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Do you listen alone or with guest s

I am curious about the social element of listening to an audiophile system. Do you listen alone?? with wife, ladyfriend, buddy or guests?? For myself, I prefer to listen alone and for a few important reasons. I like to listen to the performance of the system I have put together or have made changes to. I listen to judge the performance of the musicians in terms of innnovations,and new revelations about the music's structure. I listen to "just" listen, to get that emotional fix that only music can provide. I occasionally ask my wife to listen with me or to a particular cut, but after about six minutes she loses interest. In the past, with lesser systems, I tried to point out things to friends in the music that I was hearing. After a short while, I realized I was making others uncomfortable, and also myself. Listening alone over the years became a ritual. I never regretted following this path, and was/am surely open to other listeners in the room....Maybe this is smug attitude to have; I think it comes with the territory of high-end audio. It often annoys me when I see people switch on a stereo and listen for just background music, or incidental music. I feel it denigrates the music and the musicians (excluding hip-hop, Daughtry,and Lady Gaga) I realize and am grateful there is no "golden rule book" for listening to music. The audiophile who drops thousand of dollars on his system cares about sound and music---science in the service of art.
sunnyjim
mceljo
1,357 posts
 
I generally listen alone simply because my wife doesn't enjoy the volume that I like to listen at, but because my system isn't in a dedicated room my listening time is limited at times. As long as the volume is down my wife really enjoys listening while reading a book or playing on the internet.

The most fun is when friends come over to enjoy my system. This past Tuesday evening a friend came over and brought his fiancee. She was extremely excited and now has dreams of owning something similar in the future. She's a violin player so I pulled out my best violin recordings and let her pick the volume. It's the first couple that I know where they may actually be able to shop for gear together from all indications.
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
About half the time with my wife and half the time alone. I second Jgiacalo's eloquent comment, while also agreeing with the other comments that it is easier to concentrate when alone.

Regards,
-- Al
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
Interesting responses so far, I must say.

I tend to listen alone, but to be honest, that is not really by choice. (My wife loves music too, which means I get to listen with her sometimes, although she does prefer the volume to be a bit lower than I like, but she does compromise on that, as it is a bit higher than she likes.) I mostly prefer to listen with friends actually. I love it when friends bring over they favorite music, (or when I go to a fellow audiophile's house and bring my favorite music).

I have a couple of music loving audiophile friends, (both of whom still go to concerts too), who enjoy both coming over to my house to listen to music, and hosting me, when I go to their houses to listen as well. (And yeah, there is a certain amount of critical listening going on, as well as bits of advice being given, and taken.) But for me, the experience is not really about critical listening, but socializing in an environment that I enjoy. Sharing and learning about new music is extremely enjoyable in these situations. Sometimes we talk, (in which case we will lower the volume a bit), but mostly we just listen quietly. We tend to share the sweet spot on the couch, (I get it when he plays his music, and he gets it when I play my music).

My two cents worth anyway.
bryoncunningham
890 posts
 
Alone. My wife gets restless. I wish that weren't the case, because it would be rewarding to share the experiences with her. She is aware of this, so sometimes she sits with me to make me happy.

I do have a close friend who is also an audiophile, so we sometimes listen together when changes have been made to his system or mine. But we don't like the same kind of music, so we tend not to listen together in a more regular way.

The only regular music listening companion is the dog. But she falls asleep, so once again, it's just me.

Bryon
itsalldark
182 posts
 
The Dogs seem to like to be where ever I am, so if I am listening they are around. Other then that, I am alone which allows me to disappear into the music. My sessions tend to be late at night.
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