what system musicians prefer? Do they care?

@ditusa , without question. He simply cannot stand to not be on here.

It's actually kind of sad...

"Oh what a tangled web we weave. . . ."

It's actually kind of sad...

You are a more compassionate man than I am, @thecarpathian ; I find it rather amusing.

I meant sad in an amusing sort of way!😃

I meant sad in an amusing sort of way!

I am literally laughing aloud, @thecarpathian .

Carl, guess your not that smart. 

. . . and I guess I have to appreciate the irony of someone using the possessive pronoun, "your," to tell "Carl" that he "is not that smart."   As I just typed, @foggyus91 or @texas jerry or @any other alias you may be using, keep up the good work.

The musicians I know listen to the notes, the composition and the performance... it is a focus on the fundamental's of the music... how well it is reproduced is not in their focus. I had a friend of mine who is a professional touring musician and he could easily tell it was his Martin guitar in his recordings... I took that as a win. He sat on the floor and got lost in the music and its performance. 

Im a musician and an audiophile. Im lucky I have a wife and family because otherwise I’d spend much much more chasing the dragon. When I listen to my stereo I want to feel like Im watching a live performance. That’s what im going for. 

Funny and true story:

In 1980 I was able to spend some time at Ted Nugent's house in central MI. I was 18.  He had a slate fireplace hearth that went wall to wall- elevated about 8" off the floor level as was the style in 1960s houses in that area.  On that hearth he had about 10 guitars on stands. His Birdland, a few Les Paul hollow bodies, and some I didn't know enough about to recall correctly.  What caught my eye was his stereo system: An SAE rack about 5' tall. All black. All SAE. I don't recall the speakers. 

In his Bronco he had Maxell UD XL II tapes- all of himself. I asked him about that and he said he plays them to "practice in my head".

@daveyf 

  The musicians of which I speak have certainly been exposed to fancier systems.  More importantly they know what music really sounds like, because they regularly attend concerts and of course perform them.  They just don’t feel the need for a HE system.  YT off their phone works fine for them.

  This thread is so old that I hadn’t realized that I had essentially made the same post 4 years ago 

I saw a reel on Instagram a few weeks ago with Sting from the Police playing some vinyl on his system. He had a D'Agostino integrated.

I guess as long as it goes to 11 I'm happy.

Funny and true story:

In 1980 I was able to spend some time at Ted Nugent's house in central MI.

@yesiam_a_pirate , but the OP was asking about what MUSICIANS listen to.

@immatthewj one way to read it: Ted Nugent was listening to the pirate. Just be patient it will all make sense. 

In his Bronco he had Maxell UD XL II tapes- all of himself.

Another bit of info: he listened to his own music. I have yet to find out who this Nugent fellow is. 

(oh, I am so slow, now I get it.)

@gano , there is a lot of things that ted nugent might be, but a musician is not one of them.

In my youth I went to Berkley then played in the Navy Band, then went to college and became an engineer.  I still have a set of drums and a piano in my music room along with a six figure sound system.  I consider myself neither a practicing musician nor a true audiophile although in retirement I spend hours a day immersed in music.  For a span of about 10 years while in college and after I worked in HE audio retail and was a TT setup man among other things.  I offer the following qualified observations with the caveat that it is not possible to categorize either musicians or audiophiles.  In general musicians who sit in sections, such as in bands or orchestras tend to like immersive listening sound experiences.  Multi-channel systems, dipolar speakers like Maggies or electrostatics for example.  Rock people like loud, so horns are popular, big amps and so on.  The piano, bass and drums players tend to be the most likely to listen critically, which of course makes sense if you think about their role when playing ensemble at least in a small group improvisational setting.  In a general sense it has been my observation that musician/audiophiles tend to take more time selecting their kit and then settling in with it.  Another way of putting it is musicians tend not as prone to audiophile nervosa.  So there are a few thoughts on this old topic.

@immatthewj I have heard his name. Also about his political stuff. So unlikely to ever look him up.

@billstevenson  You make some very good points about musicians vs. pure audiophiles. Speaking from my musician side, i do have a very good understanding as to what i want my system to sound like, and do not suffer from 'audiophile nervosa'...yet.

Drummer here, and this has had a major influence on my system choices for sure. I know what the base drum and cymbals should sounds like, sound pressure level, tone, sustain of the cymbals etc…

3 years ago I spent the day in LA auditioning various higher end systems, and was left depressed that every system I listed to had either no base, very little base and certainly no realistic sound pressure levels. I was listening to systems ranging between 60 to 150k.  The last audio store I went to was Legacy audio,  and immediately fell in love with the Focus XDs using the WAVLET.  Price for system with dedicated streamer around 30k. I could not be happier.