Great Interview-

@terry9 Bingo ! Musicians are listening to the performance. What I have been discussing all along. But I digress. Hi end audio can be enjoyed for many reasons, and I am accepting this, as more and more audiophile people are not listening to the performance, the musicianship, the composition. To each his/her own. My best, MrD.

We went to hear Joe many times in the early days- he was hauling his own gear in a rental box truck. He eventually morphed more into a hard rock act. I wish him continued success, but the blues based stuff was what attracted me. 

Hello All! Musicians are used to being "IN" the music. They are surrounded by other people aling music. Tey concerned with how they are producing the musical performance. They are doers not listeners. They are concerned with structure and shaping of the sound the listener hears. They are "in the moment" of producing the music. They know what they want to do are concentrating on how to produce the sound they want. If they are listening to a recording, it is history. It's done. It's over. It's yesterday. They aren't concerned with how history sounds. They know how it sounds in their minds and how it was produced. Yesterday is of little interest and value. NOW is what counts. Do the performers "have the chops," They are not listening for what the audiophiles care about. So, fancy gear is of no interest to them. Did they hit the right note? It doesn't matter that an instrument is not accurately reproduced. The melody and harmony matters. The pacing and timing of the notes matters, how the players work together matters. Not much else. We enjoy the historic performance of the recording in a very different way, and thank them for their efforts.  Happy Listening.

Most musicians can't afford the hobby in the first place. However, most musicians greatly appreciate recording studios with high end equipment.

@8th-note  The Grateful Dead have used McIntosh gear for amplification for a long, long time. I believe Bob Weir has all McIntosh gear at home, too.