An Audiophile in Exile

An audiophile is an individual who loves recorded sound. Not just any recorded sound. Recorded sound that doesn't sound recorded. Sound so clean, so perfect, that you could close your eyes and think you were right there with an orchestra or a rock band in the room with you. Sound so perfect that you can tell where the violins are sitting. Or where Keith Richards is standing on stage.

And how does one obtain this perfection? Through time spent searching for the perfect mixture of components just the right speakers, the right tuner, the right amplifier, the right turn-table, CD player, or tape player. That search requires money, patience, and good ears.

Good ears, you say? Yup. Because, believe it or not, some people cant hear the difference. Or they dont care. They dont care if the piccolos are just a bit to the right . And they dont care that Mick had a sore throat that day. They cant tell, and they dont care. But for those who care, a bad sound system is torture.

Never make the mistake that money makes the system. Its a gentle, balancing act between the right components. With each change, making things just a little better. A little cleaner. A little brighter. Youll find yourself in rooms where people talk about solid state and tubes, analog and digital, woofers and tweeters, sharp, muddy, tinny, washed-out, clear and grainy. At times, you wont know what anyone is saying.

I could close my eyes and hear the violins. I could see the conductor holding the drums back for just an instant longer. I could hear the single plucking of a guitar sting, the gravel in Eric Claptons voice
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from too many cigarettes. I could hear every note, every breath, every hesitation, every smile and every tear. I was right there at the concert, in the booth at the recording studio, on the stage.

And then, I lost my fix.

See, I had met this man. He was the audiophile. I got hooked. I could hear it all. There are actually trade shows for people with this penchant for recorded audio. He would take me to them. Wed sit in a room, Id listen for about three minutes, whisper to him the weaknesses of the system, and wed leave; very rarely would he ask the company being represented for a brochure. We did that through twenty floors of a Newport Beach hotel one day.

But I left him, so I had to for financial reasons turn my back on tubes and analog, solid state and digital. Then, I decided to put my resources into having children, so that clinched the question of my return to the world of amps, preamps, and woofers.

Now, when I look at my three beautiful children, my choice brings me joy. When I listen to a CD, I ignore the little and glaring imperfections of the system I use pretty much just a collection that my husband and I put together. But when I close my eyes, I pretend. I pretend that I have an ear

infection and am sitting right in front of the stage. That I went swimming that morning and the water is making the music sound muddy.

You know, it doesnt work. I miss the music, the sounds. I know I made the right choice a wonderful husband and three children, rather than a man who put all of his interests above my needs. I do miss it, though. Maybe hell leave it all to me in his will. Until then, I can pretend.

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