How does solo piano help you evaluate audio gear?

@ arro222 :

Why did you find it necessary to act so harshly toward a fellow commenter?

OK, so you disagree with hilde45? Fine, that’s your privilege and right - all of us disagree at times for various reasons.

However, attacking someone personally as having no more worth to you than a wad of used toilet paper or sheet of Kleenex that someone has blown their nose into is another thing entirely. You appear to have difficulty controlling your anger.

We must all try to address each other with at least a minimal degree of civility.

@hilde45 I also find the 2L download bench very helpful….lovely recordings often in challenging reverberant space, IMO typically expertly done.

Jim

In the beginning days of "perfect sound forever" CDs, it was easy to notice how, even on better record labels such as ECM, DG etc, that acoustic pianos sounded un-natural, sometimes "rounded off" with bizarre high registers, distortion, etc.

I foolishly dumped my vinyl lp collection believing the digital perfection myths, only to realize that my attempt to find surface noiseless piano ended up with music that wasn’t a good representation of piano at all.

Another 20 years pass and better CD (SACD especially) players along with remastered versions of those flawed recordings are available and finally, one doesn’t cringe at what’s coming through the speakers as much (if at all).

If only the digital revolution had begun with pianos properly reproduced, then cds featuring them would have been much more useful in auditioning speakers, players, amps, etc. 

I attempt to tell you that as an "evaluator" for sound, that no one instrument be it a piano, guitar, oboe or human voice may by itself, hold utmost importance.

Right. And I said more than once that I was not asking the question, "Which is the *one* instrument to use for evaluation?" Read back through the thread.

When a person garnering attention here turns petulant, I’m out.

When someone responding to a thread turns petulant and leaves, I rejoice.