Interesting phenomenon. One thing which will loop me out of this situation is planning out some extended listening which will provide not just entertainment but a path -- e.g. "Listen to all 9 Beethoven Symphonies" or "compare and contrast 5 different versions of Autumn Leaves," or "try out 5 jazz singers you've never listened to before."
In other words, without some kind of listening agenda, it's too easy for me to fall back into critical listening to audio. The best thing for me is to find a way to alternate between gear-listening and music-listening.
And all the stuff that Mahgister said is fine about room stuff, but that is really askew of what you are posting about, as I understand it -- namely, the psychology of getting out of a certain "grass is always greener" trap. The elaborate experiments Mahgister describes sounds like just as much of a trap, however inexpensive it is.
In other words, without some kind of listening agenda, it's too easy for me to fall back into critical listening to audio. The best thing for me is to find a way to alternate between gear-listening and music-listening.
And all the stuff that Mahgister said is fine about room stuff, but that is really askew of what you are posting about, as I understand it -- namely, the psychology of getting out of a certain "grass is always greener" trap. The elaborate experiments Mahgister describes sounds like just as much of a trap, however inexpensive it is.