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

"to obtain what you sre describing always took/takes ingesting  chemicals"

You're quite right. Later on, when I was in college, I fully explored those chemicals. Sometimes those experiences were wonderful ... occasionally the opposite.

But in any case, hallucinations from mescaline or LSD seemed a bit familiar to me, in quality if not degree.

@desktopguy , I meant to also say that adding music to the equation could turn it into a world I didn’t want to leave. I remember the first time I really truly ’heard" Legend Of A Mind, I was like, ". . . yeah, maaaaan . . . nowww I get it . . .".

Anyway,  I remember a discussion of synesthesia some time ago, and at the time I thought I might have a mild form of it. Letters of the alphabet all do have certain colors for me, and therefore, for me, all words have a color. Also as far as music goes, it does induce colors in my mind; however, not nearly as profoundly as what you described.

Sounds like you think you are alone in putting together a good sounding audio system and realize you can hear all the things important to you with more clarity and detail allowing you to feel the intentions of the artist.

my goals in audio system build out is to hear more detail and nuance of the musicians performance. I have put together such an audio system based on my greater connection with the artists performance.

many folks buy new equipment because it has more watts or a cool light or because its look tickles their fancy. But we need them to keep this market alive  

I think 90% of wine “connoisseurs” are fake and have no idea what good wine is and chase the good review wines from what mags they read. Same thing pretty much in all hobbies  

Its all between the ears!  There is as much difference in people's hearing as there are personalities. What matters is what you like. Like the saying goes, one mans junk, is another man's treasure. One mans dream, is another man's nightmare. One mans audiophile system is another man's Walkman.

How one determines what their enjoyment for Live Music encounters and Recorded Music Encounters means, is usually to be discovered, that the meaning is quite a lot of different things, and is more a unique holding to each individual.

Music stimulates, as well as brings forward memories and is also a experience to be encountered, that is looked forward to. How individuals respond to these moments of a musical encounter also makes each unique in how they place a importance on a musical encounter, albeit either Live or Recorded.

As a very basic description about my own interest in music encounters that have been an important part of how I use my spare time. I view my encounters with Music as a form of entertainment. I only recollect experiencing Live Music with the intent to be in an audience as part of a social experience, from that point of being in attendance, I had no further input to how I was to experience the music encounter, it was all pre-arranged in the hands of others .

Listening to recorded music evolved differently, as there is market solely in place for this. Choice for devices as a Source and Supporting Equipment, Brands and Sales Spiel are becoming much more familiar as an information that is needing to be navigated through. 

Radio introduced most to a broad range of music, and I still use a proportion of listening to Radio for this purpose today, there are a few very good slots where new Bands are given there Debut on air, and other unknown Performers always show up during a session. Cell Phone Apps, can make identifying and logging the names of unfamiliar performers very easy to achieve.  

From Radio experiences, the collection of Recorded Music commenced, the size of a collection would become a thing for a period of time, which then evolved into a keen interest on the betterment of the equipment to be used for replaying recorded music.

I will have to admit at this stage, I was one of few in group, who were divided between Vinyl and CD as Source, to which I was Wed to Vinyl for more than 30 Years before CD became a shared Source in the system.

I would also suggest this is around the first time I was to become familiar with term like HiFI and Audiophile.

Today I have the knowledge, the origins of the common usage of High Fidelity extends back close to 100 years, where the term was first seen to be coined for use on the public in general. The term was seemingly used to accompany Film Poster Adverts on Bill Boards to promote the notion the Orchestral Sound Track for the Film was an improved sound, I believe Bell Industries were recording Orchestras for the Film Industry and used the term to promote their recording methods.

The use of Audiophile and Hi-Fi came approx' 20 Years later and are both terms that are to be found used in marketing spiel used in the 50'S.

The use of Audiophile and HiFi have caught on and as they are daily in use, a meaning has been attached to create a common interpretation for the usage.

Accompanying the evolvement of the Term Audiophile and HiFi and the commonly seen description given for the words usage. There has been growing in parallel, the evolvement of the use of Technical Talk. Descriptions commonly seen to be passed around, that is easily identified for being a Technical Talk, whether accurate or not, is today seemingly a addition to the interest in Audio Equipment that gives an individual a credence in what they have purported.

There are a selection of individuals who are attaching to their interest in Audio Equipment a sub-interest, which detracts from where the sole use of the audio equipment is to replay recorded music. A sub-interest which is being seen, is one where it is a necessity to analyze the Technical Side of the equipment to be used. With forums being easily entered into, there is now a large window for the content to be discovered.

I myself see the understanding how to better audio equipment and the listening to recorded music as two different hobbies. Listening to music stirs one type of emotional interaction, where as using intelligence putting ideas into practice, is quitr different.

The average Film Watcher with an intent to be entertained, can end up really enjoy the film, without needing to be the Director, Camera man, Editor, even when the fantasy of the film has taken hold and the watcher is fancying themselves as being an individual playing a role in the movie.

In Audio, the listener can in most occasions become the Air Guitarist, Drummer, Conductor of the Orchestra, and enjoy that moment to its very fullest.

In some cases though, the design for the Volume Control, Capacitor C3 used  in the circuit, or the shape of the Wave in the product reviews analysis let the performance down, to the point it was not able to be enjoyed.