I read the title of this post on a forum recently. It made me smile.
What exactly is a common listener? A backhand way of distinguishing between an audiophile and a commoner?
Royalty?
We're a special bunch. We know a preamp from a power cable, a DAC from a transport, and most of us know terms like balanced, single ended, and direct coupled: a foreign language to the common listener.
Does a common listener have anything in common with us audiophiles?
Of course. Music and the sound of instruments and voices.
The conductor of the New York philharmonic might not know what an XLR connector is or does, but they would most certainly know the scrape of a bow across the strings of a cello, or the proper blat of a trumpet.
When it comes to the technology of high end audio, we're certainly in the know. I would be hesitant to take that a step further and proclaim some sort of higher purpose or position.
In the end, it's all about the music.
