Do you listen to equipment or music.

s2000cr,

My gosh man, you must have been around before the Dead Sea was even sick!...:-)

Sorry all. My post was a little over the top for this thread...had more than one Agon browser open and accidentally posted here thinking I was posting in another thread...oopsies My bad. Hope no one here was killed in the melee.

AFA this topic goes, I've been trying to wrap up a nearly 3-year period of almost entirely listening to the gear rather than the music, although lately as I've closed in on my sq goals I've recently had much more opportunity to return to the music. 

It can be very difficult to break on thru to the other side with it, much easier for most to do that in stages over time, but it definitely can be done. So looking forward in another year or so to have gotten the setup across the finish line and I can focus entirely on the music again! May even get a few more lumps on my head for more new kinds of music, too.

I have wrestled with and written about this dichotomy for years. I believe the "gear" side is the hobbyist side of the, er, hobby, and the listening is the music side. Each serves the other, but if it gets too far toward the gear side, (swapping out components, comparing cables etc.), then you are missing the point, or at least having a somewhat hollow experience. Why improve your playback system if not to more fully appreciate music playback? The audiophile that keeps his equipment for many years without change and just uses it to listen to music is usually a happier bloke. Did any of you listen to Mahler orgies in college on a KLH suitcase stereo with 10% distortion and one channel blown? I did, and it was still a rich and memorable experience.

Interesting discussion.

Back in the late 70’s I sold equipment at a high end shop in DC and as I got to be a better salesman I found I was pretty much wasting my time with those who listened to equipment before listening to the music, they hardly ever bought anything!

I had been on a 5 or 6 year course of upgrading this, that and the other.  Now that I’m set with the hardware, I can relax and enjoy the music!