I'm a musician of forty years (local 802) and during my research of buying some gear I recently talked to a few of my friends including one who plays with Steely Dan and they all have very average or below average systems and AirPods. We really don't care that much because we listen to the content of the music, not so much the sound quality. After all, what are we going to do, stop listening to Charlie Parker, Lester Young Caruso? If you're skilled, you can filter out the music from the fidelity by training your ear. If you want to train your ear to listen harder, get a free app called "Functional Ear Trainer" or Earpeggio". Sound quality is just a perk to us.
what system musicians prefer? Do they care?
I have never aspired to be a musician, although I am very artistic. I am bad at singing and never enjoyed dabbling at playing an instrument. But I enjoy listening to music tremendously and I always wondered if being a musician would improve my experience as a listener. It seems to me that musicians (good ones) would have a lot more expertise in sound, what is good quality sound, a good system, a high fidelity speaker.... but I have never seen any proof. Am I just imagining it? Are good musicians mediocre listeners? Are they not obsessed with good sound? Any musicians out there to comment?
One example I know is the Cambridge Soundworks Mick Fleetwood Speaker System, which I finally purchased last year, I knew my collection would not be complete without it. It's evidence of great talents crossing paths: a genious speaker designer Henry Kloss, and Mick Fleetwood, one of the greatest drummers of the century (and the previous one). But I don't see musicians weighing in on what are good systems are, how much is it worth spending and what to focus on. It's much more like rich douchebags bragging about the price of their systems on these forums.
One example I know is the Cambridge Soundworks Mick Fleetwood Speaker System, which I finally purchased last year, I knew my collection would not be complete without it. It's evidence of great talents crossing paths: a genious speaker designer Henry Kloss, and Mick Fleetwood, one of the greatest drummers of the century (and the previous one). But I don't see musicians weighing in on what are good systems are, how much is it worth spending and what to focus on. It's much more like rich douchebags bragging about the price of their systems on these forums.