Hi Martin,
I think that's very true, and indeed is something I try to do when describing equipment, as no doubt you'll have noticedI agree only to a point. If you describe to me the sound of a system using, say, big band music my eyes may well glaze over too, but you could still impart useful information about the acoustic, dynamics, stereo staging etc. that I could understand.
I don't think that you can ever include too much information in such circumstances, but I also don't think that it's appropriate or meritorious to gauge someone's 'status' as a music lover depending on how they relate to music through the performance of their equipment, which is effectively what the infamous Mr Dunn is attempting to do in order to classify solid-state amplifiers as the de facto choice of music lovers.
All you achieve then is to make people feel paranoid and question themselves (am I a 'genuine' music lover or just a 'hi-fi freak'?) and in return stifle any interest they may have had in expressing their choice of equipment in musical terms - in fact, for the more easily influenced amongst us, you could stop people contributing altogether! People 'get' what they get when listening to their systems, and so should be left alone to get on with it.
What's important is that you stay true to yourself and that what is written is genuine and heart-felt, and not some contrived 'epistle' designed to impress or appease the sensibilities of the 'cognoscenti' in an attempt to appear as 'knowledgeable' amongst one's peers.
Good point, and how very true.By the way, when a friend wants to listen to my system I usually suggest they bring their own music. However, I will always play them one classical piece as I believe it brings more understanding about performance but, more importantly, it often generates a surprising interest in what I'm playing. Classical just doesn't register on people's horizons but it doesn't mean there isn't latent interest waiting to be piqued.
Don't get me wrong, I like Classical music - just not sitting listening to it at home. It's a different ball game when my wife and I sometimes attend a ballet or go to see the BBC National Orchestra of Wales play live at one of the local halls, where there is some form of 'visual stimulus' to accompany the undoubtedly beautiful music.
Without the visual stimulus of dancing or watching an orchestra in full flow, Classical music struggles to hold my attention, which is why I can't 'get into' it at home. I enjoy mostly music that's 'funky', rhythmic and beat-driven, and preferably with vocals present - something you can tap your feet to. 'Instrumentals', therefore, aren't really my thing, although I enjoy Jazz music - for me it's got more 'soul', and I mean in the 'black' sense of the word. It isn't 'po-faced' in the way of Classical, if you see what I mean. I also love listening to talented or interesting/unusual vocalists, but find Opera, for example, somewhat 'heavy', so Rock and Pop, etc, suits my tastes much better - that's just me
One thing I do dislike immensely is the snobbery and pretentiousness which often perpetrates the following of Classical music, such that one can almost sense the snooty disdain of aficionados when declaring a relative non-interest in the genre; and this is sadly quite prevalent in the music section of some other forums.
Marco.
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Originally Posted by Marco
