Anyone else prefer listening to their system more than a concert?

@nitrobob - With all possible and sincere props and respect for what you have accomplished with your system, as well as envy for your “rock out” nights, I have seen the Eagles twice and I could never envision a scenario where I would choose listening to them on a home audio system compared to seeing Joe Walsh rocking out in person.  However, based on the responses to this thread, my opinion appears to be in the minority. I am cool with that since this is of course a home audio focused forum. Rock on!

I probably only get to a handful of concerts a year these days, in part because I generally avoid larger venues but also because it seems there are fewer and fewer artists that are worth the effort to go see live. But when I do get a chance to see those artists in a comfortable venue with great sound, it's vastly superior to sitting in my living room listening to a recording. Of course, what I really miss is seeing the Grateful Dead when they had the sound dialed in to just exactly perfect....nothing like it.

mitch2

Oh Mitch, me neither. Good friend of mine just flew out to California to hear them again. What's different is the ear strain. After our concerts at 112- 113 db, there is no ear fatigue. No ringing,,,,, It's so clean. You can sit and hear every note from whatever person you prefer. Want to listen to Timmithy B Smith, just go ahead and listen to his every Bass note, Love the drums, go ahead and listen to every cymbal, or every different horn. Mabe the saxophone.  My personal favorite is the dual leads, love when they do that. The problem is ...material. It's really hard to find live recordings that are so clean and separated. Most Rock disc's sound like crap. A good system will pick them apart. You begin listening to the "system" instead of the music. We have a Pretenders disc, Live in LA that is greatly recorded, but most I never play because of the mix.

On the concerts, we go to concerts monthly.
Our local Midland Theater has a lot of bands, 38 Special, Foghat, Kenny G, George Thorogood, Mike Cambell and the Dirty Knobs, John Waite were all there last summer and we attended. We have tickets for GTLO, Get the Led Out... the best Zepplin Tribue Band in existence, and Black Jacket Symphony doing the complete Pink Floyds The Wall.       

@mitch2 

https://us.loopearplugs.com

Different listening. Most "rock" is too loud for the room. For example, we went to hear Etta James at Carnegie Hall years ago. Susan Tedeshi opened- she was far too loud for the room, and overloaded it- it was a blob of sound that didn't allow you to distinguish vocals or anything else. Etta's band gets on-- they knew how to play the room, she didn't have the power she did at her height, but it was great. 

King Crimson at Bass Hall here in Austin--  powerful, three drummers, Tony Levin on Stick bass, the sound guys knew what they were doing-- you could feel the "thwack" of bass but the sound was not distorted. 

Ditto, Lyle Lovett at ACL several years ago-- it's a good room, and they played it perfectly-- Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar- marvelous. 

So, if somebody can play live without blasting me, I'm down. Hi-fi isn't the same. 

Whether I want to put up with the rigors of live show is a different issue. Here in Austin, we have a lot of festivals. I don't do those. I like a comfy chair, easy access, no pogo-ing. 

Did catch ZZ Top at the Majestic in San Antonio when Dusty Hill was still on the planet. They were great.

I've heard a lot of bands over the years in different venues, from Jim Morrison to the Talking Heads in a pizzeria before they became famous. Little Feat w/ Lowell, opened by Roy Buchanan. I would not have traded those experiences for anything.

Did go to the 02 for Zep in 08. Twas cool.