2. misc-audio
  3. 1145061424

Expectations low, listening pleasure high.

I am listening to a $300 minisystem, and am thoroughly
enjoying the experience. This is in stark contrast to my
experience with my highend stuff. Although I feel I have
the right components and synergy, I never quite feel as
though I am enjoying myself because I am either making
judgments on the sound, or because so much money was
spent I expect so much in return. Now I know that my
kilobuck system sounds better than the mini, but it makes
me wonder when this obsession with sound quality interferred
with actually listening to the performance. I figure it all
started with magazine reviews, and countless number
of components to achieve what will never be. It seems we/I
will always focus on what is not right with our systems because
nothing is perfect. And thats where I think everything went
wrong; Imagine what would happen in our day to day relationships
if we traded in our friends and spouses like we do our equipment.
I guess the enjoyment comes in the constant pushing of that boulder up the hill like Camus's Sisyphus. Anyone else experience this phenomenon?
Now back to Stan Getz on the mini.
cody

Showing 1 response by wwwrecords

wwwrecords
172 posts
 
I think that what you describe is fairly common in our hobby. I occasionally find myself trying to do the same thing, but usually catch myself and just get into the music. The truth of the matter is that we are all blessed with better sound quality than 99.999% of the population. I usually have 4-6 hours in a day to enjoy the music, and most of the time I count my lucky stars.

I should also say that I don't read the audio mags. I find they fuel the fire for me to be overly critical of the listening experience. And yes, I can also enjoy a good performance from a mini system.

Sometimes it can be difficult to seperate the gear from the music. It being all about the music, leads to happy listening. IMO

Steve
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