[Thebiker]

The system is a means to an end.....enjoying the music.  I was only listening to the components until I got the quality of reproduction that was necessary to open the music for enjoyment, and even then the music came first.

Now its only about music.....nirvana .

Walt

[Construct]

Muzik uber alles!
I had to distance myself from the ultra-high end crowd because it became a gear and money game.  That type of thing forced many people to lose focus and constantly swap gear and never be satisfied.  I have to concentrate on music, because often those expensive changes end up as yet another set of sonic compromises, and that begats more change.  Horns!  No wait...stats!  No wait dynamics!  No wait-fullrange!  no wait...planar!...no wait...horns....  and so on. Same for components.  Tube!  SS!  Digital! Set!   Pushpull! etc...
This hobby can be a vast, endless money pit.  Or it can be absorbing oneself into music.  I choose the latter to preserve enjoyment and sanity.

[K Shep]

Muzik uber alles!
I had to distance myself from the ultra-high end crowd because it became a gear and money game.  That type of thing forced many people to lose focus and constantly swap gear and never be satisfied.  I have to concentrate on music, because often those expensive changes end up as yet another set of sonic compromises, and that begats more change.  Horns!  No wait...stats!  No wait dynamics!  No wait-fullrange!  no wait...planar!...no wait...horns....  and so on. Same for components.  Tube!  SS!  Digital! Set!   Pushpull! etc...
This hobby can be a vast, endless money pit.  Or it can be absorbing oneself into music.  I choose the latter to preserve enjoyment and sanity.

Would you agree that we all should go through our own maturation process? 

I don't have years of experience, so I have gone through a bunch of equipment changes to get to my current system (in the last 12 months).  For my room, I am very satisfied with the current state of things (equip, speakers, PEQ, sub).  I just bought a bunch of new music and I feel like I will stay with my current system for a while.

[Nuance]

Muzik uber alles!
I had to distance myself from the ultra-high end crowd because it became a gear and money game.  That type of thing forced many people to lose focus and constantly swap gear and never be satisfied.  I have to concentrate on music, because often those expensive changes end up as yet another set of sonic compromises, and that begats more change.  Horns!  No wait...stats!  No wait dynamics!  No wait-fullrange!  no wait...planar!...no wait...horns....  and so on. Same for components.  Tube!  SS!  Digital! Set!   Pushpull! etc...
This hobby can be a vast, endless money pit.  Or it can be absorbing oneself into music.  I choose the latter to preserve enjoyment and sanity.

Wisest post this week.  Well said.

[Construct]

It is a journey. Folks really need to start with speakers,not gear. Too much self doubt and impulse choices influenced by others.

[SteveFord]

For me it went from music first to components first then back to music first.
At the same time it went from analog (vinyl and tape) to CD to back to vinyl.
The stereo is simply a way to convey the music and once you've got the sound you're looking for, it's time to enjoy it and lose the upgrade bug.
Having said that, I do need a good tube headphone amp...

[simoon]

It all depends on mood and purpose behind the listening session.

While the music is the most important and obviously the reason for the hobby in the first place, there is gratification in listening to the gear.

There are times I can listen to something I don't really care for musically, that is recorded extremely well, just to hear the nuances in my system. Then there are times I can listen to a crap recording just for the brilliant music.

[Quiet Earth]

Great thread. I believe that it's all interrelated.

We can't listen to recorded music at this level of interest and claim that we only "enjoy the music". If that were really true, then why would we be on an audio forum? I mean this in the most respectful way of course. It's OK to enjoy the gear as much as the music. But if it makes someone feel better, I believe them when they say that they only enjoy the music. 

On the other hand, something is terribly wrong if you discover that the more you improve your gear, the less you enjoy your record collection. I've been down that road too, and it's no fun.   It obviously needs to be the other way around. As you improve your system, you should be pulling more and more of your recordings off the shelf because you just can't get enough. This includes (and is especially true of) poorly recorded music. This also includes many months beyond the honeymoon period of your latest tweak or acquisition. You choose music because it's what you want to hear, not because of how it sounds. But you still acknowledge the involvement and presence of your gear.

And that's what this hobby is all about Charlie Brown.

[Construct]

Here is the give an take---expanding on the point.
Music:  Some components really have a flow to them, and if anything, err on the side of enjoyable. These components may forgive small issues.  This is for the emotion.  This will be frustrating in some cases to those who feel this may be a veiling of the truth. Listenable all day.

Analysis: This is the side that makes you want to see into the soundscape.  You want to really explore the layering of a chorus, or the sound picture of a recording environment.  These components tend to be etched, and completely unforgiving. Ruthlessly revealing, warts and all.  This may be an unpleasant experience in some cases. This type system may be fatiguing for long term listening.

[Steve]

Greetings everyone. Here's a biggie: When you sit down for a session with your hi-fi, what do you find that you are really listening to most 1) the music, or 2) your components? Where and what is that mysterious, illusive, fine line between 1) simply and wonderfully enjoying the music and.... 2) listening critically for either how "great" your system sounds (such as trying to justify upgrades, tweaks, tube rolling, wire changes, etc.) or listening for all of the flaws and weaknesses of your gear. When does the tweaking stop and the enjoyment begin? Conversely, when is it time to improve and upgrade because, in reality, you would be happier if your system sounded better? 

I do both, but I enjoy listening to the music the most. I thought Letitroll expressed things nicely.

Cheers.

[woodsyi]

I do both too. 

Most of the time I am spending the bucks to put together a system that will disappear when playing music.  Paradoxically though, I sometimes find myself annoyed when music gets in the way of my critical listening for gear evaluation. 

[jimdgoulding]

What I was tryin to say earlier is that I don't hear components in my system.  I hear my "system" sometimes, rather I know what it's doing, when recordings come along with extraordinary transparency or spaciousness.  I do hear "components" in friends of mine systems.  An exception I can think of is a system featuring some Innersound stats and a set of Duke's small subs.  If I hear a system with too prominent treble detail, say, it's telling me something is not quite in sympathy or sync somewhere.  Could be in the speaker's design or upstream of them.  I don't want to hear or be reminded of the mechanics.  Depending on how speakers and behinds are placed in a room I sometimes can recognize the influence of that.  Same thing.  The basic sound I'm getting in total is gratifying to me.  The few changes I've made in the last six or seven years have therefore been passive.  They don't change the sound, they better allow the sound.  Same for speaker and room interface.  It's purely music to me.

The thing that got me on the component treadmill in the first place were magazine reviews which I still enjoy reading. 

[saisunil]

Very well said ...
I listen to only music when I am listening through ipod - I know there is nothing audiophile there - other than lossless music and good iems ...
 
When I am listening to music through my main system - through headphones or speakers - that "audiophile" bug just creeps in ... at some point or the other of enjoying the music ...
 
 

This is the audiophile dilemma. Your love of music, and the fun of your hobby, sets you on a journey to create a system that will connect you directly to the emotion of the music. Eventually you get there and you are in seventh heaven. For awhile. Then you begin, in spite of yourself, to listen for the flaws. Soon you make changes that move you toward higher resolution. How many of our reviews begin with, "I'm hearing things I never heard before!". Then, without meaning to, you cross a threshold and find you have "refined" your system to the point where half your records (CD's, files, etc.) are unlistenable. So you start over in frustration (this is often the point where you sell everything and buy a used, mellow sounding, British integrated amp).

An old audio sales guy once warned me about upgrades, saying, "You open the window wider, you let in more dirt". Wes Phillips, a good reviewer, says the hardest thing for an audiophile is to know when to quit.

I think the luckiest people of all are those friends and neighbors of yours you guided into great sounding systems. They never upgrade because they have no interest in doing so and every time you see them they thank you again for turning them on to such marvelous sound. The unluckiest are those audiophiles who are so neurotic that, for them, music is the ultimate distortion they have to put up with in order to listen to their gear.

[BrianP]

Coming at this as a DIY speaker builder, I figure that if something in the "sound" is distracting me from total attention to the music on my favorite good recordings, then something is wrong. This is how I approach final crossover voicing. I am totally reconciled to the "sound" of my front end and amplification components (which have remained essentially unchanged for 20 years), so I focus on getting the speakers "just right." When Kate Wolf is right there in the room, singing to me, or when the hall sound on McLaughlin/DiMeola/DeLucia "Live in San Francisco" snaps into perfect focus, and no sonic irregularities call attention to themselves, I know I have it nailed.

[john1970]

It is a journey. Folks really need to start with speakers,not gear. Too much self doubt and impulse choices influenced by others.

Music and I definitely agree with the above comments that it makes a lot of sense to start with the speakers because they are the only transducer in the system. 

[Elizabeth]

This hobby has two parts: music, and stuff.
For those who do not care about the stuff, a boombox works.. or a MP3 player.
For those who do not care about the music, many other hobbies have stuff and no music..
The combination is what is this hobby's special thing.
I love music, I like fiddling around with stuff. perfect.

[bside123]

This hobby has two parts: music, and stuff.
For those who do not care about the stuff, a boombox works.. or a MP3 player.
For those who do not care about the music, many other hobbies have stuff and no music..
The combination is what is this hobby's special thing.
I love music, I like fiddling around with stuff. perfect.

Yea, Elizabeth... I agree and well put. I really enjoy all the parts too. I've also appreciated reading how others enjoy and relate to the parts of audio - gear and music. Thanks so far to everyone who's posted.

I've been traveling on business for the last week and will be away from my stereo for about about a month in total. The system always sounds so great when I return... after having been away for an extended period. "Fresh ears" gives me a renewed appreciation for having some really good gear to listen to music. 

[bside123]

After reading through these various posts, it seems that truthfully, audiophiles really listen foremost to their components/gear hoping to hear them sound musical. Since this is very subjective, as long as the listener likes the sound of the gear, then they say they're NOT listening to it only to the music, BUT as soon as the music feels less "pleasing," the listener is again off on the great search to find either gear or upgrades that will again "sound" more "musical"... claiming that the gear has once again disappeared, and they are no longer listening to it. I believe that my description kind of encompasses each point of view. It's all part of the hobby, and all good as far as I'm concerned... so long as one doesn't get too twisted about either gear, music, others' opinions of what sounds good, magazine reviews, money, etc. What's "twisted" mean?

[rollo]

   Both. If the recording is well done the music. If not a tube change makes the system disappear .
  Most focus on the gear because the recording is inferior compared to the resolving power of our systems.


charles