Do you think audiophiles are the most gullible hobbyists


They seem to fall for anything. I have had other hobbies before and people seem to be more sensible. What is it about Audiophiles that makes them so gullible?

taters
Speaking of Cognac, have you seen the movie Soul Plane? Funny movie with a scene involving Cognac and a blind man.
If you think audiophiles are gullible here’s a news flash. These hobbys make audiophiles look like a upper management meeting of the Skeptics Society.

DUCT TAPE ART

EXTREME IRONING

FORK BENDING

FINGERNAIL AND/OR TOENAIL COLLECTION

CONDOM COLLECTION

BEDHEAD DOCUMENTATION

CRAYON CARVING

EATING INANIMATE OBJECTS


It depends. If everyone has had a true audio logic hearing test and demonstrated perfect (human) hearing profiles and is under 30 years of age, then perhaps there is justification for spending thousands of dollars on cables, capacitors, power cords, etc. OTOH, if one has spent hours in rock concerts, and constantly wearing in-ear headphones, and is over 50, then it becomes pretty speculative as to whether there is placebo value or actual perception going on. I'm personally happy with my placebo audio improvements. The system sounds great!!

Wow, here is an emotionally charged issue!  Still, I will wade in.  Audiophiles are music aficionados, and chase an elusive quest . . . to be able to put music on and feel as if the band (or orchestra) is right in front of you.  The fact of the matter is that that elusive goal is not only a function of the equipment, but also the room acoustics, the listener's position in the room and the listener's hearing.  So there are uncontrollable variables that are different for every situation.  A high end system will usually sound great compared to a "lower end" system, but one "high end" system might sound much better to one person in one listening room than it would sound in another.  The source material is also a factor.  One extremely well-recorded piece might sound amazing on a "high end" system, while most recordings -- which are not so great -- sound like crap because the defects in the source are more boldly displayed.  I listen to a lot of old jazz and classic rock. With few exceptions, like Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here, many of those albums were poorly recorded and a high end system painfully displays that.

The other significant issue, and one that many fall prey to, is the subjectivity of the system synergy between components and cabling and maybe even power.

Finally, when someone says that he or she is "blown away" by a new interconnect, speaker cable or even component, that probably means that the listener can hear an audible difference.  Speaking from personal experience, I believe that speaker cables make a difference.  I like some better than others in my system.  Have I been "blown away?"  No. I switched power amps when I had to get my 2 channel amp serviced.  There was definitely a difference in soundstage when I switched.

Are audiophiles therefore gullible for chasing that difference?  Probably not.  However, is that difference worth $10,000 more, $20,000 more or $50,000?  I guess that depends on how much money you have to blow and what you listen to.  I am comfortable shelling out $2k for a 2 channel preamp, but is a $5K preamp that much better?  When I have more disposable income, I am more willing to chase minor improvements.  So its more a question of willingness to blow money to chase those marginal improvements than gullibility.  

That all being said, its impossible to rely on one audiophile's opinion versus another.  The true test of whether something is worth shelling out the cash for is how it sounds in your system to YOUR ears.  That concludes this rant . . . :)

One responder mentioned "Snake Oil" long ago in the old west there was this item sold and people bought it because it worked! It was mineral water and hot pepper extract it helped as a pain killer just as hot peppers do today, the only thing false was the name, there was no snake related product in it. Because of the deceptive advertising it acquired the bad name.
Trust your own ears, does the audio product sound better... or just different?
In terms of very popular long standing audio products, millions of audiophiles couldn't be wrong.