The Listening Experience

From what I've been told, listening to music used to be a sacred thing, preserved in ritual. Our parents would get the urge, go to the living room, run their hands across the record shelves until they found the album, then slide out the vinyl from the sleeve, place Side 1 on the turntable, place the needle in the groove, and press play.

Listening had a place and a process. The means of listening were delicate and precious. I won't say the sound was better, I'm not going down that road. But the experience was richer in comparison to most listening habits today.

How does it happen today? Throw the earbuds in, click-click-click on the iPod, and we're golden. Right? Well, it certainly is faster that way. And we should all be thankful we aren't listening to Donovan like our parents did.

But how close to the music are we with those earbuds in? Are we dedicating ourselves to the experience? Let's face it: music has taken a serious backseat to movies in terms of cultural significance. I think that's at least partially due to the actual experience of consuming the medium: While movies still require a couple hours of our focused time in a fixed place - the theater or the living room television - music can be had anywhere at any time. We lost our grip on the listening experience somewhere along the way.

Now, I'm going to indulge in a little stereo bragging, but I'm only going to do it as a way of exposing how far out of the mainstream my listening habits are. Here's my setup:

LaCie 500GB external hard drive > Mac mini > Decco DAC/amp > Klipsch Synergy F-1 speakers

I also have a Sony Super Audio CD player (and a collection of Super Audio CDs) which runs through the Decco as well. And all the connecting cables between my components are top-notch. Oh, and I listen to XM satellite radio in the car.

So yeah, I'm an audiophile. When I want an album, I buy the CD and import it into my iTunes twice - once in compressed form so it will fit on my iPod, and once in Apple Lossless format for home listening. And those Super Audio CDs - they were only manufactured in numbers for a few years in the early 2000s, but to me they are the equivalent of HDTV. Which is to say, they blow me away.

Believe me, I know I'm an oddity in this day and age. Who buys CDs anymore? But I feel like this stereo is my version of an HDTV. I'm in front of the speakers for hours each day. This is my movie theater. And I feel like a lot of people who really love music deserve better than the earbuds they've grown accustomed to.

Now, if they would just bring those stereo prices down...