> .. I certainly appreciate and desire high quality audio > performance, but the music always comes first. ..
In fact, it puzzles me that I know people that have spent the money on a B&O Nautilus pair, and yet I can't recall them ever listening to music. And when they talk about music, they'll mention the equipment first, the music they listen to I don't even know - and that's revealing, in my opinion! I do have audiophile friends, but we found out by accident - the topic of coversation was music, and then it just so happened that while listening to music at each others houses we'd raise an appreciative eyebrow, saying "that's nice". But I have great friends who simply listen to great music out of a B&O Boombox, and it's fine by me, and I enjoy the musical discoveries I make at their home just as much, and value their opinion in matters music - and *that* is what matters! I'll pretty much only talk enthusiastically about the music I listen to - from jazz to r&b to salsa to classical - and never talk about the equipment I use to listen. That is a secondary consideration, and I am not particularly religious about it. Ideally the equipment ought to make itself transparent, no? Sure, I'll simply make sure it's adequate for the task - I'll have good noise-reducing headphones at work, but I will listen to it through the computer jack (horror!) without puking all over my keyboard. My focus is not on listening to the music. I'll always order the upgraded stereo equipment in a car, and listening to it is a buying consideration... but again, I will not go after market, because when I drive I'll love listening to the music, but my focus will not be on perfect delivery. Good enough works. It just so happens that at home, in my living room, I truly enjoy to truly focus on *listening* with some regularity, I'll play percussion to songs with my eyes closed - *that* is my temple of musical worship, and I like it to sound as good as I can make it simply so that my enjoyment of the music is not gated because of the delivery chain, and only occasionally flirting with technology obsession. :-) But it's the music, that's where my enthusiasm is, in buying it, finding it, enjoying it. The stereo is "just the delivery truck", as happy as I am with the setup in my living room, the best thing I can say about my setup is that it is kind enough to bow out and disappear, and simply presents me the music, and allows me to fully soak myself in it! At work and in the car, I'll splash some musical essence into my face to refresh myself, and it's good... but in my living room, I bathe myself and fully submerge in music, and that's what audiophile equipment enables. If you don't *love* and feel *passion* for the music, the money on the equipment is utterly wasted, because you will not truly dedicate every neuron of your brain to listening and enjoying. In a nutshell, yeah, the music comes first. -- pablolie ------------------------------------------------------------------------ pablolie's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3816 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=32378 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
