Already tons of good points made in this thread, obviously.
I have recently noticed the rather strange, yet somehow incredibly addicting, phenomenon of High End Audio being "displayed and demoed" on youtube. That is, both owners of stereo systems "playing" the system for the viewer, and then
tons and tons of video of systems playing music at high end audio shows.
Putting aside the issue of trying to ascertain a system's sound vie youtube...:-)...one thing that struck me in watching them reminded me of this thread:
When you see video of a bunch of audiophiles listening to high end systems, it does tend to invoke some of the negative cliche's. Mostly, it's a bunch of nerdy, middle aged white guys, leaning forward in their chairs, motionless, eyes closed or with furrowed brows, concentrating on the sound (or music). It looks, frankly, sort of stuffy and joyless, and not very social at all.
Now, I put on my system at home and love it. But, yeah, it's not easily amenable to a relaxed sociable setting, the type of which most people enjoy. I mean, if you are talking to someone over the sound, you are mostly missing the types of sonic features most of us are paying for in the first place.
I totally get why this is not a popular pass time, especially these days.
