What type of Audio Gal or Guy are you? Do You Know?

Some one shoot me now please.....what kind of question is this ? Music comes from birds...surely I'm a dope for spending goofy amounts of money for decades on playback equipment and then at some point becoming dissatisfied and spending more...contentment alludes the insecure....

I'm definitely not a "follow the herd" type, either in music or equipment ... or life. 

Music-wise I'm a metal-head, with side trips in many directions ... acoustic guitar, rock, progressive, ambient, etc. I can go from the heaviest of metal to the polar opposite, like Sade or Pentatonix. Metal has been with me from the beginning because it fits me. I'm a "power" guy ... bodybuilding, long drive golf contests, fast boats, etc. Occasionally I might want to "audiophile out" with some Pink Floyd, but power always draws me back to metal. However, currently I'm on a major Buckethead bender.

I'm a bedroom musician, with pretty decent equipment, who noodles (more before than now) with electric and acoustic guitar. So I have a good idea what those instruments should sound like.

Equipment-wise I'm an objectivist when buying and then forget about it when listening. I use my objectivism as a filtering mechanism on speaker purchases. Not knowing any better, when I started as a budget audiophile in my early twenties I bought whatever I could afford that the magazines or my audiophile friends suggested. Later, as I grew in my career (software engineering) I became more "scientific" about things. I stopped listening to hearsay (about any subject) and started reading. Even now I read. I'm partially through Ethan Winer's The Audio Expert and just received the latest edition of Floyd Toole's book ... mostly to study how I will set up my room (acoustic treatments and layout) in the new house I'll be building. 

I participated in a couple of blind amp tests (where everyone utterly failed) and that shaped my thinking about ignoring electronics (with the usual caveats). And I read all the other blind tests, which had the same results, and listened as my audiophile friend incessantly switched equipment, hearing only a difference between speakers and cartridges, whereas he claimed to hear a difference in everything (but would not risk taking a blind test). So I never got to the point where I spent a lot of money on electronics, cables, interconnects, etc. Speakers, DSP and acoustic treatment are the only things I pay much attention to, although I do have some vintage electronics for decoration and nostalgia. My two-channel system currently runs on a used Paradigm SW amp, for which I paid $290. For a light show I switch to a vintage Pioneer SA-8800, for which I paid $450.  

I'm much more an investor than a consumer, so I'm always looking for maximum value, which has led me into my current audio project - building my own speakers. I'm not into it enough to design my own. Too many other responsibilities for that involved of a learning curve. But I love the idea of taking a design of a designer whose knowledge and objectivity I respect and see what comes of it for minimal cost. I plan for these to become my last speakers.

So why am I even here? Well, since I've bought equipment here I signed up and get a weekly email summary of discussions ... and I read it because I get a kick out of some of the stuff that people focus on. I guess you could call it an interesting study of human nature.

Eureka moment....  discovered late 50's and early 60's Siemens and Halske 6922 Cca grey plate tubes.

I read that the definition of an audiophile is someone who has more money invested in their equipment than in their music. Long ago, I decided not to be that guy. However, this year, after 25 years, I did an equipment upgrade (CD player and speakers).

I was contemplating another DIY speaker project but the cost of the components and materials is roughly the cost of a good pair of used speakers. Instead of another DIY, I bought a pair of Sonus Faber Auditor M’s on Audiogon. I know first hand that there is a lot of satisfaction in DIY projects but I have other things to do.

The good and the bad of great audio gear is that it reveals the quality of the recording. My on-going challenge is to find the great recordings. I suspect others are pursuing and enjoying the same goal.

Buy Stockfisch! for great sound of enjoyable guitar-based folk-style compositions.