Why Don't More People Love Audio?

there is a disnction between music and sound. music is everywhere, varying in sound quality. enjoying music does not require an expensive stereo system. many forget that people enjoyed music via the most basic , i.e., low fidelity media, in the past and perhaps in the present.

you will not convince them that you enjoy your music because you have an expensive stereo. the same people may not enjoy their music more on your expesnive stereo system, although they may admit that your stereo system sounds better than their "personal stereo" purchased for say, 200 at best buy or circuit city.

in order to engender audiophilia, one must losee all elitist attitudes that one can't enjoy music on a poor sounding stereo system. do not be supercilious when relating to people who use i pods or walkman devices.

exposure is the best that one can do. lead the horse to water. if the horse wants to pursue the hobby, encourage the horse but don't criticize.

above all, realize the distinction between enjoying musical content and the "sound" of the music. they are separate issues for most people.

I think people are more into home theater and A/V gear because their more into the overall experience of watching a show or movie. There's just no visual experience to listening to a home Hi-Fi as opposed to live music. They don't know what to look at while listening to music and end up getting bored. To them, music is for the background while you do something else.

Us audiophiles really focus on the music and listen critically. We know about the music and what to listen for, we think about all spects of the sound- where the saxophone is relative to the piano on the soundstage, the attack and decay of the note, the sizzle of the cymbal, the sound of the stick on the snare drum, etc. I often imagine I'm in Birdland in the 1950s listening to Coltrane and his band live (a martini helps this experience).

In other words there is a cerebral and emotional experience that peaks our interests. For us it is not just the notes being played, but the pureness of the tone that has an emotional impact. That is why we could not possibly be satisfied with MP3 players for a real listening experience. This seems to be lost on the majority of the music listening public.

You won't see the average person doing real listening sessions because there is no cerebral connection and their mind starts to wander and they lose interest.

I have a laptop that has software called Gallery Player that plays a slide show of famous works of art and photographs on my big screen TV. You can do playlists like an iPod with it. I have set up different playlists of images for different types of music (for example, classic works of art while playing classical music or old B & W photographs of NYC with jazz). I find that playing this when people are at my house while the music is playing helps hold their interest.

There are those who have an innate drive to delve into subtle auditory exploration with imagination, and there are those who do not. They can be smart, creative, or complex, but if a person is not an 'audio explorer' then no amount of convincing can get them into it. I personally think it is hard wired in the brain.

The quality of sound is very important for me because I play acoustic piano.

Anyone who plays a musical instrument is much more likely to demand outstanding sound from an audio system.

Unfortunately relatively few people play because it requires lots of focus and discipline, and life offers so many other distractions. As with surfing the web, the next unreality is but a mouseclick away!

Merlinus, I'll bet before long, we'll be be able to buy a little Yarmulke with electodes that plug into your DAC's digital out; and with properly recorded discs, you'll be able to actually experience BEING Glenn Gould playing Bach, as you listen to "yourself" playing; or maybe Pavarroti singing Verde? Ya think??