Mid level listening

+1 @ghdprentice.  I've spent decades building 4 different systems (one of them still in progress).  I optimized them for a specific set of applications:  A primary system for audio with a very strong 7.2 surround capability, a second system for my office where near-field monitoring, headphones and unattended use are key, one for outdoor listening & viewing and the last for general purpose background entertainment covering both audio and 5.1 video.

Every time I use any of them, I am always amazed at how I learn new things about the material they're presenting.  Sure I can hear the technical differences, but I can't call them weaknesses.  They all do what they were designed to and do it well.  It's the material that matters.  I'm always carried away and that's the whole point of this hobby.

I doubt an audiophile can ever get entirely away from the analytical perspective of listening. Last nights listening session veered wildly in both genre and recording qualities, I can never get over how widely variable recording quality can be, for instance I was listening to some big band music from the likes of early Count Basie, mono recordings with relatively small sound stage and lacking transparency/resolution, most would call these rather poor recordings  (not to say some 40's, early 50's recordings can be quite amazing), and then I went into some experimental electronica and contemporary  recordings of  northern European primitive music, sound quality amazing, huge sound stages, virtually no compression, just so alive!

And so the above listening session par for the course in that I can't help but hear so much recording quality variability, my mind can't help but process this. But then I move on from this moment of initial analysis nearly instantaneously into the pure enjoyment of  music mode. Between having built a system that is both highly transparent/resolving yet forgiving enough so the blemishes don't grate and training my mind to free itself from judgment and comparison I find myself enjoying far more variability in both recording quality and music genres. Having a quality streaming setup has completely changed my perceptions and enjoyment of both recording quality and music, I often let music play randomly from my huge library, seems crazy but I like everything the robot plays, I'm always highly involved in the music. hard to end listening sessions.

@kofibaffour 

Thankfully I have a setup that lends itself to just letting the music shine and that is all it does.

What do you have for a system?

@cdc for my dedicated and treated listening space:

Speakers - Genelec 8361A x2

Streamer - Holo Audio Red (Tidal and Spotify Connect)

Controller - Genelec 9320A SAM Reference

Subwoofers - Genelec W371A x2

And for my general-purpose room where multimedia is the focus:

Speakers - L +R (MoFi Sourcepoint 888 x2) and C (KEF R2 Meta)

Subwoofer - Power Sound Audio S1512m x2

AV Processor and DSP Bass Management Tool - miniDSP Flex HTx

Power Amplifier - Apollon Audio NCx500 M Monoblock Amplifier x3

I find that being perpetually broke helps me appreciate what I listen to ;)