Taking time (and time outs) to enjoy the ride...

This is what makes it so hard. The whole point is to be lost, carried away, and enjoying the music. But no one ever was wrapt and swept away by the glorious music pouring forth from their flip-phone. So a certain level of fidelity is called for. 

But in order to find something better it helps to set aside time to listen and evaluate- listen to the system. Which in order to do this well is not just listening to the system but to each component part of the system as well. Pretty much the exact opposite of listening to the music. 

For a long time in the 90's it seemed I was almost always listening to the system. Was deep in audiophilia nervosa. Then one day auditioning a McCormack DNA1 amp I found myself lost in the music, literally foot-tapping, and it suddenly dawned on me this is it! This is what it's all about! Not the glossary of terms. This feeling! 

It is possible, once you get the hang of it, to have this zen-like ability to flip back and forth, enjoying, evaluating, at will. Holy Grail. 

@millercarbon EXACTLY! It is truly a "feeling". Best possible way to describe it and you just know it when it happens. This is exactly what happened to me when I first brought home my Dynaudio Audience 82's 20+ years ago. Soon as I sat for that first critical listen with them in my home I "felt" it. I was done and my search was over. From then on it was all about the music :)

Again thank you for sharing, brilliant in its simplicity yet so very powerful:)

Great points to all. One of my favorite 'feelings' when listening to my music/system is when I get actual goosebumps. It doesn't happen all the time---but when it does, it's truly moving. 

For whatever reason I never "suffered" the dreaded nervosa of our ilk.
It was always about the music to me.  Yes, I love the equipment but very rarely do I see a "gotta have" piece, nor do I actively search it out.

I was driven by dollars, too many other considerations took precedent.
Now I find myself with a very satisfying system that I listen to music with.

While listening and getting lost in the music I have at times heard something that sounded not quite right which makes me listen to the system for a bit.  And let me add a third term to Parsons quote, there is the equipment, the music and the environment as well.  At times I find myself listening to the room for the same reasons stated above.

All is well...let the music play!

Regards,
barts

I bring this up only because I had to sell all my gear after my divorce 17 years ago. Just within the last 2 years have I gotten back into Audio/HT. My current quest was to regain that "feeling" again. And only until very recently have I gotten it back, but it's taken 2 years and quite a few tweaks. But this whole time was spent just overanalyzing and searching and fretting. At the very least I knew where to start - Dynaudio. However the Excite's just didn't get me back there. So I tried Evoke - yes that got me much closer, and now adding a Schiit Bifrost 2 (and going back to cd listening) has brought back that feeling and the goosebumps. But for the past 2 years I have spent hundreds of hours listening not at all to the music but the system (and truth be told it sounded amazing but just didn't give me that feeling that I so vividly remember from 20 years ago). When truthfully I should have stopped overanalyzing and enjoyed the ride a bit more. It was always that 'what is wrong, why is this different'??? I don't know maybe 20 more hard years on my ears and a completely different house and environment may be factors:)..But reminders to always try and enjoy the journey (whatever journey it is), even the bumps is something for me at least, I need to make a conscience effort to do...That's why I so appreciated millercarbon posting that quote...