At our place FL and SFL are all done on my main system as that room is quiet and easy to relax within. When it comes to CL it’s all Sonos- there are a few in the house that can be moved around if needed (as well as outdoors). They’re great for that purpose. If all else fails I’ll queue up music on my Android phone. The only AL would be what my wife is playing on Sonos or the occasional unfortunate IPAD blast.
Audio gear, sonic quality when you listen in less (or non-) focused ways
I'm wondering about how folks listen to their audio, and to what degree the quality of the sound is important, or, perhaps how it differs.
Here are four kinds of listening I can think of. (Did I miss any?)
FL - Focused listening -- sitting at focal point, concentrating on music and/or acoustic qualities.
SFL - Semi-focused listening -- listening is the central but not only activity (sitting in front of audio, listening but also reading, playing games, emailing, etc.)
CL - Casual listening -- listening to music but also involved in equally important tasks (cooking, doing dishes, laundry, etc.)
AL - Accidental listening -- music is on but it is in the background, mostly (music at party, just on for ambience)
For the kinds of listening other than FL, what do hope your audio gear can produce? What kinds of tonalities, soundstage, lows/mids/highs, transient response, dynamics, etc. does it need to produce? Are there other things that this gear needs to do that is different than your main rig? How good does the sound need to be? (In other words, how cheap a solution are you willing to get away with for those other kinds of listening? What do you use?)