Thanks for the responses! Let me give you a little more background. A few months ago I was meeting with a new client. Once business was out of the way, I asked him" are you a tube or a solid state guy?" The look he gave me was priceless. I told him I saw the latest issue of Stereophile on the corner of his desk and that's why I asked. He said he was currently a solid state guy but he was curious about tubes. I said I started out solid state but I am a tube guy now. I asked if he would like to come over to my house sometime to play some tunes and he said sure. After we agreed to a day and time,I told him to bring some music he really liked and knew well. My wife made a nice dinner after which we went downstairs to play with the toys. To make a long story short we each had some music that the other never heard but we liked it after hearing it. So we both got some new leads on music and we have become good friends even though he says I have cost him over $10K and counting. The most recent time he was over, I asked if he sat down with other friends to listen to his very nice stereo and he responded "I cannot even get my girl friend to sit down with me for a listening session, she will say it sounds nice and that it is it". Nobody else is even interested. To me this is sad, like I said previously the sound you can get in your home today is simply amazing and I would really like to share this with others. Maybe if somebody who likes music heard it on a decent system, they might invest in something that would make listening to music more compelling. I think we live in the golden age of audio and if people going forward are not willing to sit down and spend some time listening to music on a decent system then there will be no market for the manfacturers which is really worse then sad.
Getting friends to listen to your stereo
My main stereo is very good but except for a couple of friends who are into the gear and music like I am ,it is tough to get to get somebody to simply sit down and listen for music for an hour or so even if they listen to music on a casual basis daily. I usually get comments like "wow that really sounds nice" or "it's almost like you are there". I will play music they like or request but after a couple songs it usually devolves into a talking session. I use a sound level meter and keep the levels between 80-85 dba so it can't be a volume issue. When I was younger ,I regularly got together with friends for music either at my place or theirs to share music, drinks and maybe tryout some speakers, amps etc. Yes, I understand that as you get older there are more constraints on one's time and everybody has different priorities but I always make time to listen to music and with the equipment available today, it is simply amazing the sound one can get in their homes even for a modest expenditure. Is it just me or do some of you experience the same thing?