Adventures in HiFi
Posted by: Harris V on 14 October 2002
For the last 10 months, unknown to those around me, I have been conducting a small psychology experiment on myself. I wanted to see the effects of 'Hi Fidelity separation' or what happens when I am Naimless for long periods of time. I think that my findings should give some hope to those of us who are worried we may be mad.
Ten months ago I set off on my work related travels with only a CD walkman and a well chosen set of my favourite CDs. During this time I have resisted buying any forms of musical gadgetry as I was not sure how long I was going to be away. After this time some definite results and patterns of behaviour have been observed.
I listen to music just as often, not more or less, on my walkman as i did on my hifi. Currently it's 7 hours/week on average (I do have a life!). Also my enjoyment of music, those nice feelings we all get from inspirational, mood changing tunes, does not seem to have altered, I'd say this happens about twice a week.
During this time I have been consumed by upgradeitis on many occasions and found it very frustrating being removed from my beloved. My forum time increased because of this. I have found myself mounting my walkman on several wooden plinths, spikes and bluetak all with no result whatsoever.
Some of the people I have visited here in the US have had nice hifis. None of them produced a sound that I found as acceptable as my walkman, however I listened to them for just as long as I would have done my own system. I did cringe where I knew something was missing, but again I still enjoyed my favourite CDs.
I have found myself visiting clubs more often although I'm not sure this has anything to do with the music being played. Having musical choice dictated by the DJ can either be a revelation or a disaster. I still prefer to hear dance music in a club than any hifi i have ever heard.
The only conclusions I can come to are that my love of music and my love of hifi boxes are two very separate things. My music was still with me and I have enjoyed it just as much - the fact that my hifi resolves detail, has more dynamics and better timing than my walkman has not affected this in any way.
From now on I will be treating my boxes as a hobby and my love of music more as a religion. I realise this probably means I don't need a good system but I get so much enjoyment from tweaking and just having it that I can't do it. Now that you all know I'm a complete nut case I will leave you to interpret my findings.
Ten months ago I set off on my work related travels with only a CD walkman and a well chosen set of my favourite CDs. During this time I have resisted buying any forms of musical gadgetry as I was not sure how long I was going to be away. After this time some definite results and patterns of behaviour have been observed.
I listen to music just as often, not more or less, on my walkman as i did on my hifi. Currently it's 7 hours/week on average (I do have a life!). Also my enjoyment of music, those nice feelings we all get from inspirational, mood changing tunes, does not seem to have altered, I'd say this happens about twice a week.
During this time I have been consumed by upgradeitis on many occasions and found it very frustrating being removed from my beloved. My forum time increased because of this. I have found myself mounting my walkman on several wooden plinths, spikes and bluetak all with no result whatsoever.
Some of the people I have visited here in the US have had nice hifis. None of them produced a sound that I found as acceptable as my walkman, however I listened to them for just as long as I would have done my own system. I did cringe where I knew something was missing, but again I still enjoyed my favourite CDs.
I have found myself visiting clubs more often although I'm not sure this has anything to do with the music being played. Having musical choice dictated by the DJ can either be a revelation or a disaster. I still prefer to hear dance music in a club than any hifi i have ever heard.
The only conclusions I can come to are that my love of music and my love of hifi boxes are two very separate things. My music was still with me and I have enjoyed it just as much - the fact that my hifi resolves detail, has more dynamics and better timing than my walkman has not affected this in any way.
From now on I will be treating my boxes as a hobby and my love of music more as a religion. I realise this probably means I don't need a good system but I get so much enjoyment from tweaking and just having it that I can't do it. Now that you all know I'm a complete nut case I will leave you to interpret my findings.