Actually (and I wonder if anyone else feels this way), I'd rather have audio ignoramuses listen to my system than most of the so-called audiophiles I encounter. I'm non-plussed by folks who say they refuse to play their systems for the great unwashed. Why would this be, except possibly that they can't live without ego reinforcement?
If someone wants to hear my system, I gladly fire it up and play what they like. If they want to hear a demo, then I choose the music. If they want to hear how loud it will play, I take it up to concert levels. If they want to hear how much bass it has, I play Saint-Saens or Cosmic Hippo. Why would I not? Unlike a bottle of fine wine, the music isn't going to run dry. What is this "my system is too fine to be wasted on shit ears like yours" nonsense? I don't get it at all.
I'd much rather have someone tell me that my Mezzo Utopias sound just like his cousin's Boses, and mean it as a compliment, than to have some self-anointed Golden Ear raise an eyebrow because my cables are not suspended on little titanium scaffolds and mean it as a sneer.
My listening group is made up mostly of very fine amateur and professional musicians with systems ranging from $3K to $300K and something in excess of 15,000 pieces of software. When we go to someone's home, we use the system at hand and listen to the music. Going on at length about one's neutron-flux-treated outlets would be considered tedious if not gauche. Discussions of gear are VERY tangential to our listening experiences, though we may debate a conductor's interpretation or a singer's intonation until four in the morning.
For us, THAT is what audio is all about.
will
If someone wants to hear my system, I gladly fire it up and play what they like. If they want to hear a demo, then I choose the music. If they want to hear how loud it will play, I take it up to concert levels. If they want to hear how much bass it has, I play Saint-Saens or Cosmic Hippo. Why would I not? Unlike a bottle of fine wine, the music isn't going to run dry. What is this "my system is too fine to be wasted on shit ears like yours" nonsense? I don't get it at all.
I'd much rather have someone tell me that my Mezzo Utopias sound just like his cousin's Boses, and mean it as a compliment, than to have some self-anointed Golden Ear raise an eyebrow because my cables are not suspended on little titanium scaffolds and mean it as a sneer.
My listening group is made up mostly of very fine amateur and professional musicians with systems ranging from $3K to $300K and something in excess of 15,000 pieces of software. When we go to someone's home, we use the system at hand and listen to the music. Going on at length about one's neutron-flux-treated outlets would be considered tedious if not gauche. Discussions of gear are VERY tangential to our listening experiences, though we may debate a conductor's interpretation or a singer's intonation until four in the morning.
For us, THAT is what audio is all about.
will