KR...
Curator of the Headphone Lust Museum
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2001
- Posts
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You can read the rest HERE
Since this has been brought up so many times here, I thought you might want to read this :
Her Fi?
By Nicolas Protonotarios, February 18, 2002
It has been a source of constant puzzlement to me that the audiophile community is probably 99% male (not that I have access to official statistics). In fact, I wonder if the hobby might not qualify as being the most male-dominated in the world.
While this fact is generally accepted by audiophiles, I have never seen any attempt to analyze its implications. Do men hear differently than women? Most of us with significant others have probably noticed that, in fact, women can have more acute hearing than men and can definitely perceive differences in components. However, they can also be as content listening to their favorite CDs on $200 portable players as on $20,000 high-end systems.
Does this mean that men assign a different value to reproduced sound quality than women do? It seems so. I mention "reproduced" because I think it is obvious that women appreciate high-quality live performances as much as men. And of course there are probably as many talented female musicians out there as there are male.
The fact that most women don't appreciate the advantages of a good hi-fi system is a source of conflict in many homes. The problem is, many women don't seem to feel the improved sound quality justifies the assortment of metal boxes (and the mare's nest of cables sprouting out of them) in the domestic environment. Nor do they appreciate the fact that these encroachments usually cannot be cleaned or touched at their convenience. And women sometimes become understandably annoyed if their significant others want to enjoy extended late-night or weekend listening sessions when this is not suitable.
I know I seem to be simply stating the obvious, but I have read articles in our host magazine and in others that have dealt with metaphysical issues of less importance. Perhaps this gender difference should become the subject of a sociological study at some institute of higher learning. Of course, we could always start with a poll on this website, but guess how many women are going to participate!
Since this has been brought up so many times here, I thought you might want to read this :
Her Fi?
By Nicolas Protonotarios, February 18, 2002
It has been a source of constant puzzlement to me that the audiophile community is probably 99% male (not that I have access to official statistics). In fact, I wonder if the hobby might not qualify as being the most male-dominated in the world.
While this fact is generally accepted by audiophiles, I have never seen any attempt to analyze its implications. Do men hear differently than women? Most of us with significant others have probably noticed that, in fact, women can have more acute hearing than men and can definitely perceive differences in components. However, they can also be as content listening to their favorite CDs on $200 portable players as on $20,000 high-end systems.
Does this mean that men assign a different value to reproduced sound quality than women do? It seems so. I mention "reproduced" because I think it is obvious that women appreciate high-quality live performances as much as men. And of course there are probably as many talented female musicians out there as there are male.
The fact that most women don't appreciate the advantages of a good hi-fi system is a source of conflict in many homes. The problem is, many women don't seem to feel the improved sound quality justifies the assortment of metal boxes (and the mare's nest of cables sprouting out of them) in the domestic environment. Nor do they appreciate the fact that these encroachments usually cannot be cleaned or touched at their convenience. And women sometimes become understandably annoyed if their significant others want to enjoy extended late-night or weekend listening sessions when this is not suitable.
I know I seem to be simply stating the obvious, but I have read articles in our host magazine and in others that have dealt with metaphysical issues of less importance. Perhaps this gender difference should become the subject of a sociological study at some institute of higher learning. Of course, we could always start with a poll on this website, but guess how many women are going to participate!
