Audiophile Disease

[Mike]

Audiophile Disease do you have it?

It is typified by an obsession with your HiFi, crazy new sounds and above all, having the bass and POWER to make the artists sound great.

[Mike]

It is definitely a split vote!

[John Knight]

It depends on the context. I used to have a seperates system consisting of lovely things like marantz, Nad and Wharfdale and it did sound lovely. However it weighed somewhere in the region of 3 tons. I don't have the time or the space that you need to be a true audiophile. For the true audiophile merely sticking a CD on while they are doing stuff is not enough, Oh no they have to have a dedicated room so they can line their speakers and seat up correctly, they need a good 20 minute warning before actually playing any music to allow the valves in their amps to warm up. They need to stick silly little cones under their kit and put the speakers on spikes not to mention spending £20 a meter on speaker cable. Cd's just won't cut it for your true audiophile oh no.... Cd's are the devils digital. the only tru way to listen to your music is on a analogue recording, so you need eloborately weighted turntables with fancy branded arms, and stylus, and special "clean" power.

WhenI went to university (the first time) I swapped my seperates for a mini system. I have since bought a sony mini system which I have had for 10yrs and its still going strong and still sounds fantastic. What Do I plan for the future, easy a proper media computer with lots of storage to record tv, pictures and sound on, providing me with surround sound via a good quality A/V amp and speakers sitting in a little cupboard under my tv. I plan to rip all my dvd's, to add to my already vast collection of mp3's and hide all the originals in boxes so they are not sat on shelves gathering dust making my house look a mess.

Oh yeah and while I'm walking give me my mp3 player anyday.

[stimpsonslostson]

There's a time and a place for both... but in general I tend to listen to my tunes in the best quality possible.
I pick CD over MP3 and my good stereo over my portable.
The first three or four listens of any album are ALWAYS on my good stereo from the CD to get the best possible experience. Once I'm familiar with the songs then I don't mind trading down to my ipod etc.
GOOD headphones make a MASSIVE difference from rubbish ones! (those ipod ones are dire!)
p

[mr_e]

Beyond a certain level there just isn't a point, as most people won't be able to hear the difference. I'd hate to be at the stage where a tiny bit of interference ruined my entire enjoyment of a song (though it still irks me when I hear string noise on distorted guitars and the sound of the hammers on piano music).

In short, good speaker placement will do most of the work for you.

I'm with Phil on the first listens thing: if you've taken the time to buy an album, it deserves to be heard at maximum quality at least once or twice.

[Mike]

We have more votes but still tied! This is quite an amazing feat in my humble opinion. I like the convenience of ripped mp3 music and 9/10 it will be sufficient for my needs. However, that said I have some very nice speakers and when I am in a really bad mood I will go to the effort to get a CD, pick the tune and then turn it up load (moving one of my chairs into the ultimate position for supurb enjoyment factor. You can't beat it!

The thing is, because I am relatively tone deaf, I like the rich quality of the speakers but would not benefit from spending a fortune on a HI-FI system. I guess it would be rather pointless after a certain level for me.