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Are you too old to be an audiophile?

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be offensive in anyway, just something I've always been curious about and thought it would make for some interesting responses.

One of the things about audiophiles I've always wondered is how they reconcile their age, and the scientific fact that their hearing isn't what it used to be, with their belief they can can hear all the nuances of high end gear, and even the cables. As we age we lose our ability to hear mainly in the higher frequencies. You know that high pitched sound older CRT televisions and some recessed lighting can make? No? Neither do my parents.
Thoughts?
farjamed
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,152 posts
 
The equipment is a menas to an end...that end being MUSIC. Music is all that matters.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Fortunately, the music lives in the midrange. Excellent midrange acuity extends until death, a throw back to the hunter/gatherer days. As far as the loss of high freqency acuity goes, it has been shown that older listeners accomodate to the diminished high freqencies as a reference.

Additionally, if you look at most music on a scope, you will see that there is very little of musical value in the top octave. Oh yes, there is "sheen" and "air" but not really tone. This is really a non-ussue.
gma44
1 posts
 
I'm 66 and there are times I miss what someone says if they're speaking softly but at the same time I can hear the differences between pc, ic easily. Perhaps we loose something in regards to volume but not in definition, tonal accuracy .
ahendler
416 posts
 
I will be 70 and can't hear above 14k. But there is notmuch info above 14k anyway. I can still hear a lot of differences my younger friends cannot. Maybe I have learned in all these years how to listen
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Audiophile and the quality of LISTENING does not depend entirely on the flat frequency response from 20hz to 20khz.
Plenty of Golden ears have damaged hearing, and can still hear better than most folks with perfect hearing.
Being an Audiophile does not mean HEARING, it means LISTENING.
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