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what system musicians prefer? Do they care?

I have never aspired to be a musician, although I am very artistic.  I am bad at singing and never enjoyed dabbling at playing an instrument. But I enjoy listening to music tremendously and I always wondered if being a musician would improve my experience as a listener. It seems to me that musicians (good ones) would have a lot more expertise in sound, what is good quality sound, a good system, a high fidelity speaker.... but I have never seen any proof. Am I just imagining it? Are good musicians mediocre listeners? Are they not obsessed with good sound? Any musicians out there to comment?
One example I know is the  Cambridge Soundworks Mick Fleetwood Speaker System, which I finally purchased last year, I knew my collection would not be complete without it. It's evidence of great talents crossing paths: a  genious speaker designer Henry Kloss, and Mick Fleetwood, one of the greatest drummers of the century (and  the previous one). But I don't see musicians weighing in on what are good systems are, how much is it worth spending and what to focus on. It's much more like rich douchebags bragging about the price of their systems on these forums. 
gano
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
Certainly, there's got to be exceptions galore, but I've found over the years that musicians usually aren't audiophiles. Mostly they either spurn or just don't care about the accuracy of reproduction.  They'd rather spend their time and money elsewhere. They'd rather be playing/practicing than obsessing over things like soundstaging or spitty sibilants. 

With perhaps just one exception, every single one of my old rock-and-roll bandmates was more fixated on how they themselves played or sounded  on a recording than on anything else. How's MY tone? Shouldn't I be louder? Probably the only musician I ever hung around with who had a genuine appreciation for fidelity is Todd Garfinkle of MA Recordings.
ghdprentice
7,646 posts
 
Most musicians don’t care. There are a few notable exceptions. But typically creating music is about stringing notes together, melodies... the structure... the performance. If they hear that clearly that is enough. They spend time in studios... a very different kind of setup. So, personal playback it is not a passion. 
There are exceptions of course. 
robert53
498 posts
 
Most musicians I know will listen to music on anything. they're not interested in high end audio gear. They devote their time to practicing, writing, band rehearsals, recording and playing live. I agree with the post above. I remember reading an article about Tony Bennett years ago, which showed pics of his apartment in NYC, and his high end system. not an all out system, but a descent one. That's one exception and I thought it was pretty cool.
whipsaw
770 posts
 
Louis Armstrong had a pretty cool and high-end system back in the day:

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/louis-armstrongs-audio-rack-from-nyt-article.932987/


gano OP
286 posts
 
well, I guess it's a similar question to "what car racecar drivers drive". Sometimes they drive a minivan.

First off, I am sorry about the   rich douchebags comment. It was completely unnecessary. I am a poor child with audiophile system-envy.

But on the other hand I am still intrigued. Some musicians produce  super sharp and precise sound (like M Ward) and some a bit messy (like Jeff Lynne) and I assume it has to do with their listening preferences. (Both of them are my favorites and geniuses). And I can go on an on, would a speaker company benefit from having Dave Grohl review their latest model?
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