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
i am a member of an audio club. when i have a meeting--about once every 18 months i set up the listen and others listen to it. i usually only in the listening room to change cds.

at other times, i listen alone, but not for the reasons that have been posted so far.

i am somewhat of a multi tasking person and prefer to listen when reading or writing.

i believe this habit can be traced to the years when i attended undergraduate school and when studying for an exam, had music in the background. hence i enjoy music in the background as a secondary activity.

when i am reviewing , it forces me to focus on the sound of my stereo system.

as long as i don't notice any unusual anaomalies in the frequency response, i do not listen critically.

as i said, i reserve my analytical listening to reviewing.

of course, when attending symphony orchestra concerts i give the music my undivided attention.

since i believe the concert hall experience is so superior to listening to a recording, listening to music at home is based upon my taste in the particular recordings i chose, and some level of satisfactory sound. thus , i listen to music in the background mode and inviting others to listen when i don't participate with them would be rude and impolite.
Boy SunnyJim ,Sounds like there is a lot of rain in your forecast.Take a deep breath, it isnt so serious!
Wife And I like to curl up and listen , beats the crap out of TV .


Thank you T !!!!!!!!!