Evaluating a system - what do you listen for?

This is what I do not want:

Exaggerated high frequencies and etched sound = "detail", biting unnatural attacks = "fast transient response", unnaturally dry bass = "taut" and “tight”

This is what I want:

An emotionally accurate feeling of live, natural, sonics when listening to acoustic  music.

The  "You are there", feel of electronic music, that does not "add any distortion from the original performance, or take any away". 

A great stereo can do both!

randy-11  First, get the mids right...

Agree, I list to the piano first.  It has to sound right to me and it seems that it is the hardest for digital to reproduce.  After that violin, I have to know if I am listening to Sastradivarius violin.  Then space between instruments, vocals, placement and then TONE, TONE, TONE.  Front to back layering, left to right layering.  Decay of notes especially the piano.  Stand up bass has to have that wood sound.  I never found the sound I was looking for with what I could buy so I finally built my own DAC, preamp, phono and now amp.  Not to say there is nothing out there because I have not heard it all but I was swapping out components and cables, etc., and never found the overall improvement I was looking for (actually I never knew that something could be so different because I never heard it before in a system).  Even with people I know who also build or modify their own components, I heard better sound but not to where I am today.  What I found when building my own components was I learned what parts made a difference and how they made a difference.  So I can use that information to modify other peoples components as I do repair/modification work also.  It was a extremely great learning experience for me at least.  I was looking for my digital to sound analog.  Now I finally have that although the phono stage I build is also something special also.

Happy Listening.

 

In this order:
1] Driver integration (if that's not dead-on right, nothing else matters)
2] Total lack of treble fatigue
3] Tonal saturation (aka timbral accuracy)
3] Sufficient 'weight' across every frequency
4] PRAT
5] Dynamics
6] Soundstaging

...and the magic ingredient? If the system does not want to make me sing, tap my foot, or bob my head, it's a no go for me. Because why else listen, right?

I always listen for this first:
1) Vocals - Both male & female
2) Piano
3) Stringed instruments - Guitar, violin, harp etc.
4) Bass
If all this sounds right - then, depth of sound stage - dynamics & most important = Make sure to your ears that it all sounds real!
Do this as many times as necessary & then start all over again until you get it all 100% right!
Remember one thing: This is a uncureable disease!

That for me is the main failing of music reproduction systems

It's always going to fail because it's a reproduction...