Is a highly discerning system enjoyable?

The thread we’ve all been waiting for :) Kidding aside, this is a great point of discussion. I think there are two ways to answer.

1. Some (maybe most in active forums) listen to their equipment and can pursue resolving clarity at the expense of all other considerations. Their actual hobby is defined by the equipment in some way or another…sometimes to the point of being vulnerable to inaudible ultra expensive snake oil. I don’t necessarily think it’s an issue of ego gratification but there’s some part of it that can come across as prideful in discussion.

2. Others (my category) greatly enjoy this hobby, appreciate all the knowledge and technology, spend more than the average consumer, but take our joy from the musicality or have an affection for some cultural connection to a certain era of hifi or specific style of music.

People like me land in the middle. I love the era of early pro audio solid state analog power. Love the instrumentation of Muscle Shoals, Stax, Memphis and Chess Records studios. Imprinted by the sound of big hard to drive cabinets like AR3, Infinity and JBL big baffle speakers. But my lifestyle doesn’t allow for the time, expense or space needed to do justice to vinyl, which makes me a digital streamer who loves throwback analog output, LOL

i am a happy camper with something less than state of the art resolution…but my well tuned Crown high voltage SS amp, fed by an ESS Sabre DAC in a thoughtful gain stack into a pair of brilliant Wharfedale Lintons are perfect in my view.

The expertise in this forum is amazing and has really guided my projects, even if I’ve landed somewhere in “good enough musicality” category in pursuit of perfect reproduction. My stuff delivers a balanced enjoyable experience without distortion for under $2K.

"One sees what is in back of their eyes, not what is in front of their eyes". The same holds true for the ears. I would guess most often we hear want we want to hear....what we fabricate in our mind. Most people who would listen to Bose 901 speakers may have already decided how they sound before the speakers produce sound.

Slight hijack about quality of recordings. I’ve had the time and funds lately to add an ESS Sabre DAC equipped Bluetooth receiver while breaking in my Lintons. This led to extra music time than typical.

Been impressed with musicality of recent acoustic Americana recordings…the sphere around Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan is producing cuts with really good sound stages, mixing acoustic and amplified instruments and vocals that go back and forth between coming forward and blending with the ensemble.

Improving my DAC and speaker has made these artists more interesting.

Most early pop music was mixed for car or jukebox listening.  Listening to a Phil Spector production on a fancy rig never does right to me.  That’s not the fault of the system

Most "older" audiophiles have switched from SS to tubes because they simply are more "Musical".....less detail but more pure enjoyment...and isn’t that really why we’re here.......And there’s lots of high quality speakers that run on that lower tube power. If the First Watt isn’t good...who cares what the rest of the watts are doing.