Are you too old to be an audiophile?

Not meaning to divert from main topic here but an observation of mine: I'm sixty-ish and find it interesting when listening to music that anytime I pull the edges/lobes of my ears outward a bit my audible perception of high frequency sound improves. My unscientific explanation for this is that by pulling my ears outward I'm increasing the surface area of my ear that catches the sound waves. Interesting though that no improvement is heard in low frequencies from doing this. Note: this is with my ears well irrigated from wax. Opinions welcome scientific or otherwise.

1. Hearing merely begins at the ears. It is a brain process. The sustained interest older audiophiles have devoted to the hobby results in knowledge and expertise that ENHANCES the brain process of hearing. This fact more than makes up for older listeners' diminished frequency perception. I suspect this is what Elizabeth was alluding to when she said that there's an important difference between hearing and listening.

2. Perhaps older audiophiles would be at a significant disadvantage if technical listening were reducible to hearing frequency response. Thankfully, it is not. In addition to hearing frequency response, there is also hearing transient response, harmonic accuracy, resolution, soundstaging, PRaT, dynamics, coherence, etc.. Diminished high frequency perception might have some effect on the perception of each of those characteristics, but NONE of them is reducible to frequency response.

3. In addition to the TECHNICAL characteristics just mentioned, the appreciation of music is most importantly a matter of listening to its AESTHETIC characteristics: its beauty, emotion, interpretation, authenticity, imagery, etc.. The appreciation of those aesthetic characteristics is largely learned through experience. That would give older listeners another potential advantage over younger ones.

IMO, frequency response is one of the most over-valued characteristics among a particular segment of audiophiles. Likewise for frequency perception.

Bryon

could some one define audiophile ?

does it mean equipment obsession, sound quality obsession, or a love of music ?

if any of the above connotes being an audiophile, such a state is independent of age.

it's all a matter of interests.

being old does not mean abandoning hobbies.

in fact i think more audiophiles are over 40 than under 40.

and i bet more audiophiles are over 60 than under 30.

i think being an audiophile is more likely an older person's pursuit than a younger person's interest.

could some one define audiophile ?

I'll give it a go from my own perspective. Someone who is interested in enhancing their enjoyment of reproduced music by optimizing the chain of devices and related variables that have an effect on how that music occurs to them.

Hope not. I'll keep trying to be one at 56.