You have a dedicated audio room.
Your listening chair is in the “Sweet Spot”.
You have sound treatment on your walls.
You spend hours properly placing and tweaking your speakers.
You understand that properly placed speakers will
create a 3D sound stage (placing musicians and singers in localized positions…
from left to right… front to back) [Sound-stage]
Your stereo is worth more than your vehicle.
You know that higher end components do a better job
of: being less fatiguing to listen to, creating the imaging (sound-stage),
representing the instruments more accurately and with more detail, are more involving.
You are intimately aware of the performance and tonal
quality of your system, and can describe the results of any changes in the
system.
You are aware of how bad the sound is for the first 3 - 4
songs at any live music event.
98 % of the time… when someone cranks their stereo up
and says “This sounds GREAT” you cringe. You could list all the ways and
reasons why it sounds awful… but you don’t.
When listening to music… you spend a portion of time
listening to and exploring the placement of the sounds in the sound stage, and
the quality and detail of your system… with your eyes closed.
You become aware of how bad the sound is on some
recordings.
You are painfully aware how awful sound systems are at
bars and clubs.
You have increased the sound performance of your
system through upgrades and tweaks... multiple times.
You are aware of sound reflections in your home, and
live music events.
You continue to learn and try new things.
Out of curiosity… you try various things on your
system… to see what, and if… there are any improvements… ie: cables, cords,
isolation, dampening… etc.
