Critical listening and altered states

Very interesting post thanks.

I am thinking that musical absorption is better description of what we audiophiles do than critical listening.

 Music absorption or immersion cannot coexist with a state of acoustic stress or dissatisfaction...

This is why to be put in an altered states of joy listening music Timbre perception must be optimal because it help a lot to make the union of the listener with the sound and then with the musical content affecting the body ONE experience.

Then if we do not lose our tendency to "critical listening" we cannot enter into the altered states without help (pot,beer, and friends)

It is why owning a system/room touching the  minimal acoustical threshold of satisfaction matter a lot... Acoustics, it is my opinion, matter more here than the gear price...

Absinthe.

Y'all are having way too much of funs...

Letting the cat out of Schrödinger's and replaced with an intensely chocolate heart attack major slice of cake came to this knotty coil last night.  Tempting, but not wanting to get into the 'having v. potential of consumption'....
All one gets is munchies...

Ah, Sound...immerse oneself into a pool of it....*S* ;)

Not to all's tastes, no doubt...keeps the dust off the drivers....

@mahgister 

Music absorption or immersion cannot coexist with a state of acoustic stress or dissatisfaction...

I can’t argue with this but I’m confused about how "absorption" relates to "altered states as related to what @hilde45  stated at the beginning of the thread:

Ok, this is not a question about relaxing, but about listening to evaluate how the system (or a piece of gear is sounding). 

In other words, can one evaluate a system's sonics while in an altered state that is not absorption? 

@stuartk 

Musical absorption is being in altered states of consciousness. As I posted above in the words of AI.

"In essence, musical absorption is a fascinating phenomenon where music can profoundly alter an individual’s state of consciousness, creating a unique blend of heightened attention, emotional response, and a sense of being transported to another realm. "

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