Has your audio system gotten you into new music?

Yes, this holds true for me. I now listen to a lot of classical, as well as jazz and female vocals.

Absolutely. I listen to a lot more "small group" music now--chamber music, live acoustic sets, jazz quartets, etc. As my system has gotten better at reproducing the sounds of individual instruments and capturing the musicianship of live artists I've definitely been drawn to those types of recordings.

e

Absolutely. I will listen to almost anything now just to hear what it sounds like.

I think propensity to listen to otherwise unfamiliar music is a good indicator when things are going right.

For me, the influence of new music has come mostly from two sources-traveling & hearing what other folks are playing (or suggesting). I traveled around the country for many yrs. & listened to the radio for the most part. I had a little tape recorder & would get the name of the song & try & locate the album. Sometimes I was able to track it down, sometimes not.

I think even more influential has been visiting other peoples homes & listening to their music. If something has piqued my interest I write down what I've heard so I can look it up. I will sometimes make a purchase right away.

Having a nice system helps you enjoy your music selection but I would have to say the system in itself didn't open me up for different genres, rather, I'd have to say being more accepting of these different genres over my "favorites" has allowed me to appreciate them.

Absolutely here too. Music genres can be distinguished from one another by the degree to which superior resolution is a requirement for the appreciation of their nuances.

To answer your "title" question, absolutely YES. One of the main reasons I have a music system is to learn and listen to new music, including older music that is new to me.

As long as you don't over tune it to excel for particular genres. I once had the big Tannoys driven by some fine SET amps. They were truly magical with small acoustic ensembles, vocals etc. It was when I throw fusion jazz, hard pop, rock and the likes that they revealed their shortcomings - lacking PRAT, staging, and all. So basically, prioritize and let your music dictate your system - not otherwise. But a resounding Yes, a nicely well balanced set up would definitely widen your music horizon.

Another resounding YES. A year and a half after getting Ohm Micro Walsh Talls, and I still listen to music more than at any other time in my life. Female vocals more than anything else, for that matter.

I also seem to have found an un-looked for appreciation of well-recorded bluegrass and (gasp) modern folk.

Absolutely yes.
Of the last 20 CD's I have bought($1-$2/ea at pawn shop), 15 have been female artists. I have always liked female singer/songwriters but have really started to enjoy them and pure female vocalists more and more.

Some of my recent aquisitions are:
Indigo Girls,Tori Amos,The Corrs,Carole King,Fiona Apple,Diana Krall,Annie Lennox,Paula Cole,Nora Jones,Natalie Merchant,Charlotte Church,PJ Harvey.

Bill

Yes, when i took the plunge into real audio and dumped the yamaha SS cheapie for a tube amp and real speakers i made an agreement with my wife to just buy blues LP's.

Well classical LP's are sucha bargin at are local thrifts so I am now a major fan of all things classical.

I now enjoy a catagory called Singers and Standards as well as more female rockers and blueswomen . Can't say that it is necessarily due to better equipment though .

Now as an aside... how many of us , that now listen to more female singers , are over the age of say 40 years ?
I have read that higher age can be a reason for this phenominon as well .

Happy Tunes .

Female vocalist are the defining factor in my choice of speakers. The most difficult instrument to realisticly reproduce.
There are many highly touted speakers that do not fare well in this area.
Great females voices are found in all genres, expanding my horizons a bit.