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Home HiFi better than Live?

From all the magazines and discussions I have seen, it appears that almost everyone of them compares systems and equipment to Live music as the reference standard. That may be the ultimate comparison but it appears to me that I prefer a good home HiFi setup and well produced software to Live music any day. I have been to numerous concerts and never ever get the feeling that the performers are performing for me alone as I do in my own system. I feel alot more emotional involvement from the entertainers in concerts but I don't feel it is any better sound than my HiFi at home.
Admittedly I will say that I do not have the best sense of hearing every nuance in musical performances but I actually like the way my system make warmer, clearer, and softer sounds than live music. Am I the only person who feels this way?
BTW, my own system consists of Levinson reference components and Amati speakers, the analog part is Oracle, Morch and ZYX, so I may be spoiled a bit in this regard.
fwangfwang
fzxguy
62 posts
 
I agree, rarely at home do people cough, talk, or spill beer on you. And I feel the benchmark of a live performance for my audio system is way too low. However, live music isn't about sonics. It's about sharing an experience with the person you are sitting with and the musicians. It's about the emotion that can happen at that momment, the possibility of magic. And in those rare instances when the band/orchestra is together, having fun, and in the groove, you can share in an experience that is truly phenomenal. (even when the house system costs a fraction of what yours does and sounds like crap).
matt8268
92 posts
 
Fwangfwang, I totally agree with you. I would rather listen to well recorded music than a live concert. With very few exceptions, the sonics of live concerts are horrible. And now that I have a nice system, it just sounds better. I think concerts are overpriced and overrated. Plus at home, I can read in the sweet spot or otherwise entertain myself while I enjoy the music. I've always been discontent to sit through concerts where I'm forced to concentrate on performers I can't even see because they're so far away, as the sound reverberates painfully throughout the stadium or whatever sonically improper place they're playing. A nice concert hall (like Copley in San Diego where I live) is an exception, however, and will beat my system any day of the week.
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
I don't know where you guys are going for concerts or what you like to hear, but I have never heard music in my listening room that was half as engaging as that of a live concert.
In a sense the music on an LP or CD is manufactured. Things are done in the studio which cannot happen in the concert hall i.e. over dubs or blending different recordings together to find the 'perfect' one to release on an unsuspecting public.
Any concert has the real orchestra or band playing in front of you. Gone are the manufactured sounds or the gimmics used in the studio.
I have sat in the back of an arena with bad acoustics for a Bob Dylan concert and loved every minute of it. I have been second row center stage for a more acoustic 'folk' concert and been totally lost in the experieince.
I have nearly 1000 recordings and not one of them is as much fun to listen to as the concerts were to attend.
Sonically they may have been superior, but watching your favorite musician being interviewed one 60 minutes is not nearly as much fun as chatting with them!!!
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