Disappointing Evening

are people so insecure that they want or need to impress ?

what difference does it make to the owner of material things if people are or are not interested in them ?

a friendship need not be based on shared interests in material things, but rather a genuine liking for the person.

Shadorne: I can agree such reference dynamics cannot be ignored even from the untrained ear.

being gifted is not equivalent to being interested. many children have a musical talent but don't want to develop it.

You know it is really funny when I read this thread. As I note in many of the comments above about this hobby of ours the comments are really LESS about music than it is the hobby itself, the sound, the gear etc. This is perfectly evidenced by the OP question at hand which is essentially why don't people want to share the "music" when the emphasis is really on listening to the system and the sound that it make. It seems the folks were perfectly happy with the music playing through the B&O, not the sound of the music.

I can't imagine more than a given few that give a rats ass how a system sounds and even if they do the amount of attention among a group of intelligent adults having a get together is not going to center around a focused "sit down" listening to music, it just doesn't ever happen in my experience. Really think about what you expect. You don't want to force your guests to be bored to death, do you?

I suggest if you REALLY want to get that kind of focused listening get together invite them to a live concert instead. It has a better chance of leading them into coming home and listening to some music. That might open the door maybe, but don't hold your breath they might just ask it you wouldn't mind turning on the telly to watch "American Idol".

For so long now, we have all been reading articles about the death of audio as a hobby. We have to save the hobby! We have to find a way to get our younger listeners to appreciate a high end setup. We have to expose other people to the hobby! Exactly how is that done? If nobody cares then it's inevitable, the hobby will die!! It seems to me that many posters on this thread have found a way to avoid even attempting to do this because maybe they got the shaft like Mark. I say that people do care, otherwise this hobby would have died a long time ago. Turning someone on to music played on High End equipment is an act of sharing and spiritualism. It's not always a case of wanting to impress anyone with your equipment, it can be that you just want to turn on a friend/stranger/music lover/by presenting them with an opportunity for a better musical experience.