$$$ vs music enjoyment


The January 2013 Stereophile e-mail newsletter featured an interesting reprint of a 1994 article titled "R.I.P. High-End Audio?" The reprint generated interesting discussion, and I found one post in particular raising an interesting point.

"The article suggests there is some public good to spreading the high-end. I'd like it first shown that someone is happier listening to music on $20 speakers than 'mid-end' $2k speakers. I mean empirical evidence - hook up blindfolded listens to brain scanners and measure their neurotransmitter levels. If there were a correlation between musical enjoyment and price beyond a certain point I'd have expected my musician and conductor friends to own better stereos than they do."

A few points raised there. Does a more expensive system (a nicely set up, moderate system vs. a significantly more expensive system) indeed elevate the level of musical enjoyment? It would be very interesting to compare owners of all-out assault systems with average audiophiles who can't wait to fire up their systems on a Friday night to get themselves immersed in music. I believe I myself would in fact enjoy the music more if able to afford a more expensive system, even though my modest system has given me extreme enjoyment. But who knows...

And then, yes, why does the audiophile community feature relatively so few musicians? I must say this argument is actually not very convincing to me. The underlying assumption is that any given trade professional would necessarily strive to replicate or pursue the same standards or level of performance in his private life, which I think is a fallacy. Does a fancy restaurant chef have to always eat gourmet food at his home to enjoy it? Does a fashion designer have to always wear designer clothes lest they show high fashion is a sham?

Comments welcome.
actusreus
Thank you for an excellent and highly enjoyable post, Mrmb.

However, while the playback experience has improved, my love of music has remained just that.

I agree with essentially everything you wrote, but would only like to mention that for me personally becoming an audiophile actually opened up new music that I would never have discovered (or at least enjoyed) had I not got to listen to it on a high-end analog system. I have always been in love with music, but the relationship was taken to an entirely different level through high quality playback.
Yes, excellent comments. I hope you enjoy your new speakers; enjoy the ride.
Actusreus: Excellent point about being audiophiles and because of this, being motivated to "taste" new (to us) music!
My son and I went to a fellow audiophile's place recently. We only met him a few weeks ago at our local audio shop. Although he owns my speaker types (Soundlabs; and I'm having withdrawal pains until my new ones arrive) one of the main incentives of going, was to listen to some of his favorite, but new (to me) music. That was accomplished, we enjoyed sharing our hobby and I liked what I heard so much that I've already placed an order for some of what he played. So much music, so little time!