Dodgealum, thanks...I do intend to audition the Super HL5's against the M30s...and various of the Spendors. But for now, I'm going to relax for a while and listen to some music.
Many of us complain about the "brightness" of the recordings, and talk about this or that system being more "accurate"...as if we are quite sure we can tell with real certainty what is, indeed, "accurate." But, for heaven's sakes, it's ALL illusion. We're just listening to RECORDINGS, not the real thing. Artificiality starts at the microphone. The point, I think, is to play back the recording and have it do its magic. Good aural magic can even happen with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and an Ipod in an airplane over the Atlantic.
The Harbeths produce some really good magic in the mid-range, pretty consistently. The Vandersteens produce some very good magic in the highs, with the right source material. Neither is the be all and end all. The tough thing is to find the formula that works for each "audiophile" listener, and find the right people to help point the way to a satisfying aural experience that takes into account what one's ears are looking for (which, as an aside, can be quite different at different times in a listener's listening life). That's one of the reasons the Audiogon Forum has been such a wonderful discovery for this listener, and one of the reasons I think it's worth sharing experiences.
Many of us complain about the "brightness" of the recordings, and talk about this or that system being more "accurate"...as if we are quite sure we can tell with real certainty what is, indeed, "accurate." But, for heaven's sakes, it's ALL illusion. We're just listening to RECORDINGS, not the real thing. Artificiality starts at the microphone. The point, I think, is to play back the recording and have it do its magic. Good aural magic can even happen with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and an Ipod in an airplane over the Atlantic.
The Harbeths produce some really good magic in the mid-range, pretty consistently. The Vandersteens produce some very good magic in the highs, with the right source material. Neither is the be all and end all. The tough thing is to find the formula that works for each "audiophile" listener, and find the right people to help point the way to a satisfying aural experience that takes into account what one's ears are looking for (which, as an aside, can be quite different at different times in a listener's listening life). That's one of the reasons the Audiogon Forum has been such a wonderful discovery for this listener, and one of the reasons I think it's worth sharing experiences.
