Digital Home Thoughts: Gizmodo Sees Value In Having Audiophiles

"Fremer, if you have yet to decipher this, is an audiophile of the highest calibre. Literally millions of dollars of premium audio equipment have passed through his listening room under review for Stereophile magazine, and he's been obsessing about vinyl since he was four years old, memorizing the labels of his parents' 78s."

$350,000 sounds like a lot to spend on a stereo system, but Gizmodo explains why audiophiles, at least those like Michael Fremer, are crucial to making sure that our music equipment doesn't degenerate into a series of beeps and boops. In almost every industry, we have experts who examine every detail and criticize every choice and while they may seem obsessive and uncompromising, they're the people who keep pushing improvements and prevent quality from dropping too far. I sit in wonder about how one can spend thousands on something that seems trivial to me, but for some, it makes a difference. I'll freely admit that I'm very pedestrian when it comes to music equipment and I'll even listen to 128kbps mp3s (though FLAC sounds much better) but I am glad there are those who make sure that the industry is pushing to make things better.