Why do some think "music" (not gear, trading, etc.) is the ultimate end?

People do sit, stare, and look at cars, not running. 

Imagine who sits and looks at their audio gear, turned off, and not playing music. Who wants to admit to that, hahah :) 

I have no dog in this fight, as my live and let live position is that how you enjoy a hobby and why you enjoy it is so very personal.

Some people fish for the sport, others for the eating, others to get away from people.  I'm not here to judge them either.

I have no dog in this fight either and I have seen pictures of the insides of  amplifiers with people saying things like look at those beautiful mosfets or those beautiful toroids.

I suspect that many people are so afraid that the music is going to get lost that they make it the only or exclusive thing that is valued in the equation... but function and design are part of it too. At least for me.

I got 5 minutes to do everything I can. This is how it’s gonna play out..

The vinyl, 3 pictures, the dog, the bunny, the wife, and my hat, kinda in that order. Insurance will have to fix the rest...

You can have every car on the planet.
because I want a chauffeur and a Roller. Back seat please.

With a very nice stereo, that plays RtR, Vinyl and anything else I want. gosh I can dream...

After the mess got have some tunes, might as well have some nice one. Onward James..

WAR "Born in a Hurricane", that will do...

Regards

I don't know that the music is any more important than the gear- or the other way around. How could it be? As Robert Harley explains in his so excellent it should be required reading The Complete Guide to High End Audio, music is unique among communications in that the medium and the message are inseparable. Music can be written on a page but it is much more than a string of notes. Systems that are better are literally playing different music than lesser systems. 

Everyone knows this. Its one of the most common things people say with a good upgrade, they are hearing new things, things they never noticed before, etc.

Recently four audiophiles drove up from Portland to hear my system. The whole time I'm asking them what do you want to hear? Finally at the end one asked me to play my one special show off the system recording. I was actually kind of flummoxed. If the system is good enough its no longer the system you are showing off. The job of the system is to reproduce music. Not make. Reproduce. The whole idea of showing off like that, well think about it. Its like Arnold posing. He's showing off his muscles. But there is a lot more to Arnold than big muscles. Proved it by becoming a movie star and governor. I could play Bela Fleck Flight of the Cosmic Hippos, show off awesome bass. Not a lot of music content. Might as well be playing test tones. Flex, look at my guns! (Anchorman.)    

Of course music not gear is the ultimate end. How can anyone be so dense as to not see this? The ultimate goal is a system that disappears leaving only the music. Which cannot happen without a really good system. So of course the system is the ultimate end. How can anyone be so dense as to not see this?