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

@ezwind

Understanding is the key to stop sociopathy.

I am bringing this up again, because I do not understand the mentality of folks who listen differently than I.

I'm glad that you remember your Dad like that.  Mine was an EE and skeptical (to say the least) about unmeasurable sonic nuances. Still, it made me smile when he got a look at my stuff and marveled that I had equipment with "bottles"!  When he passed I found myself building a 2A3 amp almost reflexively.

@immatthewj

I do not understand the mentality of folks who listen differently than I

"My way is the right way so therefore yours is wrong."

I'm not sure how you get to that interpretation of the OP's statement. He said he didn't understand why some people listen differently than he does. He never said anything about whether he or those people were right or wrong.

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.

@larsman

YMMV but I’ve experienced a big (!) difference in the foot tapping factor when changing integrateds. My current Hegel H390 really moves the music along. Its predecessors by contrast were downright sluggish by comparison. And it is not dependent upon the music being played. BTW, I didn’t know what I’d been missing in this regard until I experienced it for myself.

Its funny when I think of equipment churner homes I've been to and see literally hundreds of thousands dollars worth of equipment stacked up in boxes or sitting unused on component racks. And then I listen to their 'reference' system which has  a mixture of some very nice equipment alongside lesser components, and this carelessly set up in just an ordinary room. Sound quality serious lacking for me, yet they hear it as state of the art. In my mind I'm thinking about how I could make their system sing with a more sympathetic partnering of equipment they already have in house, alongside some work on room and AC quality. Don't have the heart or lack of grace to criticize when they appear this content so I keep my mouth shut.

Used to attend audio shows quite frequently, often amazed at what passed as good sound, same with audio dealers. And the music played same issue.

Over time I've come to accept that people are into this audiophile thing for all sorts of reasons. Same thing with perceptions of good sound. While I may be curious about what makes people tick, simply not in my purview to judge them, I do my thing, they do theirs.

How can you have your pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Every "performance" is different.

For instance, there is a big difference between watching a 3 man folk piece in a small venue and a full blown Hans Zimmer concert with a full orchestra and all kinds of electronic elements fused together....Or go to a metal concert or maybe you’re watching some North African or Asian musicians who are singing in a language you may not know or playings instruments you don’t know about....How a listener may get into such different performances (accommodates it in his physical/mental space) is its own phenomenon.

You may want to use familiar pieces to tune/tweak your rig, of course. But, if it is a constant thing, it could imply that one’s playlist is a bit restricted, i.e., isn’t too big or eclectic enough. There’s a saying, "familiarity breeds contempt"....i.e., if someone’s listening to the same familiar piece over and over, he may not appreciate the performance all that much anymore and get too focused on nitpicking the audiophile parameters.

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 ....

I’ve been playing a violin since i was single digits old, i am an instrument enthusiast, but, not a pro, i.e., it isn’t my livelihood. But, I hang out with a couple of pro musicians (it is their livelihood). We may get together out of nowhere and be in a creative space together. But, if i were to record some of it and try to listen to it, it typically is a let down...because it rarely captures that creative moment. But, if it was some random recording from an unknown artist, i.e., i wasn’t there when it was recorded, I can accept it as is and enjoy it for what it is... unless there are glaring errors with how it was mastered or something. Musicians need to get paid and i can live without nitpicking someone else’s music.

I've always wondered about people saying a sound system 'got their foot tapping' or something like that. To me, it was music and a beat that got my foot tapping, whatever it was played on. In the 60's, it was often a hand-held transistor radio. Foot had no problem tapping when Beatles, Stones, etc etc came on. My big audiophile system will not get my foot tapping if it's not playing a song conducive to it. 

 I am blessed. Not only am I content with my current mostly vintage system, I'll be way more than content with my pop's system when I can set it up. It'll be like Christmas. So why am I blessed? Simple: I can step off the upgrade treadmill. Sure I'll continue to look at tweaks like maybe a new cartridge occasionally or room treatments once I get a new room in our next home. I recently upgraded my headphones. But I need not suffer the "wonderful anguish" of which new speakers or amplifier to $pending kilobucks on. I just don't need to. LPs? New jazz is always welcome but classical? Pop left me 2,300 LPs If I can't find something to enjoy in there something is wrong with me! I think I'm set.

All of this to say that now I can focus on enjoying the music a bit more. Am I gloating? Well, maybe a little... 

Happy listening.

I would probably NOT listen to neither SRV nor Simon-Garfunkel nor to most of the RR Hall of Fame or other pop. Too trivial and too boring even if my system can shine on these artists that I don't care much about.

I consider myself tune-holic and I mostly hunt for new stuff and new talents that I'm interested listening. There's some of collector left in me when I also hunt for forgotten rare releases that to me sounds like a newly discovered music/band or artist.

I forgot when I last time Pink Floyd was sounding from my system and I'm sure it was that original and underrated Syd Barret's Pink Floyd. 

Guys, we a different brains.  We put different values on different things.  I have a get-together once a month with about 8-10 friends at anybodys house.  Some guys have mediocre stereos at best. Bose, 70's receivers etc. One out of ten is interested in my stereo and asks any questions about it. Most are indifferent or don't care.  We all get along great but everyone has a different approach to music and how well it is produced.  But what music we play is THE most important thing.

“We see what is behind our eyes, not what is in front of them”. I cannot recall who said that but it informs in so many ways. We all bring our own experiences, preferences, history and attitudes to the listening of music. I don’t see any right or wrong as was mentioned by others here. In the end, listening to music on a stereo is not that important in the large scope of life. I don’t take it too seriously.

I subscribe to a couple of audio publications and assume that most people here do as well. When I get the magazines the very first thing I read are the music reviews even though I am anxious to rip into one of the mega buck component articles that will lusciously describe an item I will never be able to own or afford. I have never understood why those music reviews are in the back of the magazine instead of the front because like I said they are the first thing I read.

Alan Parsons puts a lot of time into their mixes and mastering once said people don't buy equipment to listen to our music they buy our music to listen to their equipment

There is no right or wrong way to do this. 

 Thanks @ozzy62     One would hope, transiting these forums, that conclusion would have become obvious by now..*sigh*

Well, it gives us all something to troll each over....;)

(...kidding...mabbe...😏...)

Good gravy, the either-or conundrum again. The Internet gives us infinite choices. We can have it all if you are willing to explore the glorious choices.

I love listening to music. I am not particularly interested in the performers. I know a number of folks that play an instrument and they are fascinated with the performers and how they are getting the sounds, or the composition. They listen very differently than I do. I love The Art of Noise as well as symphonies. I get great joy from well reproduced music. For me that is the gestalt… the full spectrum of what music is… rhythm and pace as well as detail and imaging.

I have been led astray in the past by getting too fascinated by being able to hear more minor details and let the music suffer and my system began only sounding great with perfect recordings. So, pursuing high end sound can influence what and how you listen.

There are folks that constantly swap equipment, perhaps enjoying the evaluation process more than actually sitting and listening to music. Some folks own two or more high end systems with vastly different sounds (like solid state and tube) enjoying the sound quality to match their mood.

I like the direct emotional link to the music. One that draws me in and makes me close my eyes and sway. Making most recordings sound great. So, that is the kind of system I put together… it excels balance between all the aspects… detail, bass, tonal balance, imaging, rhythm and pace… etc.

@mrdecibel

I’ve always regarded myself first and foremost as a music lover but if I didn’t care about sonics I wouldn’t be typing this!

Stiil, I want to be carried away by the emotional/physical/aesthetic aspects when listening. Carried away from what? From thinking!  I don’t want to be in left brain mode, analyzing resolution or sound-staging or whatever. That’s simply not why I listen, or look at art, or read poetry, for that matter. But I recognize this is just one approach.

@toddalin 

Good post!

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.

Because the engineer worked so hard that allows you to really believe that there are "three" musicians working together "in space" rather than just listening to two speakers placed in a room.

There is much information on our recordings,

And without the right gear set up the right way, you will never realize it all.   And even then, that last bit is the real challenge.

and generally, many of these recordings are just so so with the fidelity.

Unfortunate though it may be.  But I still listen to them.

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).

Hardly.  I played clarinet in the school band from 5th through 12th grade, backed up the vocal group on organ, and was a piano major my first year of college.  And I played keyboards in rock bands in the lates 60s and early 70s.

From an early age mom listened to "show tunes" and we had a big Magnavox console.

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.

As do I, but I don't spend tons of money on gear.  I spend my time making and refining my own speakers and crossovers as well as accessories to make other's products work better.  My speakers were designed and voiced in the room in which they are used, to my taste. I know of no manufacturer that specifically does this.

I went to the Home Entertainment Show and listened to systems of well over 6 figures, and none could image like mine nor did they present as much "realism" of a rock band playing there in the room.

But, it is the "music", the "performance", that matters most to me.

I on the other hand will listen to music where I don't really care for the genre/artist, but listen to how the engineer put it all together.

I especially love finding "Easter Eggs."

I want the world and I want it now. 🧐

There is no right or wrong way to do this. For some it’s the journey and not the destination, so trying new gear can be the most important part of this hobby for some. Others, such as yourself, approach it from a different place.

Some car enthusiasts like to drag race, some like the twisty stuff, and others still just like to customize, wax and polish. But all of them have that one thing in common.

I like to listen to the equipment more than the performance. Some exceptions,  but I enjoy picking out new details in a recording I've heard hundreds of times. 

I do not understand the mentality of folks who listen differently than I

"My way is the right way so therefore yours is wrong."

I like listening to music whether it's live at a concert or in a bar.But I listen whether it makes me happy or sad.It can be on a car radio or a high end audio equipment. I like the performance, hearing a singer doing a fantastic job on a song is what ,I really like to hear.I find that alot on you tube.