un-becoming an audiophile

as @fertguy sez...

Do you like what's coming out of the thing?  Does it make you want to put on another piece of music after you've finished listening to what you've just listened to? Do you feel a stab of pleasure and anticipation when you first switch the thing on? If so, sit back and enjoy yourself. Enjoy reading the audio press and hanging out on Audiogon. No need to suffer neurosis.

By the same token, though, if you're caught up in the hunt to perhaps derive still more pleasure out of the thing, keep your wallet primed and open. Indulge in the neurosis.  Just try not to go broke.

At least on this particular evening, I truly believe that it was my love of hi-fi that prompted me to dive into music-making myself. When I was a kid I loved my records and hated my piano lessons in equal measure. In keeping with this, the moment my piano teacher quit on me in frustration, I stopped playing the instrument and went to the stereo, full-time.

I only got back into playing music when I got a guitar-playing girlfriend in high school. Suddenly, I was doing both with equal intensity. That’s yet to stop, this despite the fact I’m now, so to speak, a trifle elderly.

I now have a kick-ass stereo and a zillion records & CDs. I stream to break the band. I’ve got several excellent guitars, a very good piano, and a pretty good banjo. I sit at the piano and diligently work on my Beethoven and Chopin...along with jazz & blues. On the guitar I’m an unrepentant John Fahey/Paul Simon style finger-picker. It all, though, ultimately stems from the love for music that my audio equipment is ultimately, truly responsible for.

And oh yeah, I'm totally dedicated to my fiddle.

Hey, a few minutes ago I was on my back porch, merrily sawing away on the best of my three fiddles (none of which, BTW, are the least bit high-end). Letting my fingers do the walking, to borrow an old cliche. What can I say? Music just makes me happy.

I went to the violin/string instrument store and went ga-ga over a fiddle. The proprietress convinced me to just enjoy the considerably less expensive but still quality fiddle I’d bought there maybe eighteen months previously.

In any case, I truly sympathize with the folks who suffer from upgrade-itis. True, there are more socially acceptable ways to spend your money than on audio gear. But life would be drudgery without a fanciful (okay neurotic) pursuit or two.

If the sibilants aren't spitty and the violins aren't gritty I'm a long way toward nirvana. Add some imaging and I'm another large step closer.

Nitpick. But try not to get your knickers in a twist. Have fun with it.

I refuse to beat myself up black-and-blue over my silly habit. I enjoy the heck out of listening to my stereo and to all the music I've collected over the decades. It's a constant source of pleasure. I don't fret over the money I've spent on it over the years. I applaud the efforts of both the artists who create the music and the engineers who create the hardware that enables me to enjoy that fine music in my home. They haven't stolen my money. They've earned it.

Just like The Fugitive's Lt. Girard used to say in the opening moments of the old television show. "I don't philosophize. I hunt." Putting it another way, I just can't help myself. I love listening to music, and I truly love it when I hear it on quality audio gear.