New Music vs. New Equipment

While I agree with Redkiwi and Cornfedboy I really back Raguirre's post. I got into this expensive hobby after I heard a live concert of the Chicago Symphony when I was 14 and realized that my parent's Zenith console playing Reiner didn't sound like the CSO from the 12th row of Orchestra Hall. To me that still is the only reason to spend so much on equipment. In addition to classical my wife and I listen to rock, electronica, middle eastern and indian music but if it wasn't for our roughly weekly dose of live classical music we wouldn't spend the money on high end audio.

I am not challenging the comments about the validity of attending live concerts, but a quick look over my software tells me that more of my favorite artists are dead than alive. Maybe if I am really good, I will have the opportunity to hear them in the afterlife. For now the legacy these musicians have left behind is all there is, and much of it is more valuable to me than any artist performing today. Perhaps just one audiophiles justification for the software and the hardware.

Albert - as usual you make an excellent point. I love that I can listen to a lot of reproduced music that for whatver reason I can't get to live. However, I do think that tons of exciting music is being created today, even if it's not as good as legendary performances. I know that it'll be hard for me to find anyone matching Bird's manic brilliance, but I still preferred seeing Dave Liebman live to staying at home and listening to Charlie Parker CD's. I've never had a CD sit at my table during the break and have a conversation with me about music. I got into this hobby through the music and a desire to get it closer to a visceral experience (Jarret's intro in The Complete Guide articulates these ideas better than I ever could), but I'm always aware that it's a second place to actually being there. But that's just an opinion.

Interesting thread. I guess I have slighly more invested in music than in equipment, considering I purchased a lot of my equipment "pre owned". I make major equipment purchases about once a year..and have gone for up to 2 years w.out making a single change. However, I spend at least $ 100/month on LP's/CD's..and sometimes a lot more. Yes, I am sure I can improve my system and definitely have a "wish list"..but i just can't resist new music. I try to listen for 2-3 hours each day, and find myself also listening to "groups" of CD's/LP's for a whiele then moving on to a new group. However, I will also randomly pick LP's or CD's out of the shelves 2-3 times/week to "force" rotation. Last, I also find that some music I bought 2-5 years ago simply doesn't appeal to me anymore. This is more likely to happen w/ pop/rock than classical,jazz or blues..though I can sometimes pick up a new pressing or recording of a classical piece that "supercedes" one I already own. For example, I own five differnet versions of Carmina Burana, but only listen to two of them; I own several versions of Mahler's symphonies, but for the most part keep going back to Solti's, etc. etc. I also own multple pressings of the several LP's (e.g., 3 pressing s and one more on the way of the Dorati 1812 on Mercury) My point is that new music (even if only a new recording of the same piece or even a new pressing or remastered CD) can be as rewarding as a major component upgrade, and often more so. At the end of the day, your system is only as good as what you feed into it.