I would like to ask all who use this site how they listen to their systems. Do you listen only at a particular time of day or night? If so, why? My favourite time during daylight hours is at dawn. Do you listen alone or in the company of others? Do you listen in total darkness during the night or do you prefer low ambiant mood lighting? Do you like to listen after a warm bath or a shower? Do you eat or drink while listening? Do you sit on a chair, sofa, floor or something else while listening? Do you listen to stimulate or relax yourself? Or do you find a combination of those responses while you listen? Do you find pleasant visual objects in your listening room add to the experience? Do scented candles or crystals add to the listening experience? Do you feel the desire to share your deep love and emotional connection with hi-fi and music with others or is it a guilty pleasure for you only?
Hi Paul, that is one of the most inspired and uplifting posts I have ever seen on this site, personally I have a small window of opportunity and that is generally early evening, normally at T5 state, say nine, and seriously antisocial at say twelve, you've reminded me I am in that window now so will report back later... John...
I think people like myself who bought their first hifi system in the 70s tend to take it quite seriously i.e. they see audio as a focussed activity whereby you (mostly) sit down in front of the system and enjoy (or analyse) the music.
For me it has also been an important "de-stressing agent" over the years. Time of listening is relatively unimportant....although in the early days unclean Mains, poor setup, acoustics and a variety of other factors could often lead to an unsatisfactory listening experience which altered from one day to the next. These days the system is totally stable and sounds perfect (for this state of revision) each time I listen.
Darkness is not essential (in fact I mostly listen in daylight although there are no neighbour problems .....but I acknowledge it can be relaxing . Volume setting is a personal choice, I like realistic levels but balk at anything that makes my ears rattle . This signals that I'm getting beyond the recommended 88-90db or so
On candles : Anything which can burn the house down while I'm dozing is a non-starter although if the threat of power cuts becomes a reality we may have to reconsider!!
It's on pretty much constantly here. We watch a few hours of TV a week but that's it. We listen to quite a lot of speech broadcasting as well as music & think that it's just as valid to want to listen to speech in hifi as music.
Music is around me almost all day. I listen widely to all types of music for my own enjoyment. Background music at low volume to work to....it grounds me to the environment I'm in rather than rushing away.....which is tempting.
Friends often bring their own music to share with me so these are wild social times. Often a ittle raucous with everyone bellowing out their own personal observations about the lyrics, artist or music... Range from Seasick Steve to GB Ukelele Orchestra, Heavy Metal to Classics... My personal favouries tend to have great lyrics, require close listening and demand some reflection.
I fall asleep listening to either Classic fm or Chill radio.... and to add spice to mix I listen to the music posted on the music thread....that is exciting, informative and ear stretching,...by which I mean I have learnt to listen to an even wider range of music and appreciate it.
I love music it is probably the biggest single factor in how I live my life, without it I would shrivel up and die.
I listen to all types of music as long as it was made for the right reasons and comes from the soul of the performers.
I listen to my HiFi at varying times of the day but usually afternoon / evening usually alone except when my friends bring round new CD,s for me to listen to or they want to hear it on my "system".
I take listening quite seriously an tend to sit and concentrate but I usually end up drifting of into a state of musical meditation, ( does anyone else do this ? ).
My wife does not share my love of music but is very tolerant of my spending and music playing and is happy if I am happy, her interests are photography and birds of prey she has 3 falcons, 2 buzzards, and 2 owls at the moment, but there is a pair of Harris hawks on the way !
I go to live music events as often as possible, a couple of times a month on average with a small circle of similar minded friends, this gives me something to aim for when I am trying to improve my HiFi system, if you know what the real thing sounds like it makes it far easier to judge how good a HiFi system is.
I listen to the radio whilst working and always have a pen and paper on hand to write down any new music that seems interesting, and like Tamara I think the music thread is also a very good source of new music to listen to.
I like to listen in the dark sometimes especially when playing a "live" recording it just adds that bit more authenticity , I don't have any preferred listening time just whenever I can, and I do use music to de-stress sometimes , as for eating and drinking I occasionally have a cup of fortified coffee to enhance the mood !
Funny you should mention pigeons, we have a good friend who is employed to scare the pigeons in Trafalgar square, but even though he is an very experienced falconer and the birds are trained to just scare the birds accidents do happen !
The Harris hawks he uses are supplied by the company that employs him, but he owns and breeds his own Gosshawks and he hunts pigeon, rabbit, hare, etc so he may be able to help with your problem.
If you are in the London/Essex/Kent area message me and I can put you in touch.
Electro,Pluto, Pigeons, are a small rat with wings but the seagulls around britain are bloo*y gigantic ! and these are not afraid of pinching things of people, and when on a roof these can sound like, santa with size 12 boots on, the numbers have been multiplying for years, these are protected birds ? that need to be managed ???
Sorry all for going off subject but these are a bigger problem than the small pigeon !.
Hello All,I listen to music almost all day long,in the dark[hence the nickname Mush,short for Mushroom,fed on shit and kept in the dark]doesnt matter what the atmosphere,its on,as for flying shitkickers,and their ocean going counterparts,well i have the best solution in the world,Winchester Model 12,32 inch double barreled 3 inch magnum,problem sorted..........Take Care All......Crackshot or Crackpot Mush
I like to listen to music all day long. Mostly I prefer it loud and noisy with bass. When I am at work I use head phones because I don't want to annoy my colleagues. I like to listen to hip hop music when I clean up my flat (I imagine it goes faster with hip hop ). The rest of my life I listen to music from the radio and I love it when they repeat the songs (weird, I know). TV is something I just bother to watch in the evening. The living room is dark apart from some candles and I like to see the usual stuff like X-Factor, and lots of soaps. What else do you want to know?? Ah, I love to eat chips when watching TV
LIstenting to music is a constant for me when travelling too and from work i have my headphones in and while at work also. Then when i walk through the door at home my Hifi will be on as it's set on a timer, the hifi will then remain on till i go to bed, the whole cycle will start over again about 07:30 am when i have to get up for work.
.....but I acknowledge it can be relaxing 
. This signals that I'm getting beyond the recommended 88-90db or so 
). The rest of my life I listen to music from the radio and I love it when they repeat the songs (weird, I know). TV is something I just bother to watch in the evening. The living room is dark apart from some candles and I like to see the usual stuff like X-Factor, and lots of soaps. What else do you want to know?? Ah, I love to eat chips when watching TV 
