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Do You Love Music or Do You Love Hi-Fi?

I know a lot of hi-fi enthusiasts who seem to have poor taste in music but can talk all day about their audio gear. I got into the high end audio hobby because of my love for music first and foremost, and this has done a pretty good job in guiding my decisions around what equipment to buy. Don't get me wrong, I Jones really hard on gear, but at the end of the day it's not about the gear but how great the music I love sounds on the gear I buy. I study music and learn all I can to discover new music to enjoy, regardless of the genre, but I am certain that I will not be investing in the latest Jennifer Warnes vinyl re-issues. I also wonder why Mo-Fi issued the first three Foreigner albums on vinyl. Are there really that many hard core audiophiles asking for this? There are so many great recordings that are begging for the high end vinyl treatment, it makes me wonder who these people are making decisions about what to release on these labels? I'm sure the entire Don Henley catalog is coming soon from one of these labels.
OK, I'm done ranting, but I really do want to hear what others think about this. Or is it just me? Is it about the gear or is it about the music for you?
128x128snackeyp
hiho
451 posts
 
12-23-11: Kevvwill: "I once did a "random" play on my portable, and listed the first 30 songs that came up. People thought I was kidding! It was everything from Haydn's "Nelson" mass to Faiz Ali Faiz (amazing qawwal, next Nusrat Ali Khan), the Minutemen, Olivia Newton-John, Melt-Banana, Sinatra, Wu-Tang, Peter Brotzmann etc, etc."

I love your musical choices, particularly Melt Banana and Peter Brotzmann. Was it "Machine Gun"?

Yes, you can have both, music and hi-fi... and fun! :)

_______
mantisory
95 posts
 
I can completely enjoy good music when it plays on my a.m. radio in the car....it really doesn't matter to me because good music touches parts of my brain no matter how it is presented, including even some old classic journey tunes...
I also like hi-fi because it can really make things sound special, but it's really second place and only serves to deliver the musical message.
byron
kevvwill
70 posts
 
Hiho, actually it was the title track from "F*** de Boere," a long out-of-print disc that also contains an early version of the great "Machine Gun." I make a point of seeing Brotzmann every time he comes to Chicago which is, thankfully, very often thanks to his fondness for collaborating with the local players, such as Ken Vandermark, Hamid Drake, etc.
countingbackwards
138 posts
 
IMHO, you can't be a HiFi fan without first being a music fan. The HiFi is just a conduit to get closer to the music that you love.
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp OP
455 posts
 
I now realize that I should have titled this thread "Do you have good taste in hi-fi but bad taste in music?" because I was trying to make two or three points when I started writing it. I was annoyed by the number of unworthy music titles being re-issued on high grade vinyl and SACD. Of course I know "unworthy" is highly subjective but I believe that in general I have very good taste in music and am worthy to make judgement calls like this. Others may disagree.
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