Hi Bryon - for me, it is all about the music. The technology can be interesting in and of itself, I suppose, but I am really only interested in understanding enough about that in order to help determine why I like the sound of one type of component over another, or one brand over another, for example. Like a few others who have already responded, I also believe that the newer technologies in audio have not necessarily been improvements.
As a professional orchestral musician, I very rarely have the opportunity to play what I choose to - I must perform what is put in front of me the vast majority of the time. So this hobby helps to keep me sane - I can come home and listen to whatever I want to. Another advantage of having a high quality system for me is that when I listen to things for study purposes, I can hear whatever I am listening for better than I could before.
Another thing that really fascinates my about this hobby is whenever I have the opportunity to listen to the same recordings on different systems, and hearing the sometimes large differences created by doing so. The variety that can be had in this way is always entertaining. Or listening to two different masterings of the same recording over the same system.
Record collecting is a big reason a couple of musician friends of mine got into the hobby, and that is fun too, though I am not so much of a hard core collector as they are. For me it is more about the fun of listening to different interpretations of a work rather than trying to find every single recording of it available.
As a professional orchestral musician, I very rarely have the opportunity to play what I choose to - I must perform what is put in front of me the vast majority of the time. So this hobby helps to keep me sane - I can come home and listen to whatever I want to. Another advantage of having a high quality system for me is that when I listen to things for study purposes, I can hear whatever I am listening for better than I could before.
Another thing that really fascinates my about this hobby is whenever I have the opportunity to listen to the same recordings on different systems, and hearing the sometimes large differences created by doing so. The variety that can be had in this way is always entertaining. Or listening to two different masterings of the same recording over the same system.
Record collecting is a big reason a couple of musician friends of mine got into the hobby, and that is fun too, though I am not so much of a hard core collector as they are. For me it is more about the fun of listening to different interpretations of a work rather than trying to find every single recording of it available.