the process is more challenging than the result

there have been two classic studeis in stereophile, years ago, which indicated that sound quality and musical enjoyment were not highly correlated. the second part of the study appeared in the february 200 issue of stereophile.

it is my hypothesis that the enjoyment attained when listening to music is independent of the medium which delivers it. speaking for myself, i can gain the same benefits from listening to music in my car as i can from any stereo system.

as far as the quest and the result, we are all "wired" differently. i enjoy listening to different components and observing the affects upon the sound of a stereo system. it is an intellectual pursuit, in the same vein as doing a crossword puzzle.

Changelings are prone,its true, to try something different every chance we get on all levels especially the pleasurable ones.Even the androids now among us,are being influenced by our insatiable moods.And they have no feelings or physical sensations that I'm aware of which would account for their despicable behaviour.Like comparing a Mcintosh to a Levinson!Whats to come can only be best described as what Hunter Thompson would say if he could.Even he needed a vacation from this type of cyber-ranting and celebration,cheers,Bob

Enjoyment of music being independent of the medium is absolutely correct. There's no reason why they have to be correlated. You don't have to be a mechanic to enjoy a car ride. You don't have to be a chef to enjoy dinner.

When you read the interviews in Stereophile of well known people in the music industry, either performers or production people, it is notable how many of them do not have audiophile systems as we might describe it. This happens frequently enough that I remember one interviewer specifically commenting on it to the interviewee. I don't remember who it was, but I believe it was some venerable old blues musician whose system wasn't much more than a boom box that played cassettes.

If the choice were vast amounts of music on a table radio or limited amounts of music on my "system", I'd gladly choose the table radio. I definetly believe that the music is more important than the medium or hardware...

However, I find my system adds greatly to the experience - so much so, that I'll often forgo listening to a new album until I have the time to savor it on that system.

I've also spend multiple thousands on my car sytem and though significantly better than stock, I find I rarely turn it on. I can enjoy it, but I'm never as satified.

Tone, timbre, sounstaging, etc....when these are right, the result is truly thrilling!

Mrtennis: Very observant post. There are certainly many aspects to this hobby and the end result is a nice system for music listening. I agree that most benefits of music listening can be garnered from listening to a radio. Furthermore, there is no need to justify the technical aspect of the hobby by requiring that use of the end result be more important or as important as the journey. For years I heard fellow amateur radio operators try to justify the hobby on the basis that you could use your handheld in an emergency (kind of out of vogue now due to cell phones), while the real joy for me in that hobby came from the technical aspects - it was not the contact that was important but rather meeting the technical challenges that had to be navigated in order to make the contact. Your view is well supported by the activity on this site as well as other audiophile sites. The vast majority of discussion focuses on the technical aspects, product reviews etc. which gives credence to the idea that a great deal of the time people invest in this hobby is invested in those aspects of the hobby.