Music vs. Components

I truly believe that the majority of audiophiles listen to components. People that are only in it for the music don't need hi end equipment to enjoy the listening experience.

I'm not saying that audiophiles don't enjoy listening to music, but that's just one layer in the equation.

I've noticed just in the last week that when I'm intentionally listening to my new CD player I'm less impressed than when I just have the music on and am doing something else while listening. I find myself having the realization that I'm hearing things in the music that were not there before. I think part of the problem with a direct A/B comparision is that the new CD player has a higher volume level that makes enough difference to be distracting.

Audio components are a hobby and music is a hobby, but I think that audiophiles are component collectors and people that spend their time playing and writing music are all about the music. Some people, I'm sure, do both.

I love my stereo and my wife loves music. She is starting to hate me talking about anything electronic and it bugs me when she sings along to the music because I can't hear it as well. She enjoys the quality of my system, but her enjoyment in music probably hasn't improved over listening to the stock car stereo.

Which one of us loves components and which one loves music?

Jafant - The fact that you think that recognize that components can be prominent essentially proves that you listen to components on some level rather than music. People that are only into the music won't complain unless the CD skips.

Odd thought of the day:

Has an audiophile ever been guilty of not completely enjoying an accoustic performance becase the instrument quality (think violin or guitar) wasn't good enough quality?

I'll admit to listening to David Garrett over Josh Bell simply because David Garrett plays a stradivarius and it sound much better on identical classical music. This observation is from recording since I've only heard David Garrett live and it was amplified. A friend of mine observed that Garrett played a stradivarius while listening to a CD that I have, based on his symphony experiences.

Oakleys - I'm not really trying to "prove" anything. It's interesting to me how few audiophiles will admit that listening to components is their primary enjoyment. I'm certainly into music from a technology/science aspect much more than I am for the pure music.

When you're into the music, everything else is gone, not because it sounds good but because you're captivated by it. This doesn't require a perfect sound system.

Have you ever watched a movie on a small or black & white TV and didn't care that you didn't have the 50 inch flatscreen? When a story truly captures you it doesn't matter what it's being played on. Some movies are only great because of the technology they use and other have great stories...some have both.

Today I stopped by the store where I purchased my speakers with two CDs in hand that I wanted to listen to on the Focal Grande Utopia EM speakers to see what was really on the recording in the lowest organ ranges. I'll admit to not being blown away by the sound of the crazy expensive system compared to mine. I'm not saying that mine is an equal, but I can certainly come home and not think that mine sounds bad in comparison. Even the salesman asked how much difference I was really hearing since he's been spending a lot of time with their demo speakers that are identical to mine and he's really loving them. I hate to say it, but I have not been as impressed with anything they have after the Krell amplifiers were sold and replaced with Asthetix amps, I believe. I really like the sound that they system had with the Krell stuff. One of these days I'll make them hook up some of the Pathos stuff sitting around for a listen. It's all way out of my budget, but if I win the lottery I'd probably start with Krell and Pathos for a demo.

It's listening experiences like this where I can relax about my system and just enjoy.