Critical listening and altered states

Y'all are having way too much of funs...

Letting the cat out of Schrödinger's and replaced with an intensely chocolate heart attack major slice of cake came to this knotty coil last night.  Tempting, but not wanting to get into the 'having v. potential of consumption'....
All one gets is munchies...

Ah, Sound...immerse oneself into a pool of it....*S* ;)

Not to all's tastes, no doubt...keeps the dust off the drivers....

@mahgister 

Music absorption or immersion cannot coexist with a state of acoustic stress or dissatisfaction...

I can’t argue with this but I’m confused about how "absorption" relates to "altered states as related to what @hilde45  stated at the beginning of the thread:

Ok, this is not a question about relaxing, but about listening to evaluate how the system (or a piece of gear is sounding). 

In other words, can one evaluate a system's sonics while in an altered state that is not absorption? 

@stuartk 

Musical absorption is being in altered states of consciousness. As I posted above in the words of AI.

"In essence, musical absorption is a fascinating phenomenon where music can profoundly alter an individual’s state of consciousness, creating a unique blend of heightened attention, emotional response, and a sense of being transported to another realm. "

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If you can achieve this readily, the system has done its job well. Do we need any further evaluation than that? I’d say possibly not.

We got there because the mastering was good and the system can correctly reproduce a tune, image well, play deep bass, etc.

I keep it simple... after dinner and after my tubes have warmed up for an hour or so, I will indulge in a shot of good vodka, gin or bourbon. Then I will warm up the vaporizer and take about 3-4 hits of cannabis... it's been my routine for 50+ years.

After around one hour of listening, enjoying the music, letting it take me places deep in my heart and soul, I turn it down and begin using that inspiration to play my guitar. I will play for about an hour and will go back to listening to my music collection again for around 15 minutes. After that, I shut everything down and take my dog out for a walk on the trails.  

At 73 years old, my *boring*  daily routine is actually very fulfilling. ;-)