boring would the world be? Remember to appreciate the music and the purpose, don’t get lost listening to the equipment, and help the next generation of audiophiles learn, even if they don’t know they are one yet.