Do we have any female audiophile members?

The only audio show I go to is California Audio Show which is about half an hour drive away from where I live. I go with my wife every year for the last 5-6 years and she buys the ticket every year. She’s now able to pick a good sounding room from the bad ones rather impressively.

Yes, we did talk about getting to Axpona or RMAF, but it hasn’t happened yet.
 
We men have been blessed that women aren't audiophiles. First, its nice to have alone time. Most important the more you keep your wife away from the hobby the easier it is to keep her away from the price tags of our purchases.
 
I wonder if other "male dominated" hobbies are asking the same questions?

I think (and I'm only guessing since I'm not a woman), that it starts from an early age. How many young girls are encouraged to be part of the hobby? I know when I was 8, I was learning from my Dad how to set up a turntable, connect all the separate amps/preamp for a Quadrophonic system, using a R2R, learning about transmission line speaker designs and more.

Sometimes, women are objectified on forums and other websites (like Facebook) where all we see is a scantly clad Asian woman next to a new speaker or amp or whatever.

I have been fortunate to have customers come into the store and the woman was most knowledgeable and engaging in the hobby. It was an eye opener and a learning experience that's for sure.

I also noted that when I went to Munich, there were many more women involved in the hobby. It was not unusual to see "20 something" women walking around together and listening. Something I can assure you, you would never see here in North America. So, that brings us back to culture and that starts at an early age.

And if you think the guys in High End audio are bad, try playing men's league hockey where there are two highly talented women on the team. Trust me, you ain't heard nothing until you've been in a hockey locker room with all men and a couple of women. And yes, if you're wondering, we all change together in the same locker room. Oh, and what about when the ladies are the best players on the team? They've played at the highest level of Women's College Hockey. Try explaining that to the 30 year old guys on the team who think they're hot sh!t. When you're an old guy like me, you're just thankful we don't have to play against them.
 
Having re-entered the "hobby" of it after a couple years just enjoying listening I was quickly reminded of the demographics, and it made me wonder "why?".

I've not had one female in my life who's had the slightest interest, most just get annoyed at my obsession with gear and tweaking and they generally don't hear a difference (not because they can't but because they've had 0 interest in listening critically). My current gf tolerates it more than most but has little interest, unless a song she likes to dance to comes on.

It's definitely led me to wonder why it seems to be not only predominantly men. but middle-aged or older men, most of whom seem more opinionated than most, grumpier and more argumentative than most, and more inclined to show off (does your sig really need to include the exorbitant brand of cable risers you use? That you're using the MkIII.2.01 w/ the latest adamantium tweeters? Or details on all 3 of your "backup" systems?). (fwiw I'm certainly squarely in a lot of that demographic)

I was quickly reminded why I stopped going to my local audio club's events. Among other unattractive things they always seemed to devolve into a group of 15 grumpy old guys trying to out-do and out-shout each other - more knowledge, better equipment and so on, or the inevitable weirdos in stained shirts just sitting silently off to the sides the entire time.

It really would be a lot more fun with a more diverse, livelier group to share with, but something about this attracts us, but not others. I don't think it's the "alone" thing, btw, since it can absolutely be a social thing - I've invited girlfriends to sit and listen with me, and share and discuss the music I enjoy, as well as younger guy friends (ok that came out a bit weird, but you know what I mean), and neither group has shown any interest. Go out for drinks, go dancing, absolutely... but sit and listen to music, ummm, no thanks, borrrrring (to them).
 
My wife loves music and we go to a lot of concerts together. She has also had get togethers where she has showed off my system. Pretty awesome! Usually many drinks are had and we start dancing. She digs the large speakers in the family room and all the cool equipment. Especially likes the large tubes so I think Lampi may be in my future. She is a music lover just like me. However, she doesn't understand or care what all the tweaking is about and says "what could you possibly be doing at Axpona. Talking woofers and tweeters?" I would guess that women in general are focused on the end result and have no interest in how it is attained..the ultimate sound and how it moves them versus why we used balanced or rca. We audiophiles are focused on the ultimate sound too of course, but a lot of the fun of the hobby IMHO is the mixing and matching and trying new things and arguing over class a or d or analog versus digital, or cables, or... We are deep in the weeds and the process around creating that ultimate sound. Women are probably great customers for Mike I would guess. Here is my budget and what I want, please deliver. Men probably question everything but in the end spend more.....
 
This is always an interesting topic. I have known only three women in my life that have had a healthy interest in audio, could sit for hours enjoying music, and owned good quality audio equipment. All three were single women living in their own places. One woman was a customer I met when I sold audio gear back in the early 80's. I set her system up for her, Yamaha separates, a Denon turntable and Infinity speakers. She invited me to have dinner with her and we listened to that system into the wee hours of the morning. Ultimately we became good friends.

The second woman had a McIntosh MAC1500 receiver, an AR turntable, and a pair of large Advent speakers in her living room. She kept that system on from morning until late night. We would spend hours together shopping for new music at Tower Records in San Francisco.

The third woman had a very mediocre little system until she began spending time with me and enjoying my sound system. She got the audio bug and put together a small McIntosh system with a MA5100 integrated amp, M&K satellite speakers and M&K subwoofer, and a Dual turntable.

Of all the different woman I have known in my life, these three women were the only ones who would sit and enjoy music without wanting to talk or get up and do something else while the music was playing. Every other woman I have known has shown little to no interest in music other than something in the background. Most of these women would spend hours parked in front of a television and not want to be disturbed, or endlessly wandering the corridors of some mall, while at the same time criticizing me for wanting to be left undisturbed while listening to music.

Frankly, I don't care that my interest in music, audio systems, and the tweaking involved to improve performance aren't shared by the majority of women. Honestly, who cares? I find a great deal of personal satisfaction enjoying and being immersed in high-end audio. I have adjusted my priorities to encompass my interests. That a large portion of females do not find value in my interests is of no concern to me. Endlessly trolling malls shopping for makeup, clothes, shoes, handbags, and jewelry holds no interest for me, but I don't begrudge any woman who enjoys those endeavors. I would rather mix a cool adult beverage, park myself in the sweet spot in my studio, and enjoy the performance and peace of mind that a superb sound system provides me.

The good thing is there is no conflict in my home about activities. Marlene is a TV person and I am an audio enthusiast. We understand and support each other's past times. She has her space and I have mine. Beyond that, I don't really care what the rest of the world or the opposite gender is interested in doing. Life is too short to worry about nonsense beyond my control. Thankfully there are both yin and yang.


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Could not have said it myself any better Dan!:congrats:.............my wife likes music and she even went to a Diana Krall concert with me back in 2013,but she fell asleep half way thru lol :D
 
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