In the Alex Garland film, Civil War, Jesse Plemons’ character asks, with bloody hands and calm, naked menace, “What kind of American are you?” We pose a similar question to you, though without any implicit threat: “What kind of audiophile are you?”
A Taxonomy of Audiophiles
“These signs have marked me extraordinary,
Henry IV Act 3 scene 1, William Shakespeare
And all the courses of my life do show
I am not in the roll of common men.”
We audiophiles share several traits and inclinations that distinguish us from the rest of humanity. The first is our passion for reproducing music and sound with high quality and fidelity. Another is our committed engagement with high-end audio equipment, the means of audio reproduction. We are prepared to spend time, effort, and yes, money too, in pursuit of our passion. We are also prepared, to varying extents, to accommodate our homes to our hobby, including negotiating with the “Minister of Home Affairs” to secure the necessary planning permissions.
However, even within such a small and particular community, there are subspecies. I would like to offer for your consideration the following audiophile taxonomy.
The Sound-First Audiophile
This subspecies is focused on sound. We all acknowledge that music is sound, and high quality sound is the servant of music. The sound-first audiophile considers that ultimate musical enjoyment depends on the ultimate sound quality. Therefore, their path is a constant quest for the very highest quality of sound reproduction obtainable within their means and prevailing constraints.
The Music-First Audiophile
The music-first audiophile focuses on the music and his enjoyment of it. Like all audiophiles he demands excellent sound, will not settle for anything less. However, he considers that once an acceptably high level of audio fidelity has been attained, further improvement in sound quality, while definitely perceptible and attractive, isn’t necessary. For him, it doesn’t further enhance the emotional, psychic, and intellectual value of his music listening experience.
The Tech-First Audiophile
Like the other subspecies, these folk love music and high quality sound, and demand that their systems deliver them. Where they differ from the others is that they use this love to motivate and give direction to their true passion, the technology of high quality sound reproduction. They pore over the arcane details of audio technology, and think nothing of whipping out the soldering iron to modify their audio equipment, and build components of their own design.
The Impresario
The impresario revels in the sonic spectacular that a superb audio system can produce. He delights himself and fascinates his guests with the delicacy, subtlety, realism and awe-inspiring power and authority of his system. He admires its Tardis-like abilities to transport him across space and time to any performance he desires, and to generate a virtual acoustic space much larger than the physical space he occupies.
(Those of you unfamiliar with the Tardis, please consult Dr. Who (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS).)
Okay, But What Does All This Mean?
The first question is whether or not you buy into this characterisation. Are these distinctions real? Are they the correct ones? Are there other sub-species, or inter-specific hybrids?
Then there’s the larger question: assuming this is valid, what does it mean, does it matter? At the very least it provides a framework within which we can better understand our own interests and preferences. This understanding can give direction to our audiophile journey, helping us avoid pathways that don’t address our deeper desires. The taxonomy can also give us new, valid, perspectives on our shared hobby, that we may not have previously considered. Finally, it can allow us to better understand fellow travellers on the audiophile journey who see the world somewhat differently from the way we do.
So, what’s your view? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below?
© Serious Music Ltd., 2024. All rights reserved
So … what do you think? Are you:
(a) A sound-first audiophile
(b) A music-first audiophile
(c) A tech-first audiophile
(d) An impresario
(e) A hybrid, something else (say what that is)
Definitely a hybrid. A bit of “all of the above”, with any tendency becoming dominant depending on mood and circumstances. I often get lulled into music-first mode when everything is just right, and oscillate between that and impresario until either a new equipment or room discovery upends that sense of smug satisfaction or someone points out that I’ve missed something. This then drives either a sound-first purchase OR a tech-first action, often leading to an extended period of hyper critical listening and adjustment. Then the cycle begins again.
A recent example of this was my introduction to the Mutec MC3 clock/re-clocker, a truly brilliant device that has an audible effect that is as outrageous as it is improbable. The introduction of the device was the slip into sound-first mode. But. And there is always, always a but. While I would have (and indeed did) described the effect of the Mutec in my already deeply tweaked and modified system as rendering the soundstage like an exploded diagram instead of a slightly fuzzy photo (it really is that revelatory), it sounded a bit relentless, with an etched character. A character that I have after years of trying to eliminate it been able to narrow down to less than perfectly smooth power supplies in gear in the digital domain. Any power supply ripple or noise in that domain will bleed into the reproduced sound in subtle and unpleasant ways. This shifted me into tech-first mode.
After a fair bit of online sleuthing and looking up the specs of the Meanwell switching supply built into the Mutec, We (my Electrical Engineer best friend and fellow deranged extreme audiophile) removed the Meanwell and modded the Mutec for an external Linear power supply. The difference was astonishing – the Mutec was now my favourite thing in the world. Months of power supply games ensued, and I have ended up with quite a collection of LPS units powering just about everything in my setup that can use one. I am currently running 4, including a couple on my fibre media converters that provide galvanic isolation for my streamer being fed by wired Cat 5 ethernet.
IRRITABLE ASIDE COMING
And before the great hordes of know-it-alls parrot that bits are bits and data is either intact or lost while in the Network Domain… do remember that there is a common electrical ground in the AC supply… and a transformer isolation in the ethernet devices that can still pass noise. (And yes I’m an IT professional in my day job so yes I do actually know what I’m talking about).
I am briefly back in music-first mode, not for long because I’m about to reconfigure (in a significant redesign) my custom subwoofers from stacked ripoles to simple H frames. This is a massively tech-first endeavour, so the whiplash between states will continue…