Canuck Audio Mart

The last thread on hobbies other than stereo got me thinking: are music and hi-fi separate hobbies for me? Now, obviously they go together - no music, no point in hi-fi. But does my stereo exist in order for me to play records or is it the other way around? IOW, which is more important to me?
I've had friends who had 2 or 3 times as many records as I have (currently around 1500) but their systems were pretty antiquated and inefective at conveying the soul of the music. Just to be clear, these weren't guys who went out of their ways to collect vintage gear; they were just plain cheap when it came to hi-fi and hadn't upgraed in a couple of decades. Other guys seem to swap gear on a near-daily basis, though they tend to spendlots on records as well. Maybe it comes down to a "sound" versus "music" priority?
QUESTION: in your case, is equipemtn more important, music more important, or are they dead equal in your case?

For me it vaires and swings back and forth from time to time. I had a loit of catching up to do equipmentwise so now that I am pretty satisfied with my system I am on a music buying binge.

I think you can be a music lover but certainly not an audiophile. My ex father in law was this. Same sansui piece and no name speakers for the last 30 years but always has music playing even if it is at background levels. There are also many that have crazy gear and 10 records.

Hard call..I think
You need good equipment to enjoy the music but you also need music to enjoy your system.
I can't (won't) listen to the same album (or cd) over and over so I collect cd and albums. I can't stay with one "type" of music so my collection has grown over the years to include Blues, Jazz, rock,some C&W (mostly alternative) ect If I like it I buy it
but my system has morphed over time also and is far from what I started with.
I was told at my entry into this hobby that the most expensive part of the experience would be the albums (CD'S) I purchased. I still think this is true but numbers are WAY higher than I would ever have imagined for either equipment or music. ( more than I made in a year back then)
So is it the chicken or the egg??????????????

Well this is the question in a nutshell. my musical tastes are all over the map and my system has changed, often dramatically. Some days, it's the music, some days the sound. Don't want to be stuck in either camp, I guess. I mean, what's more obsessive: constant tube-rolling on your pre-amp or having 5 different copies of Santana Abraxas or DSOTM with two audiophile pressings of each because you love those damn LP's soooooooo much?

I would not associate quantity of albums with being a music lover - maybe you're just more picky about the artists you want in your home but you want the artists you do like to sound great. As cool as it is to own 10,000CDs the chance the owner will listen to all of them again is likely very remote. In other words very likely 8,500 of them are dust collectors.

I was a music lover long before i became interested in audiophile I grew up in the late sixties, early seventies Back then you could buy 9 or 10 good albums a month Nowadays you are lucky to find 9 or 10 good songs every 6 months

You can certainly be a biggest music lover without being an audiophile (people who are critical about the sound). But you cannot be an audiophile without loving music. That 's why most audiophile have large collection of music. It is hard to imagine someone spends big money to have a great system but only owns a few Cds or LPs. But there are people like that, for sure.

I know someone who bought a very expensive system but used mostly for .... karaoke.

If I go back to the very beginning, in comes the music, then the equipment to appreciate it.

So, music 1st, then audio. But sometimes I'm just a collector - I do have more than I listen to, or need to listen to.

Here, here. Which is why I just sold off a bunch of LP's that I simply didn't listen to. Not that my records collection came remotely cloe to 10,000, more like 2,000, but I still had little interest in probably 500 or so albums that I had amassed. Therefore they went cheap, but I held back the ones that I considred collectable and will sell them on CAM (read: BLATANT PLUG). Say toon'ed!

Hi, my name is Nuck, and I am a gearhead.


Hiiiiiii Nuuuuck