GreatGreen posted:

There's a bit to unpack with the "auditioning music" statement.

Audiophiles do mean "audition music" in the literal sense because what they're doing is trying out different pieces of music to see which specific tracks make their stereo systems sound best, vs which tracks are simply too primitive and unrefined to be permitted to reach their delicate and sophisticated aural palates that are obviously better than everyone else’s and therefore deserve to be protected from poor mixes resulting in harsh sibilants, flat muddy mids, tubby bass, and lifeless transients only fit for commoners and livestock. The kind of music they listen to doesn't actually matter to them because, again, these people don't actually care about music. All that matters to them is the experience of hearing a highly expensive system they have convinced themselves produces "very fine" sound, no matter what that sound might be specifically.

As the saying goes, most people use gear to listen to music, but audiophiles use music to listen to gear.