So what’s the answer?  I would like to offer the following solutions

 

1. Be ready to massage great sounds out of entry level gear.  It can be done.  World class recordings can be made with modest equipment.  The engineer who keeps this perspective may yet stave off audiophilia and retro snobbery.  When you experience firsthand a great mix or recording with budget equipment, it helps to keep your thinking in check.     It’s fun to acquire the very best in recording devices and musical instruments and to hear the subtle differences that true craftsmanship can make, but not to the point of looking down our noses at budget minded gear, and NEVER at those who are using them.
2. Keep an open mind and a balanced perspective.  Make a choice to hear objectively, and lay our egos, wallets, brand loyalty, and nostalgia aside.
3. Remember that audiophilia is often a way to hedge our failures.  We can always blame our poor mixes or performances on a “substandard” tube, cable, or amp.  Focus on those things which are most important, such as making great music, not flawless recordings.

 

To summarize, audiophilia is becoming hypersensitive to minuscule differences in tone.  More than what is actually there.  It is microaudibly focusing on the parts, while forgetting the whole.  Audiophila is feeding our ego, or rationalizing our purchasing decisions, or even a way to differentiate ourselves from where we started. 

 

It is connoisseurship gone awry.

 

 Instead, let’s get back to making music.

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