"It's just a hobby." Anyone said that to you lately? I last heard this audio chestnut at Lyric HiFi in New York. My visit quickly became an audio bull session as the friendly salesman talked about underwhelming amplifiers, horn speakers and his life philosophy ("You can either have a great stereo at home or great sex. Guess which one I picked.") After an hour or so we had worked our way into the highest-end of their chambers, where exotica such as the Burmester preamp and Darth Vader's own Goldmund Reference table gave off 'look but don't touch' vibes. Standing between four Genesis 1.1 speaker towers, and flanked by Levinson amps as big as premium tombstones, the salesman concluded our conversation with that immortal line - it's just a hobby.
In spite of this, everyone, even audiophiles, knows instinctively – the evidence is everywhere – that people like to feel connected, especially to other people.
Sure. And some of you readers are no doubt well-adjusted people whose systems don't cost more than $10,000 retail, who don't subscribe to three or four audio publications, and who would rather pitch a few backyard balls to your freckled nephew than conduct a "mid-price" power cord shootout (you know, the stuff under $300). Congratulations sanesters, I admire you.
The audio game is often taken a bit farther, however, and it's then that I start to question its status as a "hobby". Of course, any hobby can be taken to an extreme: birdwatchers may spend thousands on Aleutian travel to spot the whiskered auklet, and flyfisherpersons may obsess about which reel is milled from the shiniest aluminum and has the smoothest drag disc. Surely even quilters have their equivalent of the Rockport turntable, no doubt some megabuck Swiss machine that can be programmed to sign your name in a John Hancock font. But the thing about these regular hobbies is that they can be comfortably expressed as actions: birding, fishing, quilting. Those hobbies make you do something, like getting out into nature, or getting closer to some other person. If you think you can't get closer to someone with a quilt, try giving your mom a handmade queensize!
The audio game is often taken a bit farther, however, and it's then that I start to question its status as a "hobby". Of course, any hobby can be taken to an extreme: birdwatchers may spend thousands on Aleutian travel to spot the whiskered auklet, and flyfisherpersons may obsess about which reel is milled from the shiniest aluminum and has the smoothest drag disc. Surely even quilters have their equivalent of the Rockport turntable, no doubt some megabuck Swiss machine that can be programmed to sign your name in a John Hancock font. But the thing about these regular hobbies is that they can be comfortably expressed as actions: birding, fishing, quilting. Those hobbies make you do something, like getting out into nature, or getting closer to some other person. If you think you can't get closer to someone with a quilt, try giving your mom a handmade queensize!
The audio game is often taken a bit farther, however, and it's then that I start to question its status as a "hobby". Of course, any hobby can be taken to an extreme: birdwatchers may spend thousands on Aleutian travel to spot the whiskered auklet, and flyfisherpersons may obsess about which reel is milled from the shiniest aluminum and has the smoothest drag disc. Surely even quilters have their equivalent of the Rockport turntable, no doubt some megabuck Swiss machine that can be programmed to sign your name in a John Hancock font. But the thing about these regular hobbies is that they can be comfortably expressed as actions: birding, fishing, quilting. Those hobbies make you do something, like getting out into nature, or getting closer to some other person. If you think you can't get closer to someone with a quilt, try giving your mom a handmade queensize!
The audio game is often taken a bit farther, however, and it's then that I start to question its status as a "hobby". Of course, any hobby can be taken to an extreme: birdwatchers may spend thousands on Aleutian travel to spot the whiskered auklet, and flyfisherpersons may obsess about which reel is milled from the shiniest aluminum and has the smoothest drag disc. Surely even quilters have their equivalent of the Rockport turntable, no doubt some megabuck Swiss machine that can be programmed to sign your name in a John Hancock font. But the thing about these regular hobbies is that they can be comfortably expressed as actions: birding, fishing, quilting. Those hobbies make you do something, like getting out into nature, or getting closer to some other person. If you think you can't get closer to someone with a quilt, try giving your mom a handmade queensize!