Audiophilia Nervosa

Audiophilia Nervosa – A disorder of thinking which causes those afflicted to cease enjoying music because of an obsessive search for audio gear that can produce “the perfect sound”.

Buying expensive audio gear in itself is not an indication of A.N. It is the repeated, frequent upgrading of such gear, that is indicative of A.N.

The key attribute of A.N. is an obsession with the SOUND of a system.

Some will argue that you cannot have music without sound. From a practical perspective, that is a fruitless assertion, like saying that you cannot walk without legs. The point to grasp here is that the MUSIC must never be subordinated to the sound-generating gear that reproduces it. Secondly, over-analysing the sound of a system takes attention away from enjoying the music itself. It's like staring at the individual brush-strokes and pigmentations of paint on a Monet masterpiece, without ever grasping the unity and beauty of the whole painting.

There's an apt metaphor: If you stare long enough, through a microscope, you can see whatever you want to see, even if it's not really there. Psychological bias plays a large role in influencing our perception, and appreciation, of the arts.

Interestingly, the most dedicated music lovers - musicians - are not usually audiophiles. When they hear a recording, they appreciate it in their psyches, not as sound coming from speakers.

The following is excerpted from http://www.stereophile.com/thinkpieces/51/

In 32 Short Films about Glenn Gould, the piano prodigy is maybe eight years old. He sits motionless, head in hands, next to an AM table radio as it blares out a slow, graceful symphony. The sound is just awful, the strings distorted into a whine of white noise. But for the young Mr. Gould, that's quite beside the point. When he lifts his head, he's tearful, distraught, and powerfully moved by the music.

Gould reached through the sound into the music, and then through the music into the composer's soul—and he found something powerful. Sonic fidelity (or lack of it) was incidental. He could have listened to that music through a tin-can telephone.

But you won't hear anyone talk like this in an audio salon, or in the audio mags. Those magazines are not called The Audiophile's Neurons or The Absolute Auditory Cortex or Neurophile. They're mainly about equipment, and they reinforce our habit of externalizing our auditory pleasures. We believe not only that our favorite recordings will sound better with, say, the latest and greatest amplifier, but also that we'll enjoy them more. Why does the promise of a better musical experience always lead us to listen to other components—to glowing tubes on a shiny chassis, or piano-lacquered speakers? We might as well look inward to see if we can better appreciate and understand the music we already hear in our listening rooms.

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Source: http://theaudioforumswebzine.com/?page_id=154

Take this simple test to see if the symptoms are present:

1. I find myself listening for problems in the sound I hear from my system on a regular basis.

2. I bought a component within the last 3 months and am already reading about other similar components, with a sense that I just might upgrade.

3. I bought a component within the last 3 months and am now reading reviews to see what flaws it might have.

4. I looked for reviews of my component, couldn’t find any and am now worried that I made a mistake since nobody else seems to like it.

5. I have been in this hobby for years and just realized that I have spent more time reading about gear than listening to music.

If you answered “True” to any of the above, you probably have Audiophilia Nervosa. If you answered true to all of the above, it’s about time for an intervention.

In the end, the person who feels emotionally pleased by listening to music, no matter how meager the system, is having a happier life than the person who spends his time listening for faults in how that music is being reproduced on a truly nice system.

So just RELAX, don't worry about attaining "perfect" sound, and ENJOY THE MUSIC!