How much reality do you really need?

Mijostyn:

“There is no reality, it’s all an illusion.”

Bingo!

“Music is not sound, this is an illusion; music is through sound, this is reality»-“
Beautifully put.
Now apply that to sound reproduction.

Some very, very eloquent posts here on the relationship of reality to the listening experience. But my question is how much does that search distract from or even destroy your enjoyment of the music?

How you listen is important.  There are times I sit back and listen for the beauty and significance of the music, and the beautiful sounds of my stereo.
  But there are times I IMAGINE I’m in a hall; then I listen for the artifacts of reality — sound staging and such.  Then, I can convince myself my set is accurately producing my experience in an auditorium.

10:46am”… being an audiophile is all about the sound. It really has little to do with the music,”
I suppose for some that is true.  But for others, chasing the goal of sound perfection gets in the way of the music.

Mijostyn,

Dysfunctional — “A failure to function in an expected or complete manner. Usually refers to a disorder in a bodily organ (e.g. erectile dysfunction), a mental disorder, or the improper behavior of a social group.”

Is this what you mean?

Mijostyn,

it’s certainly not a matter of getting mad at the music. That wouldn’t be dysfunctional, that would be crazy.
I can’t believe you’re not aware that a common thread of many ongoing Audiogon discussions has concerned the problem of being so obsessed with the sound of one’s system that it gets in the way of actually listening to the music. It’s not a question of fixing your system. It’s the nature of this hobby that we pay so much attention to the sound.
If that’s dysfunctional, then it’s possible a large portion of us are occasionally dysfunctional.

Mijostyn,

I, of course, realize that obsessing over the sound to the detriment of the music is not to be wished for. But DYSFUNCTIONAL???
That word has such pejorative implications, it should not be glibly used. Compulsive, yes.  And many of us are infused with that curse.  It’s almost the nature of the hobby.
But  I find the term dysfunctional way too strong and ultimately insulting.

Mijostyn,

Your  historical references  are as irrelevant as your opinion.

Mijostyn.

Just for the record,
 I prefer lemon in my martinis.