Listening to music is not effortless for me. I must be intellectually and emotionally engaged to, at least, some extent. I have to, and want to, think about it.
Playing music in the background is not the same as listening to music (as I define it). Maybe I could characterize it as "hearing" music, or background noise. I usually find it distracting, and often unpleasant.
Live music is a mixed bag. I absolutely love hearing live music played in a small room or outside at a small gathering. The sound of the human voice, unfettered by electronics or any kind of sound amplification device, is a wonder of experience. The natural sounds of acoustic instruments reflect centuries of evolution and refinement as humankind is compelled by forces beyond our control to make music. Once you get amplifiers and speakers involved, it is harder for me to totally surrender to it (a good reproduction system can get you there to some degree, but it is a compromise).
Live music shows involving electronics are not engaging in the same way. I do enjoy acoustic music played live (such as a really good orchestra in a great room), but most popular music shows are played through PA systems in acoustically compromised environments. I enjoy going to a good Rock show, but it’s more about being there, seeing friends, and is generally a more tribal experience than a deeply satisfying music experience. I have been to many transcendent Grateful Dead shows, for example, but take away the crowd and the "recreational distractions" I can fairly conclude that the music sounds better on my home stereo.
I thoroughly enjoy listening to music on my modest home system. The components have been carefully selected to present an engaging and comfortable listening experience. I do not want to replicate a "live" experience. I want to be entertained for a couple hours in the comfort of my own home, maybe acompanied by a measure of 12 yeard old Scotch and and a bowlful of psychoactive plant material. When I am done listening, I’ll turn the stereo off and go do something else.
What is it I'm failing to grasp?
I come across statements here and elsewhere by guys who say 1) their systems come very close to duplicating the experience of hearing live music and 2) that they can listen for hours and hours due to the "effortless" presentation.
I don't understand how these two claims add up. In tandem, they are profoundly inconsistent with my experiences of listening to live music.
If I think about concerts I consider the best I've witnessed (Oregon, Solas, Richard Thompson, SRV, Dave Holland Quintet, '77 G. Dead, David Murray, Paul Winter Consort), I would not have wanted any of those performances to have extended much beyond their actual duration.
It's like eating-- no matter how wonderfully prepared the food, I can only eat so much-- a point of satiation is reached and I find this to be true (for me) when it comes to music listening as well. Ditto for sex, looking at visual art, reading poetry or playing guitar. All of these activities require energy and while they may feel "effortless" in the moment, I eventually reach a point where I must withdraw from aesthetic simulation.
Furthermore, the live music I've heard is not always "smoothly" undemanding. I love Winifred Horan's classically influenced Celtic fiddling but the tone she gets is not uniformly sweet; the melodies do not always resemble lullabies. The violin can sound quite strident at times. Oregon can be very melodious but also,(at least in their younger days) quite chaotic and atonal. These are examples on the mellower side of my listening spectrum and I can't listen to them for more than a couple hours, either live or at home.
Bottom line: I don't find listening to live music "effortless" so I don't understand how a system that renders this activity "effortless" can also be said to be accurate.
What is it that I'm failing to grasp, here?