Bright or Dim?

@tooblue I totally agree because there is definitely a difference to me. However my car also seems to ride better when it clean lol. I know that’s  more of a psychological thing, but when it comes to this it seems to be more of an actual change. 

Nice. I will have to try that.

@gdnrbob 
“I found out that listening in the dark allowed me not only to 'see' the soundstage better, but to also concentrate on the music.”

Bob Sometimes I listen with only the lights of the gear on and that is a very pleasant listening experience. However I don’t listen to records that way. I will play my reel to reel in almost darkness tho. 

I have various lighting in my room. I have 3 of the tall paper shade lights I got from Ikea that have dimmers on the cords. These seem to be much quieter than the dimmers I have on the wall switches. With these lights I can get the room just perfect and I can also still see how to Change records etc. for streaming, CDs and tapes I do like to listen in almost darkness. My Mckintosh meters also add nice atmosphere as they are quite brite in a dark room. 

Does anyone use these in your room: https://www.amazon.com/Assistant-Amazon-Multicolor-Dimmable-Required/dp/B07B4SMYBH/ref=asc_df_B07B4S...

Geoff

"Unplugging the fridge oft results in better sound, too. A much bigger mystery is why taking all cell phones outside improves the sound. "

My rack is on a dedicated circuit. However We have 2 refrigerators and a huge Freezer in the garage. One of the refrigerators is in the adjacent room to my listening room. I have not had an issue with interference from it that I know of but I had wondered about that. Unplugging it... well if I did that I would be sleeping outside if the wife ever found out lol. 

@douglas_schroeder 

"My audio systems sound uniformly superb whether the light is on or dimmed. :)"

I hear you on that Doug. Maybe I should not use the term "sounds better" Maybe I should have said " more pleasurable listening experience" Just seems that like another poster said you have less distractions. Not sure what lends itself to the phenomenon. 

Dweller
"The colors..." "The colors..."

I have a friend that uses the smart lights and I think its pretty cool that you can make them any color you want. Just don't want to go disco lol. Actually not even sure what color I would make them, or if I would like the whole room to be filled with colored lights, but maybe in a lamp or two might be pretty nice. I know one thing. Delta airlines uses these awful mood lighting on some of their aircraft and whatever shade of blue they use its rather hard on the eyes. But if I could find that right color it might be nice when listening to music. 

Geoff not sure if you realized it. It this time it’s supposed to be a non controversial post lol. 

@glupson haha. Yep. Agreed. Maybe sounds better is not a good way to phrase it. Im sure that " music" sounds the exact same unless audio equipment knows when its dark or light lol. So lets go with that..."more enjoyable" That way its totally subjective and no-one is wrong! wow that might be a first in audiophile history lol. Oh and I do agree about the car thing. 

@geoffkait well it was more of a comment. For that matter neither does Micro Arcing but who’s counting :)

if You want to discus this further send me a private msg so we don’t waste others time  that actually may be intersted in the topic. Not going to waste there time bickering with you about something between you and I. 

@elizabeth All day? Must be nice. I wish I could listen to music all day everyday. Spoken like a retiree (thats just a guess no harm meant) 

Intersting comments. I agree that dim lighting when listening to music allows one to focus more on the music. There is a lot going on in the brain while enjoying music. According to several articles I have read suggests that we use more areas of the brain when listening to music then doing most tasks. For example here is a excerpt of a finding by Stamford University on the subject: 
“A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory (Baker, Mitzi. "Music moves brain to pay attention, Stanford study finds.”

anothrr article I read suggests that people who have had head injuries that have left a person unable to tie their own shoes can compose and be able to play musical masterpieces on certain instruments. 

If if you think about how we can anticipate with great certainty of a note to follow in a song we have never heard etc. these are amazing abilities we as humans have in regards to music and how important it is in our lives. 

So I think as many here have said here,  lower lighting causes less distractions and we can tap into the music we are listening to easier. It’s an icrediblly intersting topic and I’m very interested in what goes on in our heads when we listen. 

You know someone told me that you like to go around this forum keeping up mess. Really.  Do you even I kw how to have fun? I’m sure there are ones things you can be doing.  It’s people like you that give the term audiophile a negative connotation. 

@tastyfreeze 

“I thought it was how some tubes get classified.”

How is that?

How the heck did we go from listening to music in a dimly lit room to his crap. Incredible. 

david_ten

"This is about the ability to center oneself and the ability to direct and isolate focus. Those good at it can do so under remarkable conditions or circumstances."

Thats a excellent point. Never thought of it that  way. 

@nonoise LOL no you did not do that.... too funny.

@elizabeth

"Yes am retired..Nine years now. All I do is lay around, listen to music. I am old..."

Thats whats up. Congratulations. You deserve to to exactly what you want to do if you have worked to be able to retire. I want to be just like you when I grow up :) Your not old...you’re wise. How about that.

Ok so I think this is in line with this topic. I have incorporated a lava lamp into he equation. With the lights even dimmer and the lava lamp on makes quite an interesting way to listen to your favorite music (mine being jazz) not sure it would have quite the same effect as listing to Rock.. 

Ok So here is a question. Does the genre determine if the room is better dim or lit? I would think Rock especially some Stones or Hendrix for example would maybe sound better in a brighter environment. No?? How about Sabbath or Parliament.. Would that dictate?

"Lights off is very real and very physiological when it comes to attention paid via hearing. Human hearing is an alarm system which never sleeps. But it does vary in the brain power allocated to it.

At night it can save your life, so when dark, it becomes highly attuned. Highly. Shut off the conscious mind and the eyes, then the hearing really perks up. Maximum attention, maximum brain power applied, when it comes to sustained darkness. It is an autonomous function or process, for the most part. Outside of your conscious control, to a notable degree. Just like all parts of our day to day cyclic but varied (in level) functions.

It’s built right into you. Core function."


Nice. Makes perfect sense to me. No authority on the matter but makes sense. I was thinking along those lines in my opening post. It just seems like as the environment gets darker the hearing gets more sensitive which in tern makes the music sound that much better. Add a little color to that and ...pure nirvana 

@elizabeth 

Hey Elizabeth. This is a little off topic but question for you. You say you listen to music all day and all night. So do you turn on your system on in the morning and leave it on all day until you go to bed even when you run out for an errand? Just curious. I turn my system on and leave  it on all day. I only turn it off if I know i'm either not going to listen that day or I know I will be gone most of the day. Im sure that has been a topic of discussion someplace on this forum but thought I would sneak a quick off topic question in. Im sure this could be a topic all by itself. 

@elizabeth nice

@larry5729 

"For the past 31 years we used our living room twice a year. We referred to it as our museum. Now we call it our music room."

Larry your story sound exactly like mine. Up until the past 2 years we NEVER went in our living room. I used to tell my wife all the time "lets turn it into an office or something" It seemed like such a waste of space. Maybe thats why home builders stopped building houses with formal living rooms. Anyway. I purchased a nice system to go in that space and now I use it almost daily. Plus I have two places in my home to get some solitude. Best decision I have made, and the WAF was good because I call that system "her" system lol. Hey do what you have to do right.. lol

@stringreen  

"Do they sell any of the old 100 watt bulbs anymore?"

https://www.amazon.com/100-Watt-Rough-Service-Lumens/dp/B00C4UYLDG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=154612...

This is the only place I can find them. So I usually order a bunch.

LoL. 

@stevecham

you know interesting enough I never listen to music with my eyes closed. I will fall asleep. Also I would not be able to keep them closed in a brightly lit room. I guess I have thin eyelid syndrome or something :). I like doing everything with the lights low. My wife is always on me about turning the lights down. She likes bright, well lit rooms. I am more like a vampire. However she likes the blinds in the house closed and I want them open during the day. Go figure. I’m just weird like that I guess so when I comes to listening to music I have to have the lights dimmed else it just does not work for me.

LoL. I was just waiting LOL. 

@geoffkait  

i knew new you would not be able to pass that one up. 😂

@elizabeth  

"Sadly I am on the laptop way too much and I notice it really cuts the depth of listening"

let the Church say Amen

@geoffkait 

Luminist Speaker Cables $25,500

Don’t you mean 2,500.00. I don’t think they were $25k. 

@geoffkait

I digress. I did see a pair starting at $17k so your most likely correct. 

https://www.thecableco.com/25th-anniversary-luminist-speaker-cable-pair.html