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Sitting in a room just listening to music seems weird

post #1 of 17
12/16/12 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 
Maybe it's a generational thing but when I see pics of a room with two towers with an amp in the middle and nothing else, it looks boring and depressing. So people just sit there and listen to music and stare at the wall?

Most people I know listen while on a computer, on headphones in the subway, in the car, etc. but to just sit in the middle of a room by yourself with nothing but music?
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post #2 of 17
12/16/12 at 5:32pm
I find it really weird people listen to music on phones, through crappy little earbuds or worse with wireless bluetooth technology, all too busy with other things to truly listen to and appreciate the music being played. Do you go to a concert and talk on your phone, or tap on your phone, or computer, etc? I like a comfy chair and a good light as sometimes I like to read a book while listening to music, but sometimes I simply close my eyes and listen to the music, sometimes I'm doing other things. Suum quique
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post #3 of 17
12/16/12 at 6:04pm
I got into hifi and music back in the late 70's when I was stationed overseas.
I spent a lot of time listening to music with my friends and by myself.
It was not depressing at all, in fact just the opposite.
After 1983 I got away from listening to music and it became background noise instead of being entertainment in itself.
Over the past three years I have rediscovered listening to music simply to listen to it and enjoy it.
Almost every evening I spend time enjoying music, I recommend giving it a chance.
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post #4 of 17
12/16/12 at 6:14pm
OTOH as to a room with just the hifi gear only....I've never been able to afford that luxury as my rooms need to have more going on. These days if I won the lottery I'd do a dedicated room or two for audio or home theater....but at least decorate/treat the room appropriately.

Oh, and don't think it's particularly a generational thing. More a matter of preference.
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post #5 of 17
12/16/12 at 6:16pm
Hmm..... maybe you've never heard a good hi fi setup. A "wow" one. When you do, you don't want to divide your attention with anything else! Well, maybe a drink or two. smile.gif

I had a decent 5.1 setup for HT and recently upgraded to much better speakers. Now I'm 75% stereo music vs. 25% movies in surround.....poor neglected projector.
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post #6 of 17
12/16/12 at 6:23pm
Well, good point about not having a dedicated room for music listening.
I sure would like to have the resources for one though.

Yes music goes very well with your favorite beverage.

My renewed interest in music is the direct result of getting a new home theater setup (located in the living room) so I agree that good equipment makes or breaks the whole experience.
Edited by chashint - 12/16/12 at 6:29pm
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post #7 of 17
12/16/12 at 7:39pm
As an only child, I had many leisurely hours to spend on my own. Most of that time was spent studying, in painstaking detail, every breath, every note, and every crescendo of pretty much all the tapes in my collection. All of my most acute listening sessions were done via an Aiwa all in one mini system thing with 2-way loudspeakers or a Sony Discman using the headphones the player came with. In my adolescence and naivety I was easily taken in by the lyrics of so many angst ridden 20 somethings. I could find a lyric or a jam that resonated with me on a profound level. Over those years of listening music shaped me. Now in my 30s, married with a son, I find it nearly impossible to be taken in by music - any music. Particularly, new music. It's not that I don't find listening enjoyable but I sure as **** don't find music that reshapes my personality or modifies my emotional state in the way that Nirvana or Nine Inch Nails could in 1992. I can still listen to Opiate or Hooker with a Penis and flip out for a few minutes but there's no lasting euphoria or anything. That fact wouldn't change regardless of the money I spent on a room and gear. Equipment is a man's game. As an impressionable youth, having a nice system would have been a nice way to more efficiently glean information from a recording but I doubt it would have meant fewer hours spent listening. I also doubt it would have been any more enjoyable. Except maybe bass. Bass is beautiful. Men must gratify themselves. They make art with systems that appear to them synergistic. A man with a dedicated room and a high dollar system doesn't love music more than any one else.
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post #8 of 17
12/16/12 at 8:36pm
I have a 2.0 set up in my basement that is music only...so yes, I sit in my basement and just listen to music- boring!? I don't spend 3 hrs a night down there, but...
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post #9 of 17
12/16/12 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by union1411 View Post

Maybe it's a generational thing but when I see pics of a room with two towers with an amp in the middle and nothing else, it looks boring and depressing. So people just sit there and listen to music and stare at the wall?

Most people I know listen while on a computer, on headphones in the subway, in the car, etc. but to just sit in the middle of a room by yourself with nothing but music?

Try it someday, you might just like it, or at the very least you might be able to understand why others may enjoy it.

Grab your favorite adult beverage and your choice of music tracks and find the sweet spot in the room and really discover what it is all about.

Granted in my room I dont sit in a mostly empty room with only a pair of speakers and an amp to view. My living room has to suffice for my listening room as well as my main HT set up. Even still, it is very relaxing and even rejuvenating and can often be a very emotional ride to experience a solid stereo presentation of a few good tracks of your favorite artists/genre, even if it is only for 30 mins or so at a time. IMO only listening to music via crappy ear buds while constantly on the go one is missing out on the full potential of the music that one is passionate about.

Also, consider this, just sitting down and listening and paying attention to a few tracks from your favorite artists/genre of music you actually have moments where you are not being bombarded or influenced by outside factors (media, advertising, social networking etc). Sometimes it is good just to take a "time out" from the world around you.

Now having said all that, i often will listen to music from my phone or the car stereo or what have you while on the go or just have one of my two systems on while I am getting ready for work or doing chores around the house, or even a night out at a dance club.... I enjoy my favorite artists and styles, but the experience is no where near the same as sitting down and really listening to a solid stereo presentation. To me there is almost a meditation like effect that I experience.
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post #10 of 17
12/16/12 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 67jason View Post

Try it someday, you might just like it, or at the very least you might be able to understand why others may enjoy it.
Grab your favorite adult beverage and your choice of music tracks and find the sweet spot in the room and really discover what it is all about.
Granted in my room I dont sit in a mostly empty room with only a pair of speakers and an amp to view. My living room has to suffice for my listening room as well as my main HT set up. Even still, it is very relaxing and even rejuvenating and can often be a very emotional ride to experience a solid stereo presentation of a few good tracks of your favorite artists/genre, even if it is only for 30 mins or so at a time. IMO only listening to music via crappy ear buds while constantly on the go one is missing out on the full potential of the music that one is passionate about.
Also, consider this, just sitting down and listening and paying attention to a few tracks from your favorite artists/genre of music you actually have moments where you are not being bombarded or influenced by outside factors (media, advertising, social networking etc). Sometimes it is good just to take a "time out" from the world around you.
Now having said all that, i often will listen to music from my phone or the car stereo or what have you while on the go or just have one of my two systems on while I am getting ready for work or doing chores around the house, or even a night out at a dance club.... I enjoy my favorite artists and styles, but the experience is no where near the same as sitting down and really listening to a solid stereo presentation. To me there is almost a meditation like effect that I experience.

+1 I hadn't done this in 10 years or more, until in the last few months when I started auditioning some nice speakers. Before when i would have wind-down time I would always watch a good movie - now 50% of my wind-down time is just listening to music ; )
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post #11 of 17
12/17/12 at 12:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by union1411 View Post

Maybe it's a generational thing but when I see pics of a room with two towers with an amp in the middle and nothing else, it looks boring and depressing. So people just sit there and listen to music and stare at the wall?
Most people I know listen while on a computer, on headphones in the subway, in the car, etc. but to just sit in the middle of a room by yourself with nothing but music?

Some people are music lovers, some people aren't. You might not be, but there is nothing wrong with that. To comment on some other things said in this thread, if you need a high end system to enjoy your music, either the composition is so weak that high fidelity playback has to make up for that, or your appreciation for the composition is weak. Notice how so many musicians and composers have sub par systems. This is because they are paying attention to the composition and not the recording itself, and almost any shelf system is enough to get the idea across, if not the entire frequency range or every detail.
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post #12 of 17
12/17/12 at 9:32am
I listen to music with others and sometimes by myself for relaxation purposes. It's like a meditation regimen. I don't stare at the wall though. My listening loveseat faces towards three picture windows where I can look outside over my garden area. It's very peaceful. If listening at night I usually end up closing my eyes and drift off to the music.
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post #13 of 17
12/17/12 at 10:13am
I don't have a dedicated stereo listening room, but I find myself daydreaming while listening to music very often. I'll start playing music and start to do a few things online, next thing I know I'm just sitting on the couch listening to music. I just end up in a trance listening to the music.

It all depends on what I'm listening to though. Jeff Buckley, Beck, Sade, or just any mellow music will be enough to keep me interested. If I listen to faster paced music I have to keep busy with a second activity.
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post #14 of 17
12/17/12 at 10:53am
It is one of my favorite pastimes
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post #15 of 17
12/17/12 at 11:02am
There really is a large difference in SQ with a "room with two towers with an amp in the middle and nothing else", compared to your typical tv/etc stuffed between the speakers. I doubt I'll ever be able to have a dedicated room for stereo, but something as simple as throwing a thick blanket over my 70" lcd makes a huge difference.
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post #16 of 17
12/17/12 at 11:14am
Quote:
Do you go to a concert and talk on your phone, or tap on your phone, or computer, etc?

Actually, a lot of people do these days. It's one of the things that makes going out to a movie less enjoyable than it once was. All those cell phones lighting up in the theater and people taking calls. It seems ADD has reached epidemic proportions, in the US at least.

I certainly understand why just sitting and listening might seem tedious, union1411, especially to a New Yorker who lives at the speed of light. smile.gif (I'm a former New Yorker.) On the other hand, a little peaceful listening does a lot for me by way of reducing stress, tension, and distracting me from the frantic details of modern life.
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post #17 of 17
12/17/12 at 12:17pm
Quote:
Most people I know listen while on a computer, on headphones in the subway, in the car, etc. but to just sit in the middle of a room by yourself with nothing but music?

To me, there's a difference between listening to music as a distraction i.e. the scenarios you describe above, compared to setting time aside to truly listen to music for its own sake. There is a time and place for both, but they are both different experiences and not equivalent to each other. Unless every note or musical passage is insanely loud, a large portion of the sonic range is being drowned out by background listening to music in the subway, in a car, outdoors, etc.

While I don't have a dedicated stereo listening room, I often listen to music in 2.0/2.1/4.1 configuration (DTS:NEO music) with my HT setup, with the TV and lights turned off.
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