How does one "Get lost in the music"?

Alonski,
Well said!I undergo a similar ritual,and it is indeed surreal,eyes closed and the room as dark as possible.Just me and the musicians.

There are no rules (yet) regarding the right or wrong way to listen. Hopefully we never come to that.

It's a hobby. Hobbies are for fun! That's the only requirement. Nothing else really matters.

I am a techie so I enjoy the technical aspects of what goes into good listening. Its a very synergistic pair of interests since technology is the thing that enables us to listen to recorded music.

In situations where one wnts to be able to enjoy something but finds they cannot, my best advice is to keep it as simple as possible. Audiophiles tend to do the opposite over time, always making things more complex than perhaps they need to be? Avoid that trap. Keep it simple. Once you have something simple that works for you, then maybe try to make it better, but beware the traps that come along with any form of excessive compulsive behavior.

It's far more about the right music than the right system or room. I used to get lost listening to my dad's portable stereo. Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's often did the trick.

Yeah, as a kid, when I was far less obsessed with "good sound" I used to get lost listening to FM on a little Panasonic handheld transistor radio.

I suppose its a good idea to know one is capable of getting lost in music first before going too crazy about good sound. After all, in order to find out, there are many easy and even free ways to listen to music without a high end system or even any "system" at all.

Why would anyone spend time trying to get "good sound" otherwise? I suppose there are many examples of how people may act irrationally, so why should litening to music be any different?

To get fully engaged for more than just one or two tracks, regardless of the music, I seem to require a system able to convey the emotion put forth by the players and reproduce that with clarity, texture, drive, and proper tonality. (I've heard very few systems able to do this.) And the music must have some attractive, special quality as well. (e.g., Not just ANY piano trio performance, but something like Bill Evans' "Complete Live at the Village Vanguard".)