Before the new millennium, the word “audiophile” evoked imagery of shrine-like stacks of componentry, shelves of vinyl or compact discs, and ritualistic actions towards the summoning of sound. Listening to music was often a communal experience, centered around systems in a shared space. But is that conception slowly disappearing? “Legacy” audiophiles are aging, and younger entrants to the world of hi-fi are eschewing the larger-scale hardware and spaces common in the past.
The first part of this work seeks to find canonical definitions and discourses of audiophilia through a comprehensive literature review. The second part examines whether these definitions and discourses hold up in an age of portable playback and streaming services. In other words, are the users of these newer technologies still audiophiles?
To answer these questions, we explore the personalization of cultural consumption, the relationship between identity and meaning, the creation and expression of communities, and other related concepts to offer a new definition of audiophilia.

Authors:
Steven Urueta, Mejiro University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Steven H. Urueta is a member of the Department of English and American Studies at Mejiro University.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=twLans0AAAAJ&hl=en

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