r u a HI-FI ENTHUSIAST ???

No way! Give me the mangled cheap-o tape recorder sound any day!

Most certainly not. I've got *separates*, but they're pretty basic ones. I really can't be arsed with all the effort and attention to detail all that requires. I think when you spend too much time worrying about the hardware, you've lost the music somewhere.

Must admit though, I got a rather good Marantz CD player for my 21st birthday (8 years ago) and hardly a single CD has ever jumped.

I know people like this - they listen to sound, not music. I remember when for those folks, Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms was the MOST IMPORTANT RECORD IN THE WORLD EVER because - ooooooooh! - it was recorded *digitally* !

It's funny how all those hi-fi enthusiasts seem to listen to complete and utter shite. The kind of lengths they go to to get the right speaker cable -- if you're listening to the right music, you really don't need to fuck about like that.

Ooh, I'm making some terrible generalisations here, aren't I?

Oi! Racer! How did you get hold of Mark E Smith's unpublished lyrics book? "Hi-Fi Enthusiast" - rejected B-Side to "Livin' Too Late"

Fall trainspotter's alert! Run for the hills!

I used to have a receiver that came with multi-band EQ, a bunch of fantastic surround settings, and zillions of other controls. In the end, though, I dumped it because I'm not interested in all of that. My new setup is basic: amp has volume, balance, bass and treble, and I rarely change any of that. Doesn't even matter, really, because the way my room is set up, both of my speakers are on the left side of the room when I'm facing my computer to work, so none of that really matters too much anyhow. Hell, since I walk to work so much, I listen to most of my music in MP3 form on my jukebox and except for obvious compression errors, I don't find the sound overly lacking most of the time. Music engages me emotionally, generally not from a production standpoint.

Music is sound. If you want it to sound good really loud, which is the way lot of music sounds best, then you need a decent set-up. You can still get the basic idea of Jaws on a 11-inch black and white TV, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't enjoy it more in a good theater. Am I right or am I right?

That Brothers In Arms comment was so right-on, though. The perfect way to explain that album.

I came through a 2-year bout of audiophilia nervosa and survived to tell the tale.

You should read the audio newsgroups some time, Geordie - it's hilarious. Do a search on 'Peter Belt' or 'cable burn-in'. The heat that comes off these discussions (chiefly because, for every drooling true-believer, there's a hardline 'objectivist' who knows full-well no-one's ever been able to choose between a SonicBehemoth ReMortgage2000 interconnect and yr fiver-at-Tandy equivalent in a double-blind test) would warp a shelf of 180g virgin vinyl.

It is possible to strike a balance between a hi-fi interest and a voracious appetite for (new) music, but I've certainly seen folks *stop* buying records altogether and just listen to a handful over and over, straining for those 'inner details' and 'microdynamics' that only an overpriced quartet of carbon-fibre supports placed under their pre-amp can reveal. I lost it for a while back in '96-'97 over a Musical Fidelity valve buffer. *shudder*

To generalise to an absurd degree, one can identify at least two groups of audiophiles: the folks whose vast record collections are 98% classical and who strive for 'live in the room' sound - people you imagine would like to *live* in a symphony hall. Don't have a problem with them... most are 45+ and are possibly quite nice. Some might even *not* vote Conservative. Probably spoil their nieces and nephews rotten. Get more excited about a rare von Karajan pressing than a new stylus. Bless 'em.

Then there are the 30somethings who listen only to KlassikRokk. People who've got four different re-issues of "Aqualung", who'll consider investing in DVD-A five-channel only if "Dark Side of the Moon" is available in that format. Who have systematically pared down their record collections over the last few years so they only own 'stuff that's well-mastered'. People who think the problem with the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD is the *compression* (and not the lyrics, the slap-bass, the vocals, the tunes...). I don't like these people. I think they're *rubbish*.

Er, I can't remember what point I was going to make now.

I've actually heard people say that most records should be avoided because they just don't cut it sound quality-wise. Only 24K Gold (or whatever it is those things are called) records deserve to be listened to.

Many records SHOULD be avoided because they don't cut it sound-quality wise. For example (takes deep breath...)

Michael, if you feel fully recovered from your audophilia nervosa, are you able to tell us how much you've spent on hi-fi gear? Valve buffers and all...

I got a nice new load of seperates for my 18th birthday last year (which was convenient, as my old cd player had decided to stop working just before - for some reason it didn't agree with Hunky Dory...) and when we went to get them, the bloke in the shop let me hear the set-up by playing the new Sting record. I think that just about sums this all up.

It doesn't matter at all, if the machine plays the thing it's fine by me. (apart maybe if you have a knackered stylus that literally saws through vinyl, then maybe some investment is required :)

Bill

Johnathan - in a word, no. But, if this spell of unemployment stretches for much longer, I might tell you how much I *got* for it all in Loot.

I have a very mediocre set up. But it works when you want to be bathed in sound.

If you throw a party and all you have is a ghetto blaster for music you can count me out. Standing around a tinny box is a bummer, man.