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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
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,457 posts
 
Thanks to the 2 great last posters...

I will only add that i am not a musician but a classical music lover of jazz and Indian and Iranian music...

They are 2 types of audiophiles for me in relation to the gear:

Those who search for the best acoustical rendition of timbre hues....

Those who will buy anything that will increase bass and details and sound pressure excitment....

Those who want that their gear sound like a musical instrument and those who want a live concert excitment....

Someone already said that without an array of subwoofers an audio system is " a transistor radio"...sic... 😊

In a word people listen sound pressure or details or listen music....

The classical musicians i encountered in my life were interested ONLY by timbre impression....

My only discovery in audio is that it takes only relatively good gear, not necessarily costly at all, to create a very good experience of timbre at the condition to study acoustic and applying it....

For sure there is a number of audiophile BETWEEN these 2 categories, but the majority is in these 2 categories.... I may be wrong but it is my experience...
jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
i concur wholeheartedly with the important and critical distinction between rock/electronic music musicians versus those who play acoustic instruments

just like folks who go to a ’live’ event in the meadowlands with 60,000 fans (pre virus of course)... yes it is sure live but you are listening to banks of huge pa speakers driven by harsh industrial amps... if that is your reference for ’live music’ then you will think certain speakers and gear sound just right

otoh, you go to village vanguard or the met or a live symphony and hear unamplified or minimally amplified music, hear a singer’s voice, grand piano, acoustic bass or snare drum propogate naturally through the room to your ears, your reference would be entirely different
wolf_garcia
6,776 posts
 
I’ve been a professional musician since the 60s and also (or at least pre-pandemic) mix smaller venue concert sound. Among working musicians it’s pretty much like everybody else...most don’t care about having a high end sound hobby. That’s just how it is...I know a few who clearly are into it, but that has zero to do with how much time they supposedly have or don’t have, or how great they are. Example...Peter Washington is a first call NYC jazz bass player (Bill Charlap trio, etc, etc.) and is way into high end...loves it...tubes, big Tannoys...Also a lot of serious players have home recording rigs that put most residential 2 channel systems to shame, so there’s that.
sheridanmartinj
50 posts
 
Frogman what an outstanding thread, me being an ex musician starting at the age of 8 in the church, elementary school, high school, Marine corps field, dance and jazz band ending up back into the church; I couldn`t have expound explicated or elucidated any clearer outstanding.
fatdaddy2
441 posts
 
With a few exceptions, most musician's systems I've read about are mid-fi at best.  (a) they're more interested (and dependent on) making music than listening to it, (b) they never had anyone expose them to great-sounding gear, (c) most musicians are barely getting by working multiple gigs just to survive and spending $$$ on gear isn't at the top of their list.
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