Get out and listen!

Good seats in many places (like Chicago Symphony) are reserved for subscription buyers only.  In my suburban Chicago village we had nice auditorium (500 people) and great concerts.  Last one was John Mayall with fantastic band, but the sound was way off.  At one point John Mayall stopped the concert and complained to audio booth.  It was much better after that, but that is the reality of such small venues and traveling bands.  At the Frank Zappa concert in Chicago Bismarck Theatre  (1984) I got seat so bad (way to the side) that I couldn't see or hear well.  Nothing will replace live performance experience* but for the sound I stay at home.

* I was able to get into Biddy Mulligans bar (Sheridan Rd. Chicago) for $5 cover charge in 80s.  Main performer was John Lee Hooker with Coast to Coast Blues Band while his invited guests who performed as well were Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon.  All three for $5 from 10' distance - cannot beat that. 

I have had season tickets to the Oregon Symphony 8th row center for ten years. 7th row center is the “classic” best audiophile seat. But I found in this particular venue 8th is better.

Although, to my horror they installed a cutting edge DSP sound system. Just the kind of leading edge technology like the CD when originally released. In my seats up until a few weeks ago it was not audible (as it shouldn’t). The point was to allow them to tune the auditorium to special concerts… Rock, jazz… etc. and to allow folks in the back to hear the concert as if in the front.

I brought a friend to a classical performance a few weeks ago and suddenly it sounded like a high school auditorium with echoes at huge volume from behind. The concert was simply horrible. Not a nuance of natural sound. I could see instruments in front of me and hear them behind me.

I immediately contacted all the VIce Presidents. The Vice President of Operations responded to me and sat in on the last performance of the symphony. He thought he noticed some anomalies. Obviously as horrible as the sound was he knows nothing about sound or acoustics. We had a telephone conversation where he tried to placate me. But clearly no action was to follow.

Fortunately, my friend who had joined me (and audiogon forum member), a professional musician and professional Audio engineer stepped in and told him in no uncertain terms the system was completely screwing up the sound. Which seemed to get a response. I’ll see this weekend.

I have implemented leading edge technologies all my career. This can be a huge problem when marketing guys pitch technology to business folks who have no idea what is behind the technology. I know of a number of huge companies (that had thousands of employees, that no longer exist because the implemented technology beyond their understanding and destroyed their ability to do their core business. I hope very much this is not the end of the Oregon Symphony as a fantastic acoustical orchestra.

@ghdprentice - Sorry to hear about your sound issues. It'd be a shame if they screwed it up in the name of "progress". I live in Edmonds just north of SEA. The arts center is a really nice venue. Saw Travis Tritt do an acoustic set there and he was great. Excellent sound too. I need to see when the next chamber performance is.

@cd318 - I know what you mean. I haven't turned my system on since the concert. I'm almost afraid to! 😉

+1 musicfan2349

Live listening is just awesome....

Nothing beats as many good quality live performances as one can soak in to get the true vibe of what music should sound like.