High End Audio......Sucking the Romance out of the Music?

I can answer that question if you can tell me what you mean by high end, audio, romance, and music. Oh, and sucking.

Come on MC. You know darn well what sucking is.

Known troll. 

I'll bite.  Not a chance! High end playback elevates the romance!

Thoughts anybody?

I like turtles.......

Well kind of... My wife can't seem to keep her hands off me when I'm listening to the big rig. Kind of distracts me from the music. 

Only during the initial evolutionary phases of the set up process when you listen to your system instead of the music. Once things come together, the speakers disappear completely and buzz-words cease to have meaning because it’s just the sound of music in the room, completely detached from the speakers without any distractions or distortions. There isn’t a system anymore; it’s just you and the recording. Pure romance.

Well no argument sucking the money out of bank accounts.

There was something nice about the good old days when if you wanted to listen to music you could just turn on your system,  insert any CD, press play, and enjoy..........

Now I have to plan hours (or days?) in advance to turn everything on to warm it up,  pick the best "audiophile" recordings to listen to,  and sit dead center in the sweet spot to listen.    And of course turn off all lights with dimmers and hope my refrigerator or the heater doesn't start running.

As for romance.........not sure yet but with valentines day coming I will soon have to decide of there will be any music.  And if there is I will have to turn my system on tomorrow.

Music has never sounded better. And the better it sounds, the more romantic um, it gets.

Music help to quiet the soul...Sound is only a hobby....


High end audio is almost there if for this moment you listen to music forgetting about the sound...


After that you know that this hobby can give you and will give you the maximum pleasure possible on earth except for books and love for someone...


"high end comes from dim outset" Groucho Marx

What do you expect?

Sit in a windowless room, odd looking panels on the wall,
 and ceiling, devoid of any level of aesthetic, listening to an imaginary setup of musicians that  are "in the room"

To make matters worse, the room only has clunky boxes, with cables on little platforms. It's not something to get the wife or S.O. excited about.

Nothing romantic about that.

The biggest challenge is to have a great sounding system, in a room that is pleasant to be in. No one wants to be in a cluaustrophobia inducing "audio room" no matter how great it sounds.


If you don't have a dedicated room....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w7IMS60IkYA

This is the problem, or you must be streaming and/or playing reissue LP's.

Being a musician, my world is music. My systems are simply an extension of that. I’ve never regarded it as sexy, or romantic or otherwise. I look at it from the ‘is it pleasing to me?’ point of view regardless of when, where, and how. I can enjoy music in just about any space, or situation. Unless the music just sucks... then it sucks.

Lots of folks drink Ripple or Boone’s Farm and call it wine.

@all...........
Romance  in this context............ 

an emotional attraction or aura belonging to an especially heroic era, adventure, or activity.

@allFurther in this context.....


to exaggerate or invent detail or incident.

The old Camaro vs. The New Camaro

The Old Vette vs. The new Vette..

Sex, Hi Fi, 911s

Hello ishkabibil,

     I have no idea what you're talking about but I'm going to teach you how to spend a romantic evening with your music and your S.O.:

1, Get yourself looking and feeling as attractive as possible; haircut, shower, shave, man-scaping, a dash of cologne and some cool new clothes.
2. Cook a good meal, play some music, light a candle or two and serve it with an expensive bottle of wine.
3. When the mood strikes, move casually over to the sofa and …... make love to yourself.

     Sorry, I heard you currently don't have a S.O.  Love the one your with, right?


Ah, romance!,
     Tim

Ishkabibil, I discovered the high end in 1990, when I walked into a high end salon, and my life changed dramatically after that.

I spent so much time in "high end salons" that my wife swore I was seeing another woman. I had to verify for myself, the validity of Stereophile's rating system; Class "A", B, C, etc. Yes it's valid.

After that, I went to work on my rig, but not before subscribing to every audio mag available. Next was auditioning "wire"; that was the hardest part, because no way can you audition wire and listen to music at the same time. The next 20 years were spent reading, reviewing, lying to my wife about the cost of purchases (which she accepted, but I got the feel that she knew I was lying, how do women know stuff like that?)

Since 2010 I've enjoyed nothing but pure glee every time I turn on the power. Also I might add, I have a computer "guru" who is worth his weight in gold; I'm in "high end heaven", I just need more money to reach an even higher plane.

orpheus10
I spent so much time in "high end salons" that my wife swore I was seeing another woman. I had to verify for myself, the validity of Stereophile’s rating system; Class "A", B, C, etc. Yes it’s valid.

>>>>I suspect there is probably a difference of opinion as to its validity. Not that I don’t lap up the slops with the rest of the hogs.

Geoffkait, those opinions were formed without one ounce of research.  Since "high end salons" no longer exist, research comparing Stereophiles conclusions and actually auditioning the equipment for yourself  is almost impossible. 

The foundation of "Stereophile" rests on the "validity" of those ratings. Income comes from advertising. People advertise so that they can sell equipment. Consumers all over the world check Stereophile ratings before they purchase. If consumers discovered those ratings were invalid, Stereophile would be worthless; no longer would advertisers pay big bucks. (no income for the magazine)

Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters. 

Life is too short to buy some one else's favorite stereo system.  (C) 2020

I agree Erik, that's why my speakers are custom made.

Baskin Robins makes ice cream in 31 flavors, all extremely high quality, the highest I've ever tasted.

Class "A" comes in just as many flavors, so does class "B"; therefore in no way is one restricted in regard to flavor; however, one might be restricted in regard to price.

@orpheus10 the "high end salons" must have been fed up with you coming in all the time. Listening with that little notebook.

Stereophile is fine for the meandering musings of its editorial staff. As far as reviewing, everything sounds great. 

I just thought of something. noromance.

sex, drugs, rock and roll?

ishkabibil?
Sorry but is that anything like a shish kabob?

Noromance, I just thought of something really funny. This rich customer was trying to put a system together, and since he saw me quite often, he thought I worked there, plus I was always free, so he requested that I help him audition equipment.

We had a lot of fun listening for about two weeks, and when he came to pick up his purchases, naturally he wanted me to help him. The guys who actually worked there got a big kick out of me lugging heavy amplifiers to the customers car.

I had to pay my keep somehow or another.

I hope he gave you a tip.