October 2, 2025 is the 10th annual World Audiophile Day, and it makes me think about the whole audiophile “thing.” Mostly because, as anyone who participates in any kind of audio forum or reads audio publications knows, audiophiles, like Rodney Dangerfield, get no respect. Case in point: Google “World Audiophile Day” and you’ll find…almost nothing.
We’re derided as obsessive neurotics; as fools whose money we are gullibly parted from when we are cajoled into buying the latest “snake oil” tweak; as deluded suckers who fool ourselves into thinking we’re hearing sonic differences that can’t exist, and as sad individuals who endlessly tweak our systems rather than listen to and enjoy the music. Well, sometimes we’re guilty as charged, but I’m here to declare that these are mostly tired old stereotypes (pun intended) from tired old men posting on forums and social media who, for whatever reason, take pleasure in trying to knock some of us down.
Well sorry, fellas, it ain’t working. At least not in my case. I’m tired of the negativity that audiophiles have had to endure, and I’m going to counter with some opinions of my own.
First of all, the negativity completely misses the point. Merriam-Webster defines “audiophile” as “a person who is enthusiastic about sound reproduction.” That’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it? It’s the reason most of us got into this – to hear the music we love reproduced to sound the best it possibly can.
What could be more idealistic and rewarding to the soul? When our audio systems are immersing us in the music that has deep meaning to our lives, or just rocking us out to the Ramones or the James Gang or Wet Leg, it’s a blissful feeling, an emotional connection, an antidote to a stressful world.
Why shouldn’t we obsess over it, pursue excellence (within our budgets; Frank Zappa once said that his dreams were limited by the size of his bank account), pore over magazines and reviews, look forward to listening sessions by ourselves and with friends, go to shows, and indulge ourselves, even overindulge in the hobby? No one I know makes fun of people into birdwatching or motorcycle riding or scrapbooking, yet audiophiles are subjects of derision. Well, the way I see it, for people who look down on us and the audiophile hobby, it’s their loss.
I’ve had my fill of “experts” on forums. You know, the ones who say cables can’t possibly make a difference and scorn or even savage those who dare to opine that they do, or declare that a speaker is worthless crap because it shows a frequency response irregularity, or snicker that we like listening to tube amps because of their "inaccurate" second-harmonic-distortion colorations.
I have no problem with people who think these things are true. I respect everyone's right to have an opinion. But when people get rude and nasty and condescending about it, that’s not cool by me. When I see someone on a forum using their self-proclaimed status as an "expert" to bludgeon someone to the effect of, "I use science, so I’m an authority, and you're not, and you don't know what you're talking about," this is not someone I'd want to have a beer with.
Whenever I read a post from someone deriding a product, my first thought is, have you heard it? Often, it’s obvious that they haven’t. So who’s the one speaking from a position of ignorance?
I have little patience with those who discount the observations of “subjectivist” audiophiles. Their attitude of you haven’t measured it, so you can’t prove it and your observations are invalid, gets tiresome. Are you telling me that an entire industry of audio manufacturers and hello, audiophiles, are deluding themselves? I don’t think so.
I don’t want to pull rank – OK, I will for a moment – I and a good portion of my peers in the business have heard thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of components and speakers and systems and recordings. We know what good sound is. Am I going to take umbrage at some random internet guy who tells me I don’t know what I’m talking about, when I’ve undoubtedly heard hundreds more components than they have? Well it depends on how rude they are but mostly I’m just going to shake it off. And for those who dismiss "subjective" observations as useless, well, I don’t need a spectrophotometer to tell me the sky is blue.
What is it about cables that particularly arouses the ire of those who dismiss the idea that there can be no differences between them? They say never discuss sex, politics, or religion. When it comes to audio forum discussions, maybe you can add cables to the list.
Look, I know expectation bias and the placebo effect are real. On the other hand, what is so hard about acknowledging that, yes, there can be sonic differences between cables? There are measurable properties of inductance, capacitance, and resistance, as well as the effects of shielding in blocking unwanted noise from entering your system. (I am leaving out some of the more esoteric and perhaps controversial aspects of cable design.) Also, speaker cables can’t be considered just by themselves – they’re part of a system comprised of amplifier, cable, and speaker, with many complex factors and interactions in play.
No one disputes that loudspeakers sound different from one another, and there are measurable and design differences that show us why. And if some individuals prefer a speaker that doesn’t do something as well as another, so what? Someone who loves Quads or Magnepans may not want to hear a box speaker. They have valid reasons. But read posts about loudspeakers, and it can get into headache territory quickly. Can’t we all just get along?
But even if there weren’t any sonic differences between comparable cables, or amps, or whatever – so what? Maybe we simply like the way an amplifier or speaker looks. Maybe we have confidence in or loyalty to a brand. I know McIntosh owners for whom nothing else will do. They enjoy their systems greatly. Pride of ownership is real, and why not?
And even if some of us are deluding ourselves and maybe completely clueless about audio technology, so what, if we enjoy listening to our systems?
Analog, digital, tubes, solid-state...enjoy what you like.
If the average person doesn’t understand what being an audiophile is all about, that’s OK by me. It doesn’t affect the enjoyment I and my friends get when we sit down and listen. In fact, audiophiles can take it as a challenge. Invite your non-audiophile friends for a listen. Show them what it really means to be an audiophile. It’s fun to see people being dazzled by hearing a good system for the first time.
Audiophiles are not freaks, or losers, or whatever negative stereotypes the naysayers want to characterize us by. We’re lucky.
We’re in the know. Be proud of it. Maybe we should be envied, not derided. We’re turned onto something very special; at its best, literally magical. I like Oxford Languages’ definition of magical: “beautiful or delightful in such a way as to seem removed from everyday life.”
Sure, for most people, high-end audio and the ability to enjoy music at an extraordinarily high level of sonic beauty and emotional involvement is not part of their lives. But for us audiophiles, it is.
And we can enjoy the magic whenever we want.
Images courtesy of Tom Gibbs.
