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what system musicians prefer? Do they care?

I have never aspired to be a musician, although I am very artistic.  I am bad at singing and never enjoyed dabbling at playing an instrument. But I enjoy listening to music tremendously and I always wondered if being a musician would improve my experience as a listener. It seems to me that musicians (good ones) would have a lot more expertise in sound, what is good quality sound, a good system, a high fidelity speaker.... but I have never seen any proof. Am I just imagining it? Are good musicians mediocre listeners? Are they not obsessed with good sound? Any musicians out there to comment?
One example I know is the  Cambridge Soundworks Mick Fleetwood Speaker System, which I finally purchased last year, I knew my collection would not be complete without it. It's evidence of great talents crossing paths: a  genious speaker designer Henry Kloss, and Mick Fleetwood, one of the greatest drummers of the century (and  the previous one). But I don't see musicians weighing in on what are good systems are, how much is it worth spending and what to focus on. It's much more like rich douchebags bragging about the price of their systems on these forums. 
gano
gano OP
750 posts
 
well, I guess it's a similar question to "what car racecar drivers drive". Sometimes they drive a minivan.

First off, I am sorry about the   rich douchebags comment. It was completely unnecessary. I am a poor child with audiophile system-envy.

But on the other hand I am still intrigued. Some musicians produce  super sharp and precise sound (like M Ward) and some a bit messy (like Jeff Lynne) and I assume it has to do with their listening preferences. (Both of them are my favorites and geniuses). And I can go on an on, would a speaker company benefit from having Dave Grohl review their latest model?
tablejockey
4,403 posts
 
If you can create/play music yourself, why care about silly boxes attempting at  creating an illusion?

All my musician friends could care less. Some appreciate the effort, but I get the feeling they're  just being nice, and think audiophoolery is silly. A good musician usually has great ear for sound.

A minimum level of fidelity is nice, but a transistor radio tuned in properly will still get attention if the music is "right".

"Douchebag" qualification is not limited to wallet size, creed, political belief or nationality.
petg60
1,486 posts
 
Why musicians? They are consumers as we do.
Like asking a car race driver if having a sports car, maybe yes, maybe not. Had a girlfriend who was a mezzo soprano, and going to choose together a system she liked most a pair of Mission 707 because most likely they were doing some things rather well in that region. 
gano OP
750 posts
 
@petg60 
why musicians? I don't know, because.... that's what we listen to? :)
philbarone's avatar
philbarone
57 posts
 
I'm a musician of forty years (local 802) and during my research of buying some gear I recently talked to a few of my friends including one who plays with Steely Dan and they all have very average or below average systems and AirPods.  We really don't care that much because we listen to the content of the music, not so much the sound quality.  After all, what are we going to do, stop listening to Charlie Parker, Lester Young Caruso? If you're skilled, you can filter out the music from the fidelity by training your ear.  If you want to train your ear to listen harder, get a free app called "Functional Ear Trainer" or Earpeggio".  Sound quality is just a perk to us. 
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