Listening just for the joy of listening

[TankTop5]

Enjoying some good beer and decided to break out a couple different cheeses I picked up at the farmers market over the weekend, some aged Gouda, goats milk 8 year aged cheddar and something else that I have no idea what it is. All of them are very unique and all amazing especially when chased with a great beer, which bring me to music. I remember a few years back visiting some of my oldest friends, listening to music in the morning on their patio out of a crappy Bluetooth speaker and drinking mimosas at 8AM… or listening to a mixtape in junior night from a Walkman that some girl made my off FM recordings. Now I try to have some excellent measuring system while sitting in the sweet spot trying to relive that perfect moment. I’m reminded of the movie The Last Samurai, the part where the Samurai is deying and says all the cherry blossoms are perfect. Anyway, carry on with your evening, nothing to see here

 

[Bucknekked]

Listening just for the joy of listening seems to be a lost art, or at least a part of the hobby many forget about. If you look at a collection of audio forums, AH is not the only forum, you can see an enormous focus on the things associated with the hobby: all the electronics and specifications and the details and flotsam and jetsam of owning and operating an audio system. Much less attention and verbiage is associated with why it was all put together: just listening to good music for the pure joy of it. Much less than that are posts about just listening and enjoying it.

Like in your post, I remember listening to tunes on many substandard forms. What I remember aren't the limitations of the hardware, but the joy of good music. I grew up through all the formats except the very early stuff like 78's and such. The format always had pop and hiss and scratches and noise. Those were truly annoying but through it all the music was the focus. As formats improved, I moved right along because each generation gave less to be annoyed at. But the music still was the star.

Where we are today lets us have near flawless listening sessions. Many here on the AH have truly remarkable systems capable of near concert level performances. But what do we talk about? The hardware. The cables. Lots of nonsense when compared to the music itself. Tonight I'm going to a concert. Tedeschi Trucks.
I'm going not to hear their amps and guitars. I'm going to hear them play music. Just for the joy of it.

 

[Mikado463]

All good points gents ! So many over on those 'boutique' forums I feel are more into 'listening to their gear' !

 

[j_garcia]

When you spend your time listening for things to fix, you miss the forest for the trees. Let the system "breathe" like a good wine and get on with the listening, since that was the point of building a system. I see a lot of people get lost in that.

Was at a friends over the weekend and he has a very simple system, but because we were just sitting around eating BBQ, drinking beer and shooting the breeze, it sounded excellent because it was music that fit the mood.

 

[Eppie]

https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/tutti-formaggio-the-all-things-real-cheese-thread.123488/

 

[davidscott]

The best way to listen to music!

 

[MrBoat]

The recordings have gotten so good, that it has moved the point of diminished returns with regard to gear much lower. I no longer yearn for the next upgrade. They have fixed pretty much all the complaints I ever had even on the more budget side of things. It's a great time to be alive in audio.

There is a handful of us that keep the "Musical Goodness" sub forum pretty active. It's obvious there are frequent and lengthy sessions happening. I am a daily session music head. Knowing I am going home to it makes me have better days at work. I listen at work and in the truck as well. I sleep to soft jazz most nights, having had full intention to listening but never making it past the first couple songs. Wake up and it prompts me to turn it up.

My bedroom speakers were a kit that cost $165 and are a favorite that actually make me smile when I listen to the dang things. My main system is currently employing second hand JBL speakers from their budget line years ago, even though I have better speakers.

I got hooked on songs when I was a kid on the mono speaker in the dash of my mom's Rambler station wagon and on the portable record player on my bedroom floor playing 45s. Songs by the Beatles, 5th Dimension, Gary Puckett, the Monkees, Turtles. . .

When I read here, I am prompted to listen to music, and vice versa. I have enough speakers to last the rest of my days, and my sons days as well. Outside of the better materials used now, recording quality upgrades has futureproofed the designs probably more than any other thing. That and perhaps letting subwoofers take much of the heavy load off of them, and the amps for that matter.

 

[Bobby Bass]

The best is putting on music you’re familiar with or new music and just listening and getting lost in the music. Always time well spent at the end of a the day.