I Think I Am Becoming An Audiophile

I also think of myself as a music lover rather than an audiophile, even though I have a nice system and probably never will get finished upgrading it.

I recommend a streaming service for broadening your musical tastes. For $15 - $20 a month you get access to a practically unlimited amount of music, at least more than you can ever listen to, in all genres. You can explore until you find what you like and dispose of what you don’t with a couple of taps. You can buy albums that you really want to own only after you’re sure you want to own them.

Not having to buy a physical copy makes it easier to enjoy music outside your comfort zone. You haven’t paid 10 or 15 dollars for it, so there’s no questioning whether you should have spent that money on it or whether you want it sitting on your shelf. You can listen to anything at very low cost and either you enjoy it or you don’t. No long term commitment involved.

There’s so much good music around that there’s no reason to listen to anything that doesn’t move you. You can listen your whole life and not come close to hearing it all.

@edcyn
 
 

Wait'll you get to opera,

I have 100-200 from a college library. I rescued about 8-900 albums  about 15 yrs ago of which they were a part.  I'm sure there are some really good stuff in them. Most of them are imports. All NM. I play some of the classical. Wish I knew more about it.

@charles1dad 

I will say that in my experience jazz ’really' seems to respond to improved audio system sound quality (probably due to the dominant use of acoustical instruments).

I  tend to agree with you. One of the 1st things I noticed when my system began to get good was that music I hadn't much cared for became much more desirable. Billy Joel stands out as one I'd heard on radio for decades but never had any of his albums nor thought about getting any. Now I have quite a few. Wow! Fantastic song writer. Many other artists are the same. I call it NOS music. I've heard it but never REALLY heard it. Fortunately I got back into vinyl in the late 90's early 2000's. I bought many NM  albums for $1...or less

Great posts.
I have been playing a lot of jazz and fusion the last few months, stuff that a few short years back I thought just sounded awful.
But in reality I think it was my system not up to snuff.
Now Stanley Clarke and Al Jarreau etc get a lot of playtime on vinyl.
And of course the power of Qobuz lets me explore a lot of stuff I would never even of heard of never mind played.
Audiophile though?
For myself I will just say music lover.

Speaking of Billy Joel, although he did write catchy songs, none really grabbed me... until 52nd Street album, but just one song. (Charles will get this) Now the album has "THREE" pictures of Billy holding a trumpet. Inside had pics of a few of the associated artists, but only a simple listed credit: Flugelhorn, Freddie Hubbard, my favorite trumpet player! (I guess I'm still a bit steamed at that one)! HA. Anyway, ZANZIBAR where he let's the Real Men take control!! (twice). 

Artemus -- I bet there are lots of London/Decca and EMI/HMV/Angel records in your pile. Both labels are chock full of the finest opera recordings in existence.

The only difference between London and Decca is the name on the label, as the British Decca company was unable to use "Decca" in the USA because of rights restraints. Otherwise, they are the same LPs from the same first rate pressing plants.

Meanwhile, EMI (Electrical and Musical Industries) marketed LPs both under its own name and under the moniker HMV (His Master’s Voice). The thing is, the company couldn’t use either the name HMV or its logo of a dog dutifully listening to an old gramophone because these were owned in the USA by RCA. Because of this, EMI released their performances in the US on a label they named Angel Records. Sure, all this shouldn’t make a difference...except for the fact that Angel Records were pressed in the USA and were often (but not always!) pretty terrible.

I’ll cut to the chase. If you got these two albums, give ’em a spin: First, Puccini’s Turandot conducted by Zubin Mehta, featuring Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland. On London/Decca. Side one is outstanding. Side two is even better. Great tunes, great voices and great recording. Enough energy, passion & drama to launch a thousand ships.

Second, Mozart’s Le Nozze de Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) on EMI, conducted by Vittorio Gui. Lovely, gracious, and funny. The recording is pure Blumlein, i.e., done with a single pair of crossed figure-8 microphones. A veritable stereo test record for three-dimensionality and soundstaging.