When I listen to my system.......


As I have stated many times, I listen to the musicianship and the composition. As I listen to SRV, just as an example, there are three musicians working together to create a "performance". How is it that anyone can put tone, sound staging, or anything else with the "sound" before the performance. There is much information on our recordings, and generally, many of these recordings are just so so with the fidelity. In fact, why do many listeners only listen to top notch recordings of higher fidelity, of the "sound", rather than appreciate those qualities I look and listen for. Is it because I was a singer / vocalist in my youth? Is it because I was around musicians who shared the joy of "music"? Is it because at a very early age, I was introduced to big band music and eclectic performances by so many, via my dad (he would have been 100 today; happy birthday dad). Yes, I consider myself an audiophile, because I spend money on gear and am careful with my dedicated room....my system allows me to hear more of the performance. But, it is the "music", the "performance", that matters most to me. I suppose I am feeling a bit nostalgic today, because of my pops. I am bringing this up again, because I do not understand the mentality of folks who listen differently than I. I know this subject might be ad nauseum to many, but some of the folks I used to design systems for, became less interested in the music, and more about the sound, placing the music and performance secondary, or not at all. I am just venting. If you would like to add to this post, I welcome all thoughts. No judgement from me. I wish everyone well. Enjoy! MrD.

mrdecibel

Showing 1 response by 8th-note

I'm going to use a couple of car analogies.

If I am taking a scenic drive it is much more enjoyable in a clean Lexus than a rusty Yugo with dirty windows. It's the same scenery but the experience of driving a nice car is, for me, much better. I can enjoy the drive in both cars but give me the Lexus any day.

Decades ago, in the age of AM car radios, a guy I met at a conference turned out to be an audiophile and we were discussing our hobby. I mentioned the "goose bump test" for audio systems and he said, "Yeah, but I can get goose bumps listening to the car radio." I thought for a second and agreed.

Bottom line, I like listening to music whether it's high fidelity or not. The only exception is a few rock concerts I've attended where the sound was painfully loud and distorted. But give me good music with a poor recording and I can get plenty of goose bumps.