What is Musicality?

Sabai - Are you suggesting that musicians are better listeners? Nothing can be further from the truth. I have a friend who is jazz musician with degree in music (oboe) but he enjoys playing more than listening. My brother on the other hand finds Nirvana in listening to music from all over the world, from ancient to modern - being even almost an expert in Indian Classical music. He never played any instrument nor he was ever interested. He cannot even sing in tune. Music to him is his whole life.

Creating, Performing, and Receiving are separate things. Performers are not the best receivers of music, composers are not the best performers etc. There are types of music that cannot be even performed by western musicians and types of music that cannot be performed at all (Conlon Nancarrow studies for player piano) - I still enjoy it.

I don't like the term musical when it's applied to equipment. I think it's just a pretentious way of saying "I like it."

Kijanki - I am not suggesting that at all. In fact, I agree with you completely. I have a good friend who is an excellent musician - a guitarist and singer. He has been performing professionally since the 1960s and has backed up many very well-known groups. I was surprised one day to discover that he is really not a very good listener at all when we got together to appreciate all the upgrades I had made to my system which I thought were quite impressive. He payed slight interest to the improved quality of sound that my system was producing and it seemed like the whole thing just passed him over. In fact my own musicianship was so mediocre that, after struggling with classical piano for 12 years, I threw in the towel - about 12 years before I should have. My piano teacher always used to tell me I should be a singer and I did in fact become a singer - accompanying the music that has emanated from the various systems I have owned over the years.

Sabai

Musicality is simple to define for me.

It means your system sounds like music, music that draws you into the enjoyment and involvement of and in it.

It's the opposite of "sounding like a stereo system" which is obviously and painfully electronically recreating the music in an artificial sounding way.

Tvad nailed it..

IMO, a musical system is one that let's you forget about the equipment and allows you to listen to the music without analyzing the sound. Simple as that.

I used to be an audiophile, but I think the older I get and the more gear I EXPERIENCE the more I just want a system that let's me enjoy my music and stop trying to extract that last ounce of something sonically.

I'm on board with those who define the term to mean the disappearing act that well-assembled system is capable of - when the system is gone and all that's there is the music...it is about engagement. My acid test for a system is how easy it is to get up and walk away from it, vs how much it has you riveted to the music and emotions. Musicality, for me, has everything to do with that.

I also have very similar experiences with many musicians I know - they listen in a completely different way than I do and are far more particular about content, seeming to have a more narrow set of preferences. My wife was trained as a musician (though no longer plays) and comes from a family of classical musicians. She describes her experience of music in the way her mind will become locked into the progression of the notes and follow them, anticipating the next line. In this way, for her, it is difficult for her to concentrate on other things when music is playing. I would prefer to having music playing as a soundtrack to pretty much everything in life. It enhances most things for me, and I work and function better with than without. I've never been very musical myself, and don't play any instruments or read music, but have had a lifelong passion for listening to music.

Critical listening of a system, for me is the antithesis of enjoying music. If I am listening for the quality of components or changes in components I find it is the farthest removed from enjoying the music as I can be. I try to do that as infrequently as possible as it is really not that enjoyable for me simply for that reason alone. It's like having sex without any connection or emotion. The contrast to the opposite experience is quite stark.