Sound quality vs. Mood

I don't disagree out of hand with the common theories about power quality late at night (although my own measured line voltage doesn't vary much), but I feel (skewed, no doubt, by the fact that I live in the city) there is also a strong correlation between a relative lack of background environmental noise and times when systems seem to sound their best. As for mood, I find that the sound of my system changes my mood more than my mood changes the sound of my system - and if it weren't this way, I'd wonder what the whole point was in the first place! I do believe, however, that an absence of extraneous distractions while actually listening is very key, and this is often unlikely during busier parts of the day. (The topic of mood was often brought up in a thread I started a few days back [archived under "Best Of"] entitled "An unscientific poll: How often are you happy?")

Hi J; Good thread. I too think that prevailing mood is a powerful determinent as to how music sounds through a good system at any particulat time-- and for the reasons mentioned above.

My experience has been like Gunbei's. But I am also convinced that late night night listening is better for "electrical reasons". It certainly is in my system, ie during mid-day a voltage meter usually shows 114 to 117 volts incoming, whereas late night it's typically 120-122 volts. When doing critical listening (auditioning?) I think a person needs to be aware of how they are feeling at the time. Cheers. Craig

This is a fascinating post. This is an area that I have begun to give more thought to. I think it is a given that power quality is difficult variable to control despite all the conditioners that we employ to clean up the lines. Mood and mental state is an area which audiophiles have not seriously explored as a factor in audio enjoyment. I am becoming more and more convinced that we can increase our enjoyment by creatively improving our view and receptivity of the audio arts and music. I find that I have the best listening sessions when I am able to let go of the analytical/perfectionist aspects of the audio hobby and just let the music wash over me while my mind is clear. It helps to take a few minutes before the session to meditate in silence, focus on the silence and bring on a state of physical and mental relaxation. Then begin your session carrying that openess from your meditation. Over time you will see the attributes that you value in your system change. In my case, I have started to value components that let the artists and composers creative concept come through. Some examples;

>the color, balance and interplay of an instrumental piece by Bach
>the spatial interplay and textures of a well conceived percussion piece
>the sheer beauty and soaring spirituality of a rennaisance vocal performance
>the feeling of man's greatest aspirations that reside in Beethovens Symphonies
>the goosebump factor of a Johnny Hartman ballad
>the acceptance and elevation of human failings in a Junior Brown song.

You can go on and on with this. The point is that you start to transform your system based on higher levels of consiousness and corresponding enjoyment. You start listening to the whole and not the parts and the essence of the music starts comes through.

Another interesting thing for me has been that the opinions of the reviewers, ie, Stereophile and Absolute Sound, become less important. The politics of our audio hobby become more amusing and entertaining as opposed to a camp that you reside in. You start to shape your system in a way that brings you joy and not in the dictates of a camp.

Maybe I rambling too much, but the fact is that this listening approach has dramatically change my level of enjoyment of audio and music. For me, this has been the most important upgrade in my system, and all it costs is an investment in changing your values and attitudes and unlike electric power quality, you have it within yourself to enjoy your system always.

I can see it now. A new catagory of tweaks will be added to the online catalogs of Audiogon's Showcase Dealers....

Mood altering electronics like those Sharper Image has been famous for...

And, holistic/herbal listening supplements...

Has anyone seen that Shakti Stone I was using? I need to place it on my head for my next listening session.

Gunbie,

Nicely done.

I was thinking of marketing oral audio enhancer that would consist of Wild Turkey or Jack Daniels.

Even mid fi sounds good.