Disturbing "Sonic Trend" showing up on SOTA audio

Tgrisham, Well said! My view exactly. FWIW, using an absolute, such as a live performance, sounds of instruments, halls, etc, as a measure of the merit of an audio system, is so flawed, that the only purpose it really serves is the wallet of the purveyors of audio equipment.

Even if the equipment and environment existed where the true sounds of a live performance might occur (and IMHO, it doesn't and can't) the end result would still be determined in the creation of the recording on the mixing console by the recording engineer. A major dam in the flow of live music to its reproduction in the home.

I've learned that once you hear a relatively flat frequency response out to 20Khz and beyond, it's not at all etched or tizzy. At first blush, it seems a tad recessed but after extended listening it flows so naturally, almost like a live, unamplified event.

All the info is there; it's just not in your face, as it should be.

All the best,
Nonoise

In Harry Pearson's day, The Absolute Sound decreed that the sound of a live acoustic space is the sonic holy grail. But that type of sound is now a niche industry. I'm 51, and I didn't grow up listening to that type of thing. 99% of my peers would say the same.

True Psag. The WWII generation heard unamplified orchestras, both Big Band and Classical, the Korean War generation heard folk singers and acoustic guitars in coffee houses, on college campuses, and at parties, but the Vietnam War generation forward has heard live music amplified only. Non-audiophiles like loudspeakers that sound like PA's, have you noticed?! Perhaps if I hadn't grown up hearing some music acoustically (R & R bands sit down with a couple of acoustic guitars when the songwriter/s teach a new song to the band members, plus I've played with stand-up bass players. And when recording in the studio, the singing is au-naturel. I now listen to a lot of bluegrass, which is of course acoustic) I too would have no reference point.

But the flaw in HP's logic is that it assumes the sound contained in recordings is that of the original acoustic event as a listener present at the recording would have heard it. That's a mighty big assumption!

I am taking about gear prior to 2000, compared to 2015.

Before the absurdly priced gear that passes for SOTA today.

Vintage gear is before 1980 IMO.

And I was talking about most,(not all), current super high priced systems.