"more forgiving speakers"

What would you rather have, a system that only sounds great on great recordings (referring here to the sound, not the musical performance) and makes a normal recording unlistenable, or a system that might not reveal the Nth degree of realism on the best recordings, but makes normal recordings sound listenable? If you are familiar with live, unamplified music, you will notice that most audiophile type speaker are skewed towards the high frequencies. This incorrect tonal balance is sometimes mistaken for greater transparency or detail.

Here's an example of more forgiving speakers in my system.

I have a pair of ProAc Tablette 50 Signatures and a pair of Sonus Faber Concertinos. The ProAcs are very revealing in my system. They are what I listen to when I get a new CD and want to hear everything in the recording. The ProAcs are very lifelike and involving, but also expose any weaknesses in my set up. Whether they expose true or imagined detail and flaws, I'm not sure of.

The Concertinos on the other hand, have a softer and rounder presentation. They are a less revealing, a little less detailed and have a distinctly woody voice. Much warmer overall. They are what I listen to when I just want to kick back and relax.

Depending on the recording, these two speakers can sound similar or starkly different. Jumping back between the two highlights any differences. But when I listen to the Sonus Fabers for an extended period I adjust to them, and am no longer aware of the loss of detail.

I hope this helps.

This is my constant battle, to try to balance detail with musicality. I don't think I'm alone here, that pretty much is the holy grail of audio. A 'more forgiving speaker' might also be described as more musical. The above threads are all on target. A more forgiving speaker will make a weaker recording sound better. The trade off? Damn, there always seems to be a trade off. The trade off is, on a very good recording, you will not 'reveal' more information, like a unforgiving speaker. So it comes down to: warm, musical, relaxing sound versus: Woooah! I never knew they used two drummers on this track! Sometimes it can be a very tough call for me. I WANT IT ALL! But you can't have it. So I try to balance. For me that looks like a revealing preamp combined with a musical amp. It's all a matter of taste, and what is important to you. I hope this helped.

Very well said Jmcgrogan: the detail vs. musicality balancing issue is one that I've struggled with for a very long time. Certainly it would be great to have both, but I guess the compromise is to have two great rigs, one each tuned appropriately. However since I have only one system, I agree with your great preamp + musical amp approach. My speakers are pretty doggone revealing, which normally combines well with the aforementioned lineup, that is until you get involed in some less-than-stellar source-material. Fortunately my preamp has defeatable tone controls for those nastier sounding recordings; seldom used but still indispensable IMO.

It seems there is a growing awareness that live (the absolute sound?) and high-end home hi-fi...is very different. There is crowd noise, seating location...the building your in...and many other variables that make the live performance sometimes less than you can re-produce in the quiet of your own home. But from the best live Jazz and Classical I have heard in great halls..and famous clubs...I would agree that either the live performance is softened on the top end..or that home hi-fi gives us a false top end...but, actually, I think it is another choice. If you attend an audition in a great hall..or a rehersal..most of the top end will be there. Crowd noise..and the ability of many humans and thier clothing to absorb directional sound(ie: the highs)has always given the live event a softer than real impact.