The Future of Audiophilia

Interesting piece.

TL;DR: Stop acting like it’s still 1955 and you’re some kind of genius outlier. Be an adult.

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:roll_eyes: Having worked with professional AV folks in my last two houses, I can tell you this dude is sweeping under the rug a lot of mess and compromises, not to mention maintenance nightmares when you need to get to the back of that rack in the closet. No thanks.

Overly focused on a neat home, for sure. As for racks in closets, I can think of two of my friends who have done this, and both have their racks on wheels, and both closets are big enough you can walk around to the back of the rack if necessary. They know each other, so there could be some cross-influence there.

But for most of us, racks themselves are overkill. You can put a great set of components together in a small space these days.

I guess part of the difference is between large US suburban homes outside the coasts, with plenty of space and relatively low cost construction, vs homes/apartments in major dense urban areas in the US, Europe, or (to my limited experience) Asia, where space, costs, or even the availability of renovation contractors are at a high premium. Around here (SF Bay Area) it pretty much does not matter how much you are willing to spend, qualified construction crews are pretty much impossible to find except for very major projects. Surely not for a mere audio closet.

Well, I’m here too (SF Bay Area) as are the two friends I mentioned.

I must admit I started reading then realised it’s aimed at exactly the market he is decrying as the only remaining audiophile market. Sad middle aged men with too much time, money and space.

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I suppose it depends on which music you play :rofl:

Interesting article, but who is reading it? It’s not just audiophilia that is dying, almost any cultural artefact is dying. The death of bookshops, classics (Latin/Greek), visits to museums, listening to live musicians, poetry, architecture as a design for life, the list goes on. We live in times where culture is only useful if easily consumed. And the more easily consumed, the less sophistication, the less depth. It’s only the mad obsessive that bring new innovation, the freaks, the weirdos, the passionate, the devoted. We, the masses, simply consume their outputs, we mock them for being sad and alone. We mock the person spending 10,000 on a turntable, 20,000 on speakers and make crass excuses that the cheap 5.1 system or the rubbish ear pods are just as good.

I celebrate those that are different, considered weird - so what if sometimes they’re sad, like as if we aren’t all sad sometimes.

I’m not being proud, I’m part of this society too. But this note is to celebrate the passionate who spend their time obsessing, whether it’s about poetry, or Latin, or engines, or boats or high end audiophile gear or whatever makes them feel more satisfaction, alone or with friends. Hell no one gets out of here alive. So, obsess my friends! And obsess over Roon! :slight_smile:

Damn, rant over hehe
H

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Good rant!