How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#1

Post by rohin » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 5:43 PM UTC

How much does it cost to be an audiophile?
priceonomics.com

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#2

Post by petrilli » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:03 PM UTC

I would disagree with the initial premise that it's about the pursuit of "perfect sound reproduction". There's many people who do that, but that's not what the audiophile world really has become. It's about a bunch of hand waving and big checkbook spending to impress other audiophiles. Oddly, that describes a lot of "hobbies".

Nobody who feels that a $4,000 power cable is important has any semblance of sanity remaining. It's the homeopathy of consumer electronics.

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#3

Post by rdl » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:06 PM UTC

A $100-500 set of headphones, decent headphone amp ($50-500), and FLAC files will probably get you to "98" on the log scale, too.

(I'm a little wary of buying used headphones, at least without replacing all the soft parts and cleaning thoroughly, though.)

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#4

Post by sixbrx » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:11 PM UTC

Before laying down any money, I'd recommend heading over to hydrogen audio (http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/) and reading around for a while, or asking questions. As part of their terms of service, they require listening test data to back up any claims of audible differences. It makes for some pretty interesting discussions, and it's changed my outlook quite a bit. It's also probably saved me quite a bit of money.

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#5

Post by smacktoward » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:11 PM UTC

Answer: how much have you got?

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#6

Post by TylerE » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:12 PM UTC

rdl wrote: post #3

A $100-500 set of headphones, decent headphone amp ($50-500), and FLAC files will probably get you to "98" on the log scale, too. (I'm a little wary of buying used headphones, at least without replacing all the soft parts and cleaning thoroughly, though.)

I thought that way for a long time too - but ultimately I think the limited/artificial soundstage with headphones has to hold them back a bit, in the realm of merely "very good" rather than "nearly perfect".

My headphone rig objectively sounds better than my speaker rig, but the speakers ultimately sound more natural, even if by objective measurements (e.g. frequency response) they're markedly inferior.

(Neither rig is super high end, not too far above the ~$1000 system at the end of the article, but they are all properly chosen and installed components.)

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#7

Post by dangravell » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:13 PM UTC

The logarithmic scale is the key insight. It would be interesting to ponder whether there are any hobbies that involve buying stuff regularly that don't feature this. I know from experience wine is very similar (and, of course, value can be had if you know what you want to compromise).

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#8

Post by MetalMASK » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:15 PM UTC

Usually priceonomics provides statistics from a large poll of customer/purchase record, .etc. That is information you couldn't gain elsewhere. Somewhat like an analytics publication.

This article is just a description of a shopping experience, together with the research result you have to do before you buy something that is a new category to you.

Oh well.

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#9

Post by jivatmanx » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:16 PM UTC

For Music:

1. USB DAC 2. Magnepan Speakers 3. Stereo Receiver

For movies or games you'll want surround and a sub

Re: How much does it cost to be an audiophile?

#10

Post by jasonwatkinspdx » Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:17 PM UTC

TylerE wrote: post #6

rdl wrote: post #3

A $100-500 set of headphones, decent headphone amp ($50-500), and FLAC files will probably get you to "98" on the log scale, too. (I'm a little wary of buying used headphones, at least without replacing all the soft parts and cleaning thoroughly, though.)

I thought that way for a long time too - but ultimately I think the limited/artificial soundstage with headphones has to hold them back a bit, in the realm of merely "very good" rather than "nearly perfect". My headphone rig objectively sounds better than my speaker rig, but the speakers ultimately sound more natural, even if by objective measurements (e.g. frequency response) they're markedly inferior. (Neither rig…

You can fix the soundstage somewhat using an xfeed filter. It's simplistic, but does help move the soundstage out from inside your head to being perceived more in front. It's pretty easy to set this up for most software sources, sadly not typically supported by hardware players or phones.