[headshrinker2]

Had an interesting experience last weekend. Went with my son to a live "smooth" jazz concert in a beautiful setting- a wine vineyard overlooking a lake.   

The mix/sound was very mediocre.  Overpowering bass.  Edgy/harsh highs.  Couldn't hear the keyboards.  The music, while quite fun (i.e. almost a party mood/groove), not terribly interesting. 

But.. a huge crowd of music loving wine drinkers were having a blast.  Around 50 people were dancing like crazy in front of the stage.. at a jazz concert!  I realized others were having more fun than me.  I turned off my brain, relaxed my audiophile ears, joked with my son, and enjoyed the experience...

I've been in the middle of finishing off my main 2-channel system.  This concert experience made me realize it's time to get back to the music!

[redbook]

  Aaah, the wine could be the key to that "fun" door...lol  (works here every time).

[95Dyna]

  Aaah, the wine could be the key to that "fun" door...lol  (works here every time).

Agreed.  A nice Merlot is hands down the cheapest way to upgrade your sound.

[spinner]

 I find better sound staging with Shiraz  .

[SoundGame]

Wine can make Bose sound better than PMC....

Well, not really.....

[95Dyna]

Wine can make Bose sound better than PMC....

Well, not really.....

Hey SoundGame, are you down by the river guzzling that Annie Green Springs Berry Frost again? 

[headshrinker2]

That would be a very cost effective tweak!

Wine can make Bose sound better than PMC....

Well, not really.....

[Diamond Dog]

Had an interesting experience last weekend. Went with my son to a live "smooth" jazz concert in a beautiful setting- a wine vineyard overlooking a lake.   

The mix/sound was very mediocre.  Overpowering bass.  Edgy/harsh highs.  Couldn't hear the keyboards.  The music, while quite fun (i.e. almost a party mood/groove), not terribly interesting. 

But.. a huge crowd of music loving wine drinkers were having a blast.  Around 50 people were dancing like crazy in front of the stage.. at a jazz concert!  I realized others were having more fun than me.  I turned off my brain, relaxed my audiophile ears, joked with my son, and enjoyed the experience...

I've been in the middle of finishing off my main 2-channel system.  This concert experience made me realize it's time to get back to the music!

Whew- Back from the brink!  Another good man nearly lost to the audiophilliac abyss....

D.D.

[DavidV]

I have noticed a similar phenomenon and was wondering if anyone else has had this experience.  First I have to confess that I am not an audiophile in the sense that high end audio is not a hobby of mine---music is my hobby.

Of course they are related, but once I get my new system completed (only the speaker cables and fixing the bugs in the CD player are left) I will no longer be reading equipment reports and forums like this one (although I think this is the best, most civil forum I have ever experienced).  Honestly, I look forward to that day, because then I can stop listening with an ear to equipment evaluation, and just concentrate on the music again.  I think it has to do with what headshrinker2 (is there really a headshrinker1?) called turning off the brain.

I love listening to a good symphony or concerto on my high end system---it is truly an awe inspiring experience on well recorded CDs.  While it doesn't sound like I am in the audience (I don't think any stereo system can do that), it gets me close enough to the live experience to be very grateful to companies like Bryston and Thiel.

The experience I wanted to relate is that I can also thoroughly enjoy listening to those same symphonies and concertos on my local classical music station over my 25-year old Panasonic clock radio that has about a 3-inch speaker and cost about $25.  If I were to listen to it critically, evaluating the sound quality, then of course I would notice that it doesn't really sound anything like a symphony orchestra.  But if I turn that part of my brain off, which I always do, then I can just appreciate the music.  Of course, the obvious question would be why I am willing to spend so much money on a high end system, but that is not my point.  I wouldn't want to give up the high end experience, but I am wondering if anyone has any better insight into why the clock radio listening experience is also satisfying.  I think it might have to do with expectations, or using the imagination to fill in the sonic blanks, but I really don't know.

David

[vegasdave]

I just saw Uriah Heep in concert last saturday, and the sound was incredible! Even with the distorted guitars, every instrument was clear. It just goes to show that good soundmen can make or break a band.

[betamax]

Live music is often held up as the ultimate listening experience, but sometimes the mix or room acoustics leave me wishing I was listening to my stereo.

Uriah Heep! Wow, that brings back a lot of memories. In the mid 1970's they were my favorite group that no one else had ever heard of.

[vegasdave]

Yep, they're still together! They have a new album out as well. From what I heard live, it's pretty damn good!

http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-Uriah-Heep/dp/B004NWHVUI/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1314388809&sr=1-1

[lanchile]

Wine can make Bose sound better than PMC....

Well, not really.....

Well, if I am "really" drunk maybe Bose can sound good to my ears!

[Jabroni]

But if I turn that part of my brain off, which I always do, then I can just appreciate the music.  ...I am wondering if anyone has any better insight into why the clock radio listening experience is also satisfying. 
David

The fact that you're easily able to turn off the critical part of your brain means your relationship with music is emotional as well as analytical. As suggested below, that is not always the case. The more emotional your connection to music, the more trivial things like equipment, language, lyrics, genre and even musicianship are compared to the ability of a song to just cut through all the BS and touch your soul.

People who have no soul or who are cursed with the inability to connect to music emotionally can't just switch off their analytical side while listening to music. If they did, music would be pointless or at best, a take it or leave it affair. These soulless and/or emotionally stunted individuals can usually be identified by the observation that one or more of the following always seems to be more important to them than their emotional connection to the music; the gear, the sound quality, the lyrics, the genre, the singer’s attractiveness (e.g. Diana Krall groupies), the technical proficiency of the musicians, the originality of the music, etc.

All this to say, when your connection to music is primarily analytical or intellectual, you choose the music. When your connection to music is primarily emotional or spiritual (nothing to do with religion), the music chooses you, even if it has to cut through a crappy clock radio to do it.

[Laundrew]

The fact that you're easily able to turn off the critical part of your brain means your relationship with music is emotional as well as analytical. As suggested below, that is not always the case. The more emotional your connection to music, the more trivial things like equipment, language, lyrics, genre and even musicianship are compared to the ability of a song to just cut through all the BS and touch your soul.

People who have no soul or who are cursed with the inability to connect to music emotionally can't just switch off their analytical side while listening to music. If they did, music would be pointless or at best, a take it or leave it affair. These soulless and/or emotionally stunted individuals can usually be identified by the observation that one or more of the following always seems to be more important to them than their emotional connection to the music; the gear, the sound quality, the lyrics, the genre, the singer’s attractiveness (e.g. Diana Krall groupies), the technical proficiency of the musicians, the originality of the music, etc.

All this to say, when your connection to music is primarily analytical or intellectual, you choose the music. When your connection to music is primarily emotional or spiritual (nothing to do with religion), the music chooses you, even if it has to cut through a crappy clock radio to do it.

A most elegant observation Jabroni 

Be well... 

[headshrinker2]

+1

A most elegant observation Jabroni 

Be well...

[Jabroni]

A most elegant observation Jabroni 

Be well...

@Laundrew & @Headshrinker2

Thanks for the kind words.

[Diamond Dog]

Jabroni :  I hereby nominate your post for whatever awards might be available to honour it.

A bit vampiric, perhaps...

People who have no soul or who are cursed

...but then again, judging from some of the posts I read on AC, I'm pretty sure that at least some members can pass a mirror and not see their reflection in it just as they can listen to a system and not hear the music, just the components.
I get the transistor worship part ( mercifully I'm not as horribly afflicted by it as some )- I mean AC is a forum dedicated to"The Hobby" and it's to be expected. But what appalls me is the closed-mindedness, blinkered thinking and outright musical bigotry on display as though it were something to be proud of. Of late there have been been some pretty shameful examples of intolerance put out there regarding musical preference. Sad and lame.

But mostly lame.

D.D.

[Jabroni]

Thanks Diamond Dog.

But what appalls me is the closed-mindedness, blinkered thinking and outright musical bigotry on display as though it were something to be proud of. Of late there have been been some pretty shameful examples of intolerance put out there regarding musical preference. Sad and lame.

But mostly lame.

D.D.

Is it hypocritical to hate haters or be intolerant of intolerance? If it is, then I’m guilty as sin because to me, these kind of low lifes are amongst the scum of the earth. As soon as I see that someone can’t accept differences in people or tastes, I write them off as a talking ape.

When I’ve got ~1400 songs on computer that I really like/love (down from around 2500 – sometimes less really is more), what’s it to me that you’re obviously a fan of David Bowie even though, aside from Heroes & Rebel, Rebel, I’m not? If you went through my playlists, I’m sure there would be dozens or even hundreds of ‘WTF?’

Heck, I had to make a special playlist for visitors with all the cheeseball songs removed that could damage my ‘street cred’ . None of my friends need to know that I think Dancing Queen (ABBA!), Soldier Of Love (Donnie Osmond!!) or Girl I’m Gonna Miss You (Milli Vanilli!!!) are great tunes (for real  ).

Think I’ll start a new thread…

[Laundrew]

"Heck, I had to make a special playlist for visitors with all the cheeseball songs removed that could damage my ‘street cred’ . None of my friends need to know..."

Under circumstances such as these, I feel somewhat fortunate as I have no visitors and if the doorbell does ring, I stay in the basement out of sight and patiently wait until they go away. As for friends, I have Lady Laundrew and Hector.

Post Scriptum...

Hector enjoys my music 

Be well...