A way to listen to a large collection


I’ve discovered a great way to deal with an intimidatingly large collection of CDs and records.
 It would take much longer time than I have on this earth to go through them all, so I’ve found a way to really enjoy the variety.
What I do is, without looking, just reach blindly for a disc on the wall and, no matter what it is, play it through in its entirety.
 It’s amazing how enjoyable this is.  Things which I would not ordinarily choose become currently viable.  After all, I bought them for a reason. There’s no reason I shouldn’t like them!
I found that when I conciously pick a selection, I’m very choosy, considering the sound quality far too often.  This way, it’s like getting a new present all the time.
Re-discovering wonderful performances I’d forgotten about (and, coincidentally, enjoying the sound quality for what it is, more than I would have if I had been searching for good sonics.)
I highly recommend this procedure!
128x128rvpiano
I also have a collection so large rendering me incapable of enjoying within my remaining days, so occasionally I will do as you recommend.  Pull out an lp, some I may have listened to once, or not at all; kick back, forego the audio analytics, and enjoy an unexplored performance. Paraphrasing your statement, something compelled me to buy the lp or cd.
OP

That is EXACTLY the method I have been using for CD and vinyl for a while now although all of my CD are stored in my Vault2 as well.
Of course when streaming I still have to think unless I just hit a playlist and let it rip
rvpiano, an interesting approach. Somewhat similar to mine, but a tad more arbitrary I think.

 I too have a huge collection accumulated out of curiosity which has only rarely been purged of anything other than musical trash. (I don't own a recording of Wellington's victory, even on Telarc :-).

 I have 3 types of music: 1) Music that demands attention (where you have to sit and ' listen'!);  2) Music that is known and generally familiar, but not examined in detail, and where recording quality is important so it does not become a distraction and performance not so much. Excellent for reading which I do a lot; and, 3) plain old wallpaper music, such as movie themes, lots of easy listening jazz, pop vocals, etc.

So I let my activities and my mood determine my music.   Probably 80% of my listening  is to category 2.  10% to 'great' classical and 10% to less challenging stuff. I'm retired so I have more than enough time for critical listening, even to 'audio'. :-)