Is it better to have a large music collection or a smaller, focused one?

I concentrate on the smaller more refined collection. I try to find the best recordings so I dont need a bunch of cds that are taking up hard drive space and wall space. I focus on whatever music makes me happy that day. I find the music by whatever catches my ear and then I do a little research on what are the best recordings so I will have a quality collection that I dont mind listening to on shuffle.

I do both! I am always on the lookout for new music & new genres that I haven't yet delved into. I have some fairly indepth collections in some areas & not so much in others; but while I might be working to refine my collection in one specific area I'm still buying stuff in other genres that are brand new to me. I tend to get bored easily if I don't keep my listening new & innovative. And like the previous poster, I listen to whatever makes me happy that particular day!

Compared to what many have here, I have a rather small collection (around 450 CDs), but all of them are played fairly regularly. I will not buy an album that I know I will listen to for only a few spins. That is a waste of money to me. For many it is a dream come true to have a sprawling collection spanning many genres, but to me all I can think of is "I do not have all the time to listen to all of that," and "will I ever listen to this again?"

I branch out by trying first, and if I like it enough, I will buy the album. That way, I am never disappointed and I know the money is well spent.

Good question. I tend to do a LOT of impulse buying of music...or decide that I'm really into something and buy EVERYTHING they've ever done. Then, at some point, I purge my collection of stuff I never listen to, and guess what goes out the door when that happens.

So, at the moment, I'm tending towards smaller...but that won't last.

I don't have any specific kind of exclusion policy when it comes to my collection.

My buying and listening habits are very sporadic and non-linear. I'll be listening to some album, thinking "Man, this bass player is really good!" or something along those lines. I'll look him up on Wikipedia and realize that he's also part of this other band, and maybe that other band. I'll look at those bands, and realize that they actually have connections to these other bands that are based out of these other countries (perhaps they're on the same label, or have toured together, or something else). I'll look those bands up on Amazon.com and glance at the "Users who purchased this also purchased..." section, and then start browsing through the bands listed there. I might then head over to Rate Your Music and look at a specific album that one of those bands released, and I might notice that a certain user praised that album, so I'll start looking through that user's collection and I'll make notes regarding other favorite albums of his - so on and so forth.

Maybe it doesn't start when I'm listening to an album. Perhaps it starts with a review. Whenever I read reviews of albums, I take mental notes of any other bands or albums that are mentioned. Whenever I read interviews, I do the same. If a band thanks other bands or artists in their liner notes, I jot those down as well. If a friend of mine goes to a show and tells me that there was some cool local opening band, I'll take note of that too, and then maybe that band will connect me to an entire local scene of great bands, which only continues to branch off from there.

The process is sort of never ending for me. One of the major things that drives me to look at new music is the perpetual idea that there's always something out there that I have not heard which will blow me away that much more than anything that I have heard. Every time I discover something incredible, I don't stop and say "This is the best thing ever!" - I stop and say "There has got to be something out there that's even better!"

To that end, there are many things in my collection which are not necessarily favorites. There may even be things in there that I don't like very much at all, but nonetheless all of those recordings are part of a continuous musical journey that has landed me where I am today, and I like being able to look at my collection and paint the path that I have taken, as well as revisit anything along the path should the desire arise (and it has).

I would never willingly throw an album out of my collection in order to downsize.

This is me! Except I'm not quite as dedicated as you seem to be! But I follow leads all over the place & end up with something very different than what I thought I was looking for to start with. Thing is, I don't really have a goal that I'm looking for - anything that makes me smile is good!

I will try most any type of music and if it sounds good then it is good.

I have a few artists that I concentrate on but many that I know little about, often having only one of their releases.

The four aspects for my life have been, one. people who are experts who I respect turn me on to hidden things. two. I read books about music which give my imagination goals on finding things. three. Go to places where they let you hear music before you buy. A bad purchase is money that could be spent on a gem. A box load of duds compromises the integrity of your collection. I'm at the point now that my collection daily shows me surprises as if these pieces were ment to be heard. I'm not able to comprehend my collection so it's partly new all the time. The only way this worked out was I purchased a lot of cheese dance music in the 90s, so now I'm finding all the stuff I never heard. So in my humble opinion a bigger collection is better.
Have two collections, 1 media that you purchased new and spent a lot on that's perfect. 2 A bunch of junk media that you can hunt threw and discover things from. So the fourth aspect would have to be random findings from a junk collection apart from the main one.

Interesting... I was thinking about this today. I often buy what I like but what is confined overall to a selection of genres. I'll peruse and perhaps buy some key recordings that I might not otherwise enjoy but that may be nice to have in a comprehensive collection (Beach Boys - Pet Sounds; anything by the Beatles).

I was thinking about this because I heard the latest Blackeyed Peas album this week and on principle I should hate it. I shouldn't want it in my collection, but gosh darnit I just really like the album. It is pathetic lyrically, but it has plenty of grooves that just keep me active physically while listening. It is an excellent album for me to run to. That said, it hurts on an intellectual level to have it in my collection, that is, if I totally disregard my feelings, my personal preferences. It is absolutely fine to have some trite in the collection, particularly if it appeals to the listener on some level. That said, what about the stuff I have in my collection that I don't particularly like or listen to often even though they are considered classics (Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan)? For such albums, I keep them around hoping at some point I will "get" their sound. More than just appealing to the overall influence they exerted, rather I'll come to find myself in a similar zone that others so often claim they get into when listening to these greats. So the comprehensivist in me keeps them around and keeps me buying (mind you usually used or heavily discounted) works that form a foundation for music.

Most often I listen to whatever is suiting my fancy that moment, but sometimes I'll be listening to something I really dig, or that I really wanted to hear and then I'll get academic and want to search out some info on the band or lyricist. I'll read up on the influences and ideally, once I come across them online, I would want to throw on said influencial artists to get a better understanding of how the artist I actually was enjoying came to write such lovely music.

However, that gets pricey and is a contributor to why I have more money invested in music than I do in my gear. I have a large collection (though it pales in comparison to many here and over at the Hoffman forums), still with >4000 units (though (I haven't counted in 18 months, it could be >5500) I'm acquiring but not necessarily listening to everything I buy.

So my thoughts are, what do you want out of your collection? Do you want it to be comprehensive for you? Or do you want it to be substantially comprehensive which may overlap? If the latter, then get ready to spend However, if you don't want to take up room in your place, and don't want to spend for the sake of being a completest, I'd recommend just buying what you like, continue with your current habits and just enjoy listening to the music you enjoy!

Haha I do the same exact thing.

Comprehensive canvas with focused, tactile strokes of interest on the current favorite genre. I go through phases of attack on particular genre when new and exciting or feel need for more diversity. I recently downloaded some Grateful Dead concerts from a fan site.

I'm working on "TV Show" themes, "World National Anthems" and "classic movie quotes" now.

I am definitely a focused, narrow range music buyer. I enjoy branching out, but I find it really difficult to do without a lot of disposable income. I tend to buy a CD per week or one every other week, and there are more than enough albums in the genres I like to take up all of my purchases.

I also tend to go on binges rather than branching out to a little bit of everything. Recently I started a thread to get some David Bowie advice, loved Ziggy Stardust, and now I am planning on plowing through his acclaimed releases, rather than finding something else new.

Medium-to-large but still focused, imo. We should be too varied to limit ourselves to something smaller than not, imo. New music is a new way of thinking, feeling - a new us. It's expansive.

A middle-way I suppose.
Probably targeted to the sound quality side, but also buying some of those who catch your eye even if they do not have the highest sound quality.