Quote Originally Posted by bturk667
I guess that depends on YOUR definition of an audiophile. As an audiophile I'll give you mine, the easy version.

A person who assembles a system in hopes that it can reproduce recorded music in as high a fidelity as possible. What is high fidelity? Well, that varies from person to person.


Now, why don't you give me your definition. This way I can better understand why you think my statement is a contradiction. Because I am not contradicting my definition of what I believe an audiophile is. Yes, my system is completely musically satisfying to me!!!
I think it's a good definition. Mine is a little different and my own journey to audiophilia is a bit of a contradiction. I strive to reproduce the experience of live music as closely as possible. I don't use fidelity specifically for the reason you mentioned - that it varies, and also because I have no real way of knowing if my system or software is high fidelity. Measurements are a good start but if I used equipment that simply measured well, I'd have a less than satisfactory musical experience. I've tried it and it sucks!

My definition is a contradiction because I got into higher performance gear as a means of presenting my huge and ever growing collection of software in its best possible light. I've been a collector of LP's since 1971 and CD's since 1989. It's an obsessive pleasure and I've always gotten a much bigger rush out of scoring a mass of original Blue Note LP's or a couple of CD's that replaced out of print LP's I couldn't find than the rush I got from even my speakers, the piece of gear that I cherish most. But my system does serve the music and I'm closer to the live experience than I ever dreamed possible - and closer than many people would believe at all! Anyway, music software is recorded music, not live, so I have to reconcile the two by attempting to make my music software sound live. Confusing?

All apologies to the original poster who is trying to justify the expense he's made on new gear but I have to say this: Yes, the music sounds better now than it did on my cheapo gear that I replaced in the mid-1980's. But do I enjoy it more? Overall, I don't think so. Maybe at certain times but I've always enjoyed music more than anything in the world. OTOH, I wonder how I'd feel if I had to go back to that Sony rack system....