With Eyes Wide Open?

[karma]

HI All,
It's a nice Sunday morning here in Northern New Mexico. So nice that I thought I would pose a question that has nothing to do with Martin Logan.

How do you listen to your system? With your eyes open or closed?

I have found many years ago that I do my best listening with my eyes closed. This applies whether I am critically listening to the technical aspects of my system or simply enjoying music.

This has become such an ingrained habit that even at live venues I close my eyes - always. Musicians who put on a visual show are wasting their time with me.

My brain does not want to multitask when music is on. I attempt to shut down all my senses except hearing. It's very similar to meditation where the mind simply follows it's inclinations dictated in this case by the music.

Sparky

 

[tonyc]

When the system is really singing my eyes naturally close-unless I'm listening in the dark. Karma, I notice you also use a lead baloon. My bright star audio air mass recently lost its air and I am trying to decide whether to get another or try something else. Have you auditioned the arcici airhead?

 

[karma]

HI Tony,
I actually have 2 Lead Balloons both the early model with the rectangular legs and the later one with round legs (my favorite). I'll speak about the round leg model which I use as my turntable stand. The other one is used, for the moment, as an equipment stand in my bedroom HT system.

Every hollow cavity is lead filled. Even those spaces that were not designed to contain lead have lead in them. I drilled 1/2 in holes, filled the cavity with lead shot, and plugged the holes with chrome snap-in plugs from the hardware store. Additionally, I took the lead blocks from my other Balloon and added them to the round leg Balloon.

The entire TT system is spiked from the tone arm mount all the way to the rooms cement slab. This Balloon is DEAD and HEAVY. It weighs over 300 lbs. with the turntable mounted.

I have run an extensive series of tests to determine my systems immunity from vibration. In my system it is not just the turntable that could be sensitive but also the entire amplification chain. I have tubes - lots of them. My tests were designed to uncover turntable isolation effectiveness and microphonics in the amplification.

I found NOTHING!! No evidence of vibration at all. Since I believe the test is valid, rigorous, and sensitive, I believe I have the vibration problem licked. Certainly my system sound verifies this is true.

Thus, I feel no need to pursue the issue further.

Further, I have lead bricks stacked on the electronics boxes on my CLSIIA’s. While not specifically aimed at vibration control, the extra weight stabilizes the panels.

With all the lead in my system I’m an EPA violation waiting to happen.

Sparky

 

[tonyc]

I have a round legged model too. Mine is filled with a mixture of sand and kitty litter so it probably isn't as heavy and inert as yours. I do use the lead bars. I miss the bright star in my system so I am going to have to get something similar and with wood floors your solution would get me murdered!

 

[Zero]

Typically, the brain does a poor job of processing simultanious stimulation of the senses. Nearly all audiophiles find their systems sound best at night, or in a very low lit room... essentially, a place to where the element of light does not have a commanding presence. This allows your mind to focus more on the audible happenings of your space.

You can practice this anywhere. Find a safe and comfortable spot in the park and close your eyes - you will be surprised with just how much more sonic information you can pick up.

To answer your question; I almost always have music playing - but those special moments are always light at night either in the dark, or with mood setting ambient lighting...

 

[Joey_V]

Although I find that a sonic reproduction is best served with eyes closed, I've found that really good... no... GREAT systems can be listened to with eyes open because the images are so rock solid and so palpable, that it's fun to have the eyes open and literally picture the performers somewhere around the speakers themselves.

With the Amatis that I just heard a few days ago, it was beautiful whether my eyes were open or closed.

 

[karma]

HI Joey,
So you belive that forcing your brain to multitask is in no way a barrier to your critical hearing? That seems to be the case you are making. If so I am envious. In my case, I do much better with my eyes closed. Maybe I'm not so entranced with the sheer beauty of my system. Maybe so many years of hi fi experience has steered me away form the visual beauty and more to my higher priority - the sound.

Sparky

 

[SugarMedia]

HI All, How do you listen to your system? With your eyes open or closed?

Definitely with my eyes closed. You cut off one sense and the others become stronger. In this case sight for hearing.

musicians who put on a visual show are wasting their time with me.

There is some truth to that. Most orchestra/symphony musicians are dressed in black so you don't focus on them, but rather the music.

And my most attentive listening is done very late at night.

 

[Joey_V]

HI Joey,
So you belive that forcing your brain to multitask is in no way a barrier to your critical hearing? That seems to be the case you are making. If so I am envious. In my case, I do much better with my eyes closed. Maybe I'm not so entranced with the sheer beauty of my system. Maybe so many years of hi fi experience has steered me away form the visual beauty and more to my higher priority - the sound.

Sparky

SParky,
It's not that I do not allow myself to admire the beauty of the sonic reproduction, but I feel that there have been systems that are so good at reproducing the palpability and rocksolid imaging of the sonically reproduced soundstage, that I did not find myself required to close my eyes to experience the sonic beauty. Of course, when I closed my eyes, the stage became even moreso organic.

I usually use this as a barometer of how great a system is.

 

[Statman]

What works for me is.....

Lights dimmed very low or off. That's when I can totally concentrate on listening and not looking at the system or speakers or the front wall,etc,etc.

 

[Zero]

Joey,

Having an active imagination certainly helps the part. I can deal with light - but the rest of the surrounding atmosphere has to compliment it.

At the end of the day, its 'all in your head'.

 

[Dreamer]

With all the lead in my system I’m an EPA violation waiting to happen.

I know you're just joking, but I thought I'd throw some "lead truth" in just for good measure.

I work with lead all the time. My other hobby is letterpress printing, and so I have to handle little pieces of lead type whenever I print. From all reports, handling lead with your bare hands, or simply being around a lot of metalic lead poses no health threat at all.

Unless your lead is "blooming" (developing flakey white coating), it is actually a pretty safe thing. The "bloom" (as printers call it) is actually Lead Oxide which IS dangerous to handle, and is very light and flakey so it becomes airborne very easily. Lead Oxide is perhaps the most dangerous form of lead, as it is readily absorbed by the body. But metallic lead, when stored in normal indor conditions, doesn't develop "bloom"--it just developes a patina sort of like aluminum, and is actually made safer by this patina.

So unless you are licking all those lead bricks for hours a day, you are perfectly safe having them in your listening area.

And you don't have to worry about the ones on the back of your CLS's getting hot and gassing off lead vapor either--lead doesn't start to gas off until it's abotu halfway between melting and boiling...

--Richard C.

 

[Dreamer]

Oh, an back to the original idea of this thread:

I listen with lights dimmed, and my eyes closed.

--Richard C.

 

[jfm]

With eyes closed...and in some sort of trance...like being a bit hypnotized or something, not sure I'm describing it well...I'm sure I'm not alone in this, right?

 

[karma]

HI JFM,
No, you are not alone. You said it better than me. I described it as a meditation which is certainly a trance-like state.

Sparky

 

[Joey_V]

HI JFM,
No, you are not alone. You said it better than me. I described it as a meditation which is certainly a trance-like state.

Sparky

Kinda reminds me of that guy on the Athen's video of audiophiles said... "trance".

Speaking of which, I need to watch that video again.

Joey

 

[ralflar]

Some people close their eyes during kissing. Others keep them open. I close mine. I also close them when the music is very enjoyable, it happens automatically. This may or may not be coincidence. Emotional moments, both.

 

[karma]

HI All,
Well, we have exactly 16 responses. Certainly we must have more than 16 serious listeners on this board. While very interesting, I didn't start this thead to necessarily explore the philosophical inplications of the listening experience. I was hoping to receive enough reponses to get an overall idea of how people listen when they have serious systems. I consider anybody with ML speakers to be serious.

Maybe I didn't give enough options. Like half closed or half open or with sun glasses or facing backwards (imaging goes to hell!!!).

Come on folks, join the fun. "Closed" or "open" or backwards is good enough.

Thanks, Sparky

 

[theWB]

Some people close their eyes during kissing. Others keep them open. I close mine. I also close them when the music is very enjoyable, it happens automatically. This may or may not be coincidence. Emotional moments, both.

Interesting,
Kissing I prefer my eyes open I find looking into my women's eyes more intimate.

Music, lights dimmed, eyes mostly closed. Trance, drifting in and out of conciousness, meditation, whatever you want to call it. Unless it's some serious hardcore rock-n-roll -- Eyes wide open-- air drumming singing along

 

[TheBobGoat]

Usually the lights are dimmed to my watch tv/dvd setting (go lutron!)

I listen closed for the most part unless other people are around - then i look at them and chat.

Also, if it is a DVD playing the musc --- such as Jay Z's Fade to Black DVD which for anyone who is a remote fan should buy (its 9.99 on amazon now!) -- in that case its eyes wide open.

hova