Great question. I listen alone most of the time which is fine. I would like to have friends or even acquaintances that enjoyed music enough to sit an just listen but at last those are few and far between. As stated before most friends don't get it, want to just look at the room and equipment, want to know how much it costs and will maybe sit through Money on DSOTM. This is strange because when i was in college (mid 70's) people listened to music as a singular activity alot, where did they go. I have one friend, interestingly enough in his late 20's who loves to listen for hours. This is undoubtly a strange hobby but I love it.
Do you listen alone or with guest s
I am curious about the social element of listening to an audiophile system. Do you listen alone?? with wife, ladyfriend, buddy or guests?? For myself, I prefer to listen alone and for a few important reasons. I like to listen to the performance of the system I have put together or have made changes to. I listen to judge the performance of the musicians in terms of innnovations,and new revelations about the music's structure. I listen to "just" listen, to get that emotional fix that only music can provide. I occasionally ask my wife to listen with me or to a particular cut, but after about six minutes she loses interest. In the past, with lesser systems, I tried to point out things to friends in the music that I was hearing. After a short while, I realized I was making others uncomfortable, and also myself. Listening alone over the years became a ritual. I never regretted following this path, and was/am surely open to other listeners in the room....Maybe this is smug attitude to have; I think it comes with the territory of high-end audio. It often annoys me when I see people switch on a stereo and listen for just background music, or incidental music. I feel it denigrates the music and the musicians (excluding hip-hop, Daughtry,and Lady Gaga) I realize and am grateful there is no "golden rule book" for listening to music. The audiophile who drops thousand of dollars on his system cares about sound and music---science in the service of art.
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- 44 posts total
- 44 posts total