Why Don't More People Into Music Reproduction At Home Play Around With Musical Instruments


 In the pursuit of music reproduction in the home it is my firm belief that you must listen to live music every now & again so that you know & understand how real music,with real instruments,in real physical spaces sounds...
 With that as a foundation I used in judging equipment's "voice" I also believe that playing around with a musical instrument is an excellent way to gain first hand experience with musical sound...EVERY person that reads this can learn a few musical notes,on ANY musical instrument on the planet..For instance I play around with electric guitar.NO I can NOT play,but I can play the notes EFG,on first string & BCD on the second string...Now  I know those few notes & easily recognize them in any song..I am just this coming week going to start playing around with an electric keyboard....So I wonder,why don't more audiophiles simply play around with real instruments as part of their pursuit of honest reproduction in the home?Surely the education in reality is worth the $100.00 it takes to get an entry level guitar,keyboard,horn etc...
freediver
I understand the OP's question, and I see it as literally opposite activities.  As opposite as INput and OUTput.   Listening to music is input to your system.  Making music is a creative endeavor, which is OUTPUT from your system.  Someone earlier mentioned the difference between watching sports and playing sports.  
Here in the US, I believe it's also cultural.  So many people are literally "afraid" of instruments.  If they don't know how to play it, they hold it as if it was a bomb about to explode, and they feel very embarrassed about possibly making a "wrong" noise.  In other cultures, making music in the home for pleasure, is far more common.     
mirolab -- to me, part of the fear you see from non-musicians holding an instrument is simply a matter of the non-musician being afraid they're going to drop your precious instrument, destroying a friendship and being millions of bucks in debt to you.  In any event, yes, I'm happy to intimidate anybody into holding & trying my two cheaper fiddles, but I've yet to let them come close to the expensive one...which truly ain't very expensive, in any case.
I think alot of people here do either play or played an instrument. But just a love for music is enough. 
@edcyn  " but if you’re a working fiddler you can do more than fine when you got five figures in your pocket."

Got to laugh at this one.  My son was a concert violinist, and studied through college then quit to get a steady job (software engineer).  We were orchestra parents (as opposed to soccer, or football parents) and schlepped him around to concerts and workshops all over the Country.  I remember an occasion when we were at our local Renaissance Festival here in Colorado, my son was 7, and he was watching a "working fiddler" playing Celtic music in costume.  Got to talking to him about when he started, and how he started playing.  He chuckled and said he was a Suzuki kid, learned to read music, and taught himself the rest.  He then said he never spent more than $100 on a fiddle.  Interesting guy, funny, and a great fiddle player.

As for my son, he does not have a fine audio system, does not "get" my fascination with audio, and listens to his music on earbuds and computer speakers.  I admire him, and envious that he can enjoy his music without angst and the constant obsession with equipment and systems, and no, you do not need to play around with an instrument to be an audiophile and appreciate good sound, but you do need a degree of pathology going on.
         
I play piano (not well) and have sung in multiple city choirs for the past 47 years.  I sight read and have excellent singers pitch.  I am a part time recording engineer for a symphony, chamber group and multiple choirs.   I prefer following scores of piano music as available on YouTube (great videos of played piano with scores rolling to the music).   My sister who is definitely not an audiophile and doesn't use the equipment I set up for her (listens to her car ratio and iPhone) is an operatic singer, plays piano and saxophone beautifully.  Some people prefer making music than listening to others in high fidelity.  I prefer listening to others make music in high fidelity and performing music to the best of my ability.