Great comments above. I was not stating my way of listening was the best or right way of listening, although for me, it certainly is. I gave up my career as an audio consultant a bit earlier than I had anticipated, because many customers were more into the equipment and gear (just like a guy on yt who deals with the most expensive available) rather than the music. The music leads me to better gear, not the other way around. I understand all views, and I promise I am not judging....just questioning. When sitting by the pool, the pair of wall hanging Polk Atrium speakers still bring me the joy of music, and there is no problem following the tunes. When in my vehicle, the same. The hobby is wonderful, for whatever the personal goal is. To each his/her own might be....ymmv etc. I appreciate the comments and camaraderie shown here and wish my best to you all. Always, MrD.
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.
Showing 6 responses by mrdecibel
@inagroove I regularly listen to mediocre recordings with excellent musicianship and composition, so I am not quite sure what you mean, other than to guess, you might be the type of audiophile who listens differently than I do. As long as you are happy. Someone above mentioned they could not listen to SRV, and I am guessing their taste in music is different than mine. The reality is, our recordings "are of music", chosen by the musicians and producers as being good enough (musical performance and composition) to mass produce for us, the listeners. Don't get me wrong, as I do appreciate excellent recording quality. My system is startling in it's delivery, but I am all about the music, first. There has not been a hifi / audio system that I have heard playing recordings that approaches live unamplified music, even systems using 30 IPS mastering machines / tapes, which has been the best source of recorded music that I have heard. I believe I found my answers to my questions, thank you, and I am not surprised by some of the responses. Enjoy! My best, MrD. |
So, I suppose @inagroove , that what you are spending all of your money on with equipment / gear / room acoustics is to reproduce something (music) that is fake? Why not just have a boom box, which btw, many musicians in some instances use to play back the recordings of themselves playing / singing / performing during a practice. Recorded music is not music? This is a 1st for me, as I never heard this from anyone before. I believe you are the one that is different from the masses...but it is quite ok. Individual thinking makes us unique and different from one another. I like your equipment, but I would have a completely different arrangement of the gear / speakers if that were my room. My best and Enjoy! MrD. |