Things that “blow your mind”

The way music sounds when under the influence of a particular substance (probably shouldn’t mention it here). Made me realize that most audiophiles have only scratched the surface of how music can sound and feel. Under these particular conditions, music played through a pair of Air Pods sounds better than any six-figure system and it’s not even close. 

The most memorable was the very first time I heard the debut album by "It's a Beautiful Day" at a uniquely bizarre party held shortly after the album was originally released. I'll spare young readers the details, but it was an amazing night...one indelibly etched in my memory.

A couple of years later, I saw the group performing with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band at an abandoned theater in Long Beach, California and it was equally memorable.

The third most mind blowing musical event was seeing The Mothers perform just after "Freak Out" was issued.

First time visiting a friend's family getaway on a lake in Wisconsin for a week, years ago, and listening only to A windup tabletop Victrola and an old but nicely functioning tube radio. After a few days of listening to great performances on the Victrola, I realized that it was easy to forget about surface noise and listen to what are basically direct-to-disc recordings.  There's a, I don't exactly know how to describe, but at times, a startling clarity to the recordings.  I enjoyed it immensely, almost like a clearing out of modern electrically generated sound, and more like the real thing.  Something like that.  And no TV.  

Hearing my daughter’s Pro-Ject turntable sound great through her little JBL Bluetooth speaker.

Exchanging bodies with the future Buddah and being transported to a parallel universe with unlimited skee-ball and ice cream.