Do you listen to equipment or music.

I have wrestled with and written about this dichotomy for years. I believe the "gear" side is the hobbyist side of the, er, hobby, and the listening is the music side. Each serves the other, but if it gets too far toward the gear side, (swapping out components, comparing cables etc.), then you are missing the point, or at least having a somewhat hollow experience. Why improve your playback system if not to more fully appreciate music playback? The audiophile that keeps his equipment for many years without change and just uses it to listen to music is usually a happier bloke. Did any of you listen to Mahler orgies in college on a KLH suitcase stereo with 10% distortion and one channel blown? I did, and it was still a rich and memorable experience.

Interesting discussion.

Back in the late 70’s I sold equipment at a high end shop in DC and as I got to be a better salesman I found I was pretty much wasting my time with those who listened to equipment before listening to the music, they hardly ever bought anything!

I had been on a 5 or 6 year course of upgrading this, that and the other.  Now that I’m set with the hardware, I can relax and enjoy the music!

I sold a bunch in 70's as well . In 50 years + in audio I have bought many hundreds of pieces . ONLY thing I ever bought that I thought ugly were
phono carts .

The experience of great music on junky little devices is a phenomenon most of us have had. Some folks easily get into the great performance despite the poor equipment. A few, just are revolted by the sound so much they cannot listen.
Another form of this is the great performance with dismal sonics. being readily enjoyable on any system, average, good or spectacular. Verses average/blah performance with outstanding sonics that are the meat of some high end system owners listening.
Same animal.
To me, THAT is the division between music listeners, and equipment mavens.

Hi everyone, 
my name is josh. It’s been 9 months and 7 days since I last opened my “testing” playlist.
:)