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Do You Love Music or Do You Love Hi-Fi?

I know a lot of hi-fi enthusiasts who seem to have poor taste in music but can talk all day about their audio gear. I got into the high end audio hobby because of my love for music first and foremost, and this has done a pretty good job in guiding my decisions around what equipment to buy. Don't get me wrong, I Jones really hard on gear, but at the end of the day it's not about the gear but how great the music I love sounds on the gear I buy. I study music and learn all I can to discover new music to enjoy, regardless of the genre, but I am certain that I will not be investing in the latest Jennifer Warnes vinyl re-issues. I also wonder why Mo-Fi issued the first three Foreigner albums on vinyl. Are there really that many hard core audiophiles asking for this? There are so many great recordings that are begging for the high end vinyl treatment, it makes me wonder who these people are making decisions about what to release on these labels? I'm sure the entire Don Henley catalog is coming soon from one of these labels.
OK, I'm done ranting, but I really do want to hear what others think about this. Or is it just me? Is it about the gear or is it about the music for you?
snackeyp
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
4,494 posts
 
The gear is just a necessity. That's all. If we were on the USS Enterprise, we could just say COMPUTER Now that's a rig.
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
4,494 posts
 
Its seems as if a lot of high-end owners love to listen to girls with long pressed hair strumming on a guitar. Very simple music. Easy to record. Easy to reproduce. Wonder why they need ultra gear.
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
The equipment is fun. The read about, fiddle with, ignore, hate, upgrade, change around..
Just a hobby-time waster.
The music, on the other hand, is essential to my being happy.
I tend to go in cycles over the equipment. Being interested in doing something with it besides listen.
But the interest in listening to music is very steady.
Sometimes my tastes change in the kind of music i most want to hear, but the fact remains i want to listen to music (at home)

(I HATED listening to 'muzak' if it was at work, like if some other employee(s) brought up the 'idea' of wanting to play thier FM boombox quietly. no way... I was lucky this issue seldom came up. As earbuds became the standard for those who wanted to listen to musical dreck all work day...) I preferred silence to musical crap...

So the two things are both together and separate.
I do NOT have to have perfect recording to listen.. So I am 'lucky' I can listen to tons more music than those who will only listen to audiophile quality recordings.
ladavid
67 posts
 
Was actually thinking about this question in the book store at lunch today. Was supposed to be xmas shopping but went right to audio magazine section to check out the new stereophile and then thought if I love music more than gear I really should be going to the music section first and checking out Jazz Times, or Mojo, or Grammaphone....curious I didn't and was more interested in the gear reviews in Stereophile than the new Shelby Lynn album review in Mojo. Not sure what this says other than I really do like the new Black Keys album but think I like my speakers more.
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
4,494 posts
 
I don't understand the attraction of audio gear, without a love of music. Could someone speak to that? Maybe someone could start a business selling amps, CDPs and speakers minus the electronics and drivers within. Just empty cases. That would be cheaper and they would look just as good as the real thing.
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