ABOUT THE SURVEY
- Invitation and link to survey mailed to all membership on October 30, 2014
- Follow up to non-respondents on November 4
- As of December 1, 142 people completed the survey (n=142)
- This document covers most but not all questions in the survey
- Selected verbatim remarks from the comments boxes are shown
- The full text of the survey appears as an Appendix at the end of this summary
MEMBER KEY DATA
Members Are Older Men Who’ve Been At This Awhile (Q2, Q3)
- One woman completed the survey
- 76% of members (completing the survey) are age 51 or older; none are 30 or younger
New to SFAS but not newbie audiophiles (Q6, Q7, Q10, Q11)
- 27% have been in SFAS/BASS for less than 1 year (probably CAS signups); 44% are 6 years or more (22% more than 10 years)
- 1 in 4 have never been to an event and another 1 in 4 have been to only 1-2 events.
- 58% say they have been audio enthusiasts for more than 30 years, while only 6% have been enthusiasts for 10 years or less
- Self-describe:
Seasoned veteran 38%
Advanced intermediate 32%
Intermediate 18%
Not an audiophile 8%
Beginner or “newbie: 4%
SYSTEMS; LISTENING AND AUDIOPHILE HABITS
It’s about two-channel audio (Q12)
- 84% have two-channel audio-only systems for their “serious” music listening, with 13% using audio-video (HT) systems
Digital sources and solid state electronics are the main, but plenty of turntables and tubes; headphones abundant but not primary
Sources used (Q15)
- CD or other disc player 73%
- Turntable 60%
- PC or Mac music server 52%
- Other music or network server 25%
- FM tuner 20%
- Reel-to-reel tape 8%
Main system’s electronics (Q13)
- All solid state (SS) 36%
- Mostly SS, some tubes 20%
- Mostly tubes, some SS 15%
- All tubes 14%
- About an equal mix 14%
Headphones vs. speakers (Q14)
- Speakers only 58%
- Speakers mostly, some headphones 32%
- About equal 5%
- Mostly headphones 4%
- Only headphones <1%
DIY activity (Q16)
- None 43%
- A little 33%
- A fair amount 15%
- A lot 7%
MUSIC
Percent who listen “a lot” or “some” to each genre (Q17)
- Rock/Pop 79%
- Jazz 79%
- Classical 63%
- Blues 59%
- Americana 49%
- World 38%
- Other 30%
- Electronica 21%
- Ambient/Space 19%
- R&B, Hip Hop, Rap 10%
One-third of members play a musical instrument (Q18)
Interest in possible SFAS music events or activities (Q19)
Percent who answered 4 or 5 on 5-point interest scale:
- Live recording sessions 53%
- Music Education 51%
- Pure listening sessions 44%
- Group attendance at performances 29%
EVENTS
Days and times (Q20)
Saturday afternoon is #1, but there are other good slots
% “Generally Good” / % “Might Work”
- Sat afternoon 65% / 26%
- Sun afternoon 55% / 28%
- Sat morning 51% / 30%
- Sat evening 30% / 41%
- Sun morning 38% / 26%
- Weekday evening 16% / 45%
- Sun evening 20% / 38%
- Weekday daytime 19% / 19%
Locations for events (Q21)
% “Great for Me” + “Good for Me” (% “Great for Me”)
- San Francisco 62% (20%)
- Berkeley/Oakland area 53% (29%)
- Peninsula 51% (26%)
- South Bay (San Jose, etc.) 41% (24%)
- Marin County 35% (13%)
- Orinda/WC/Concord 34% (18%)
- Santa Cruz area 20% (9%)
- Sonoma County 12% (7%)
- 24% indicated sporting event conflicts (Q22)
Types of Events (Q23)
[Note: questions 23, 24 and 26 asked members to choose 5 from a list of items. In hindsight, we should have asked the question differently. Even though an item got fewer Top 5 votes, it may still be of keen interest to a smaller group of members. Read the results accordingly.]
% In Top 5
- Product comparisons 67%
- How-to and demo sessions 62%
- Manufacturer demos 62%
- System hops 60%
- Expert lectures 60%
- Field trips 46%
- Knowledge Exchange 46%
- Product tours 40%
- Swap Meet 30%
- DIY instruction 29%
Component Category Interest (Q24)
% In Top 5
- DACs 77%
- Computer audio 63%
- Phono carts/stages/SUTs 49%
- Stand-mount/small speakers 42%
- Cables 38%
- Integrated amps 36%
- Power conditioners 36%
- Headphones/headphone amps 33%
- Active speakers 32%
- Passive pre-amps 15%
Specific topics interest (Q26)
% in Top 5
- Speaker/system setup techniques 75%
- Room treatments 70%
- Digital room measurement & correction 53%
- Tweaks 46%
- Tonearm and cart set-up 42%
- Home networking for computer audio 42%
- Adding EQ 27%
- Home Theater 25%
- Whole house audio 17%
Price ranges (Q27)
Members are most interested in mid-level gear.
% rank 1 or 2 (% rank 1)
- Entry-level (e.g., speakers <$1K) 50% (16%)
- Mid-level (e.g., amp + speakers totaling up to $10K) 81% (53%)
- High-priced (amp + speakers up to $50K) 45% (22%)
- Cost-no-object 20% (7%)
Membership favors more rigor in product comparisons (Q28)
- Not important (1,2) 26%
- Neutral (3) 26%
- Important (4,5) 47%
CITIZENSHIP & COMMUNITY
Reasons to be an SFAS member? (Q29)
% rank 1 or 2
- Hearing new and different products 55%
- Meeting and talking with other audiophiles 47%
- Hearing other members’ systems 31%
- Gaining tech knowledge 25%
- Exposure to new music 21%
- Learning about audio (non-tech) 14%
Willing to have other members to your home? (Q31)
- Yes 29%
- Probably yes 31%
- Probably no 25%
- Definitely no 15%
How many could you accommodate if chairs brought in? (Q32)
- Less than 5 29%
- 5-9 42%
- 10-19 13%
- 20 or more 4%
Willing to bring a component to another member’s house? (Q33)
- Yes 45%
- Maybe 36%
- Probably not 19%
Willing to advise or mentor a new audiophile? (Q34)
- Yes 65%
- Probably not 27%
- 95% say they would like email notifications/periodic “digests” of website and forum activity (Q35)
Social media use is low (Q36)
% use at least once/week / % never use or no account
- Facebook 25% / 43%
- LinkedIn 19% / 33%
- Twitter 9% / 71%
Be more actively involved in SFAS? (Q37)
SELECTED COMMENTS (Q38)
“I’m excited to see the new energy in SFAS. I hope more events will happen further south but I understand if most members are nearer to SF.”
“It is clearly recognized by this survey that there are many different kinds of audiophile. Some want to use vintage equipment and vinyl, some want to build expensive equipment temples and yet others simply want great sounding set ups. It might be helpful if we can orient our internal links and associations toward common interests?”
“I’m new to Northern California and was a member of the LAOCAS for years and I’m very glad to have found you.”
“Each of us has a different notion of what it is to be an audiophile. For me it’s “getting my hands dirty”. I no longer have access to a woodshop, so I’m no longer building loudspeakers, but I do have occasion to do location recording. I love being able to bring home music I’ve recorded live and having it sound in my living room the same as I heard it live.”
“Thanks for reminding me of the website forums. I’ll start using them.”
“I’m brand new to this type of club. It’s a long drive from the Monterey Peninsula, but worth the time as long as the events warrant. I’m looking forward to participating.”
“I am almost never interested in manufacturers demonstrating their own gear. A demo is rarely meaningful to me without a direct comparison between similar products. A rare exception was the demo several years ago by engineer Manny LaCarrubba of his Beolab loudspeaker with a unique radiation pattern. It was so radically different that it was interesting in isolation.”
“I hope that we find a way to run multiple threads that possibly attract different groups.”
“Member participation is a great idea and I hope that this survey will help facilitate that aspect in the future.”
“There are quite a few bay area audiophiles on sites like Audio Circle, Audio Karma etc and they are aware of SFAS but don’t seem interested – I don’t know why”.
“While I’ve been buying equipment and have spent quite a bit of money in this area I really consider myself a music lover first. I’m the guy that has 14 different versions of Madama Butterfly. I’m the type that spends his time listening to differences of performances and artist interpretations. I am definitely not someone that will spend time listening to differences between cables and power cords. But I wish those that like to explore those activities much fun.”
“How about using the Society to buy or borrow something that could be shared or lent for a time to each member, maybe at an additional cost. I’m thinking of a heavy-duty ripping system that could circulate among members. Something bought could be sold after circulating so that fees to users would be lower.”
“If there is enough interest, I would like sessions on:
- “newbie listening”, to synch up on terms like warm, air, digital sound, analytical, sweet midrange, harsh highs,…
- comparative demos, shoot outs – with certain rigor
- great audiophile recordings (perhaps by genre) and someone sharing why it is generally considered “Great”!
“I like that you included mentoring new audiophiles. I had a brief discussion with a fellow at the Modjeski event and wished I had more time to discuss beginning steps with him. Also, gotten his email so we could continue the discussion.”