The Loneliest Hobby PART 1

I'm sorry, it's not the hobby that is lonely, it's you (and many of us).  Maybe get off the internet and do some volunteering for a charitable organization like a homeless shelter or neighborhood cleanup or take some classes or join a hiking club?

I think I get what the OP is scratching at.  At the root of it, even if we are sitting next to someone, the act of enjoyment of music is a personal and very much a solo thing.  Now to be able to lean over and go "that was awesome right?" is a powerful thing too.  If you don't have people that you can jabber about a bass line with, you need to find friends that are also in to this hobby.  I recommend going to hifi shops, or finding local listening groups.  If you're feeling something, chances are that someone else is feeling it too!

To me listening to and absorbing music is a very private personal thing as it is to each to various degrees. I do not need company for that in most cases. I find it hard often to get others to appreciate much of what I listen  to at a particular time. It becomes more of a barrier than a help.  My personal musical taste may be best described as most varied and esoteric. 
 

Now  evaluating hifi gear is a different beast.  Most could care less and no point in me boring them.  However getting together with another like minded person to help evaluate what’s heard is definitely a thing.  Shows are great for that.  I have friends who are interested but only on occasion, certainly not as a regular scheduled thing.   So it’s a mixed bag. 

If locking oneself in a room, living a very insular experience with their audio equipment as their hobby and means of entertainment, is what floats their boat. Who can suggest that it should be different, even if it can be very, very different?

Talking about audio devices between audio-minded friends is equivalent to repeatedly showing Holiday Snapshots, moving the same subject on to the non-audio-minded and the audience will go off and watch fresh paint dry for further entertainment.

Talk to complete strangers about how a source creates a signal and how that signal heads off on a journey of transfers to become an end sound, and what has one created. They are in the Company of a Captivated Audience. 

Introduce a person to their favourite artist tracks on a well-presenting audio system, and what is not to understand? There is an indelible memory now created for an individual.  

As mentioned, there's an audio enthusiast experience where, depending on the individual, which can be very different.

Yes, audiophilia is a lonely disease! I have 2 friends that are into it, and one of them moved to Louisiana! The other is a retired electronics tech, so he's a great resource! But,, most folks just glaze over when I start talking about HiFi. Fortunately, I have other activities that I get to meet people at, but they're are not particularly interested in my audio habits. I recently hooked up a kid at church with a nice starter rig, as he was interested in playing vinyl records. Then his sister wanted one too! Now the family has 3 systems in the house. Nothing fancy, but sounding decent. I get texts from them showing the boy using his new Spin Clean, or sometimes, music playing from one of the systems. Feel like I planted some seeds there!