$$$ vs music enjoyment


The January 2013 Stereophile e-mail newsletter featured an interesting reprint of a 1994 article titled "R.I.P. High-End Audio?" The reprint generated interesting discussion, and I found one post in particular raising an interesting point.

"The article suggests there is some public good to spreading the high-end. I'd like it first shown that someone is happier listening to music on $20 speakers than 'mid-end' $2k speakers. I mean empirical evidence - hook up blindfolded listens to brain scanners and measure their neurotransmitter levels. If there were a correlation between musical enjoyment and price beyond a certain point I'd have expected my musician and conductor friends to own better stereos than they do."

A few points raised there. Does a more expensive system (a nicely set up, moderate system vs. a significantly more expensive system) indeed elevate the level of musical enjoyment? It would be very interesting to compare owners of all-out assault systems with average audiophiles who can't wait to fire up their systems on a Friday night to get themselves immersed in music. I believe I myself would in fact enjoy the music more if able to afford a more expensive system, even though my modest system has given me extreme enjoyment. But who knows...

And then, yes, why does the audiophile community feature relatively so few musicians? I must say this argument is actually not very convincing to me. The underlying assumption is that any given trade professional would necessarily strive to replicate or pursue the same standards or level of performance in his private life, which I think is a fallacy. Does a fancy restaurant chef have to always eat gourmet food at his home to enjoy it? Does a fashion designer have to always wear designer clothes lest they show high fashion is a sham?

Comments welcome.
actusreus

Showing 5 responses by frogman

That there aren't musicians who are also audiophiles is a myth; that they "don't know that the high-end exists" is an even bigger myth. This notion keeps coming up time and again, and is completely false. Consider how many people in the general population are audiophiles; a very small percentage. There are far more audiophiles within the community of musicians, as a percentage of that population, than there are audiophiles in the general population; and while probably not to be considered "high-end", the vast majority of musicians have playback gear that is infinitely better than what the average non-musician owns. Now, some would expect most (if not all) musicians to be dedicated audiophiles. Clearly, this is not the case, and there are various reasons why some (many?) musicians are not interested; the main reason is related to the OP's basic premise:

One of the very reasons that draws many (not all) audiophiles to the hobby is one the reasons that many musicians are not interested in the hobby. Not because these musicians think that there is anything wrong with this, but because they already have, in their craft, an outlet for that particular need; the need to constantly improve, to tweak, to achieve perfection. Anyone who thinks that audiophiles are compulsive in their quest for perfection and obsession with equipment, would be shocked at the fact that this level of obsession is nothing compared to what musicians go through in the quest for just the right guitar, strings, horn, mouthpiece, reed, etc.; and the setup of these. There are only so many hours ($) in the day.

If there is a correlation between the quality of the equipment and the level of musical enjoyment, it is dependent on the individual's personality. In other words, some listeners are able to appreciate music to it's fullest on the most humble systems and, in fact, find the complexity or even the visual impact of an expensive system to be a distraction from that enjoyment. Some of us like the process and technical aspects of assembling a complex system and optimizing it, and that process maximizes the listening experience. For those of us a better system does, in fact, heighten the listening experience; up to a point, since it can be a bit of a catch-22. It takes work and effort to assemble and maintain a great system, and it can easily go from being enjoyable effort in the service of the music to being an obsession of the kind that takes away from the musical enjoyment. IMO, although I am not prepared to give up my expensive audio toys anytime soon, there is value in remembering that, at the end of the day, they are NOT absolutely necessary for the enjoyment of the music.
Zd542, if you take a loser look at our respective comments I think you will note that we are, actually, in agreement. I have a strong suspicion that when you refer to musicians you are referring to musicians in the pop or rock genre; musicians who use "pro-sound" equipment as part of their arsenal. Additionally, I would define "music lover" as someone who either purchases music on a somewhat regular basis or who spends a substantial amount of time listening to the radio or attending concerts; as opposed to (as incredible as it may seem) the majority of our population for who listening to (hearing) music is something that happens only by accident at restaurants, elevators, etc., and who, at best, own a boom box or similar for their music playback. So, by that standard, the musician who uses pro-sound gear could almost be considered an audiophile. I think we can agree that most pro-sound gear is infinitely better than your typical Walmart boom box.

****I have no idea where you get that info from. I know plenty of musicians and I don't know 1 that has any idea what high end audio is****

About two hours ago I got home from a performance with a twenty six piece orchestra in an acoustic setting. To my right was a reed player who has a system comprised of BAT electronics, VPI tt, and Gallo speakers. Behind me was a trumpet player who owns Totems and Rotel, the bass player listens on Thiels driven by Levinson amps, on the other side of the stage was a cellist whose saxophone playing husband I helped to assemble a system around Magnepans, and the conductor owns Quads driven by Adcom (!) (believe me I have tried, but he won't listen to me :-). At least four other players own decent gear along the lines of Adcom, Cambridge, and B&W. The others, I have no idea; but if experience is any dictation, it is unlikely they listen on boom boxes.
Pete, your comments corroborate what I was saying. Now, let's take the number of members of the Vienna State Opera that own high quality gear (not just SME tt's), and as a percentage of the total number of players in that orchestra, compare that percentage to that of music-listening members of the general population who also own high quality gear. The percentage of musician audiophiles will be infinitely higher. That musicinas don't know about quality stereo IS NOT TRUE.
Yes, excellent comments. I hope you enjoy your new speakers; enjoy the ride.
I can't disagree with your comments; except, perhaps, to temper somewhat the suggestion that there are so many recordings NOT worth listening to because of "the recording industries natural ability to suck the fidelity out of most recordings". IOW, I find that there aren't that many recordings of a GREAT PERFORMANCE that has been made "unlistenable" (not worth listening to) by bad recording/production. I think there is merit in always keeping our delicate audiophile sensibilities subservient to the quality of the music, and not just the sound. But, your point is well taken.

****There are thousands of Musicians who are around high end systems in studios listening to their raw tracks played back at a phenomenally high fidelity that rarely makes it past post production let alone CDs and LPs.****

A comment about this observation (which I also made in an earlier post). Even when the gear that many studios use for playback is not of "audiophile pedigree" (often the case), the "phenomenally high fidelity" heard on raw tracks is often there. The damage done to the performance from both a musical and sonic standpoint, up to that point, is minimal compared to what we hear in the final product. There is an immediacy and sense of aliveness that is startling; even over crappy speakers like the ubiquitous Yamahas. A kick drum over those crappy little speakers can make even a megabuck Wilson sound like it's on Valium (I'm showing my age).