Has your HiFi changed your musical tastes

I have a few audiofool buddies and we frequent each others' homes (IE stereos!) and in doing so I have listened to a lot of music new to me, as well as styles I had not really payed much attention to before. So my palette has grown as a result of the hobby, but not necessarily because of the quality of my rig.

I agree that it has changed my tastes. When i started this hobby thirity some years ago,it was all rock...but as the years went by,the equiptment got much better,Classical and Jazz took over as my main type of music. But i think its important to say, i think more than the equiptment,it was the quality of the recordings that helped most to change my tastes..as most rock recordings are not of the high end quality of Jazz and Classical.

I don't see the point of a stereo dictating the music people listen to. I'd love to fill my hard drive and LP rack with 'audiophile recordings.' Too bad I can't stand 99% of the titles. When my stereo dictates what I listen to, I'll sell it off and bring in a ghetto-blaster.

I genuinely intend no offense to others who don't share my views. Everyone likes what they like, and shouldn't feel the need to justify why they like what they like or do what they do.

Many people on this thread make very valid points. My tastes have definitely broadened. As a younger man, I listened to, like the majority of us...... Rock. The older I got, I ventured into blues, and some jazz, now in my fifties, classical has taken a front row seat in music collection. As my equipment got better, my appreciation for different music seemed to diversify. Quite a strange occurrence, considering a few short years ago, I had zero desire to listen to classical music, let alone own approx. 100 albums today. That is not to say that the rest of my collection is now collecting dust. Dire straits, Led Zeppelin, Keb Mo, and Eric Bibb, and a host of other artists are still very regular performers in my little music room oasis. All I'm saying is it's not a bad thing to change and add to your spice of music!

03-23-11: Kbarkamian
"I don't see the point of a stereo dictating the music people listen to. I'd love to fill my hard drive and LP rack with 'audiophile recordings.' Too bad I can't stand 99% of the titles. When my stereo dictates what I listen to, I'll sell it off and bring in a ghetto-blaster."

kbark - you assume the people whose tastes have changed can't stand the music they listen to on their systems. I don't believe that's the case.