Why Don't More People Into Music Reproduction At Home Play Around With Musical Instruments

mirolab -- to me, part of the fear you see from non-musicians holding an instrument is simply a matter of the non-musician being afraid they're going to drop your precious instrument, destroying a friendship and being millions of bucks in debt to you.  In any event, yes, I'm happy to intimidate anybody into holding & trying my two cheaper fiddles, but I've yet to let them come close to the expensive one...which truly ain't very expensive, in any case.

I think alot of people here do either play or played an instrument. But just a love for music is enough. 

@edcyn  " but if you’re a working fiddler you can do more than fine when you got five figures in your pocket."

Got to laugh at this one.  My son was a concert violinist, and studied through college then quit to get a steady job (software engineer).  We were orchestra parents (as opposed to soccer, or football parents) and schlepped him around to concerts and workshops all over the Country.  I remember an occasion when we were at our local Renaissance Festival here in Colorado, my son was 7, and he was watching a "working fiddler" playing Celtic music in costume.  Got to talking to him about when he started, and how he started playing.  He chuckled and said he was a Suzuki kid, learned to read music, and taught himself the rest.  He then said he never spent more than $100 on a fiddle.  Interesting guy, funny, and a great fiddle player.

As for my son, he does not have a fine audio system, does not "get" my fascination with audio, and listens to his music on earbuds and computer speakers.  I admire him, and envious that he can enjoy his music without angst and the constant obsession with equipment and systems, and no, you do not need to play around with an instrument to be an audiophile and appreciate good sound, but you do need a degree of pathology going on.
         

I play piano (not well) and have sung in multiple city choirs for the past 47 years.  I sight read and have excellent singers pitch.  I am a part time recording engineer for a symphony, chamber group and multiple choirs.   I prefer following scores of piano music as available on YouTube (great videos of played piano with scores rolling to the music).   My sister who is definitely not an audiophile and doesn't use the equipment I set up for her (listens to her car ratio and iPhone) is an operatic singer, plays piano and saxophone beautifully.  Some people prefer making music than listening to others in high fidelity.  I prefer listening to others make music in high fidelity and performing music to the best of my ability.

I’m both an engineer and a performing musician, which is why it was natural that I live my life as an audiophile. I’ve been doing location recording for more than 40 years. My wife is a professional violinist here in the San Francisco area. The link I am showing here is of a concert her string quartet did last August with guest pianist, Carl Blake,  of the Dvoark Piano Quintet. It’s a gorgeous piece and one I feel worthy of being presented on any hi-end audio system.

Y’ll who just buy gear and tweak with it are missing out on half the fun by not engineering your own recording. The web page has links to all four movements in 24/96 resolution and you’re welcome to download them by right clicking the link. The photo on the page shows the ensemble and the microphones in an ORTF configuration, so you can see for yourself where everyone is sitting and then imagine that in your listening space.

Enjoy.

Temescal String Quartet - Dvorak Piano Quintet