Has audiophilia changed your music taste?

Sugarbrie said it best.

"...companies were using specially recorded CD's to show off their gear. The performances from a musicians standpoint on many of them made my skin crawl."

I think we've all purchased "specially recorded" music in one shape or form. Every audiophile must own at least one Telarc, GRP, Concord or other "boutique" audiophile recording.

At some point we all want to see what our systems are capable of and, hence, look for a vehicle to test it...audiophile recordings. Unfortunately, many (most) of these are the most dreadfully boring, unimaginative, poorly performed recordings going. Spyro Gyra? David Benoit? Patricia Barber? Come on guys (and gals). If Patricia Barber's recordings weren't so good, I sincerely doubt that most of you would be sitting around listening to her screaching and wailing.

So I guess the short answer is yes and no. It would seem that there are two camps in this hobby. Those that love music and those that love high end audio. Those who love music seek out equipment that can serve the music best. Those who love equipment seek out "music" that serves their equipment best.

As a musician, it's easier to listen to a poorly recorded great performance than it is to listen to a greatly recorded poor performance.

-Dan

Dan- "As a musician, it's easier to listen to a poorly recorded great performance than it is to listen to a greatly recorded poor performance"

This applies to everyone, methinks, not only musicians...??

I'd further propose, as a music"phile", that a greatly recorded poor performance is bearable for a while, but a poorly recorded poor performance is instantly deadly.

I think it is too simplistic to break it down into a
convenient, but artificial split between those who listen
to music and those who listen to their systems. This
sounds to me like typical one-ups-man-ship rather than
an attempt to understand why some posters' musical tastes
have changed. There's a world of difference between
Audiophile tripe that is the musical equivilent of those
recordings of trains and such that some of our fathers
bought to hear the effects of stereo, and Mahler, Coltrane,
Max Roach, Clifford Brown, early Ray Charles, Robert
Johnson, Muddy Waters, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Aretha
Franklin, Early Staple Singers, Charlie Patton, and the
list goes on and on and on....

That ain't music, but the stuff you listened to when you
were 17 is? Well..........okay. I can accept that this may be one's "reality." But, I would advise -- don't kid yourself into believing this is true for everyone. To do so would indicate that not only haven't one's musical tastes changed, but neither has one's youthful solipsistic world view.

Rsbeck: I'm not saying that one type of music or system is better than any other. Nor am i saying that people's tastes and attitudes don't change with time. What i am saying is that a good system should allow you to listen to whatever you want, whenever you want. You should also be able to enjoy those recordings AND listen as deeply into them as you would like.

Obviously, we all place different values on music reproduction. Some may prefer very specific imaging, some may prefer impact / dynamic range, others may value harmonic and timbral accuracy, etc... I think that as one builds a system that highlights one of those specific areas, the natural inclination is to select discs that allow that virtue to shine through, possibly at the expense of other areas of performance / enjoyability. As such, it is a fine line / balancing act that is required to obtain a well rounded system that works well with a variety of recordings and types of music. Limiting yourself to only top notch recordings and / or a very select range of music that highlights specific aspects of system performance would be pretty boring in my opinion. Variety ( especially in music ) is one of the great joys in life. Why limit yourself through the use of a limiting system or musical selections ? Sean
>

I've been an audio salesman--I know what "audiophiles" listen to.

Sean, you forgot to mention *intimacy*. Nearfield is the ticket to intimacy...

Who is Patricia Barber anyway?
Dan Wright said he tested my modded Swans with Patricia Barber--I sent him a copy of a heavy duty salsa CD. I was worried he would be using some audiophile music, so I took the initiative.

As for musical taste, no, my musical taste has nothing to do with my gear. What my gear delivers me is *intimacy*.