Doe you enjoy your listening to music and your system more with others or alone?


It’s no doubt that us as Audiophiles spend a lot of time listening to music by ourselves. It’s just the way
it’s, a hobby most others don’t understand. So do we prefer to listen by ourselves or is it more enjoyable 
with others? For myself, I generally enjoy listening by myself. Usually when another Audiophile friend is over listening it becomes more about the sound ( system ) than the music. Also, they only want to hear
music that brings out the best in the system and for myself let’s just listen to what’s playing. 
Non-Audiophiles tend to get bored easily if they don’t like the music, and can be even more picky about
what music you play for them. Non-Audiophiles put no value in the sound. They only want to hear their favorite music and that can be even more frustrating. At least acknowledge it ( sound ) even if you can’t hear the difference.
For myself it’s more enjoyable alone, but that doesn’t mean all the time, or does it?

hiendmmoe
I have a whole house system with a dedicated pair of speakers in each room. The music is playing whether there are guests or not. Of course I curate the mix for the pleasure of the majority depending on guest(s). Its all my music so its all good for me.
Sometimes with just one or two guests they may become particularly engaged with the music/sound itself and I can push the envelope and/or share something unusual. That can be extra fun.
I think it's a rare soulmate you find when someone enjoys music the way you do.  My friends make fun of me for shushing them to listen to a specific part of a record I put on.  But every once in  a while as I abandon the room full of conversation and focus on the music, I find a buddy that is living for that moment with me in the alternatively viscous world of the sound.  So even in a crowd of room I am alone with my music. It's just a bit more effort when others are around.  When you're alone you can set this atmosphere just as you like it. 
Typically, much more enjoyable alone because I like loud rock and certain songs simply must be played at high volume to have impact. But when it comes to listening with other people, it depends on who those people are. I have a husband and wife as friends (I used to work with the husband and he wrote stereo equipment reviews for a magazine) who are audiophiles and I very much enjoy listening with them. We take turns picking out songs and we point out parts of the songs that impress us or get us going. The husband prefers jazz more than I do but he likes classic rock too, so that works OK. I have had some younger friends over who are not audiophiles and they tend to get bored a lot more quickly. They start checking their phones and one time after about an hour, they decided they wanted to play board games instead. It didn't seem like they'd ever learned to just sit, listen, and appreciate. I'd like to have people over who can introduce me to good stuff I may not have heard, but I don't think there are too many of those (both people and songs).
When I visit my good friends out of town or out of state, it is always enjoyable to listen to their excellent systems, while have a good glass of wine.  That is great.

when I'm home, it is typically by myself and that is also very nice with wine and a good book.

So, it depends.  

When people are over for grilling or a wine tasting party at my house, or a family event, I typically don't turn the system on, unless someone wants to sit and listen and that is always a nice experience.

enjoy