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System that sounds so real it is easy to mistaken it is not live

My current stereo system consists of Oracle turntable with SME IV tonearm, Dynavector XV cartridge feeding Manley Steelhead and two Snappers monoblocks  running 15" Tannoy Super Gold Monitors. Half of vinyl records are 45 RMP and were purchased new from Blue Note, AP, MoFI, IMPEX and some others. While some records play better than others none of them make my system sound as good as a live band I happened to see yesterday right on a street. The musicians played at the front of outdoor restaurant. There was a bass guitar, a drummer, a keyboard and a singer. The electric bass guitar was connected to some portable floor speaker and drums were not amplified. The sound of this live music, the sharpness and punch of it, the sound of real drums, the cymbals, the deepness, thunder-like sound of bass guitar coming from probably $500 dollars speaker was simply mind blowing. There is a lot of audiophile gear out there. Some sound better than others. Have you ever listened to a stereo system that produced a sound that would make you believe it was a real live music or live band performance at front of you?

 

esputnix
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,681 posts
 

"standing on the side of the stage in 1972 and listening to Duane Allman and Dickey Betts play live is about as close to "real" as I have ever heard."

Duane died in 1971.

Did you mean "surreal"?

 

DeKay

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henry53's avatar
henry53
280 posts
 

Whilst not really being keen on YouTube reviewers or experts Zero Fidelity probably made the single most relevant statement about hifi I have heard in my 50+ years with this 'obsession', "which type of fake do you want?". No sound system can or is even designed to, replicate live performances.  To be honest almost all live concerts in halls and other venues sound terrible, recordings of them sound worse. Recorded music is created in exceptionally controlled conditions designed specifically for recording music. You cannot get near the clarity and detail live via essentially PA venue's speakers. Of course in terms of the experience, when its good, you cannot beat live, but forget sound quality.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,510 posts
 

Yes. Sounds like the players are live in my room every day with my current setup and not just with live recordings.

lewm
13,352 posts
 

henry53, In a small club listening to a vocalist backed up by a small jazz group or to a small jazz group alone, you certainly can hear a degree of "realism" not easily replicated in the home.  In that sort of set-up, some of the instruments and a vocalist typically will be electronically amplified, but if you're sitting within about 20-25 feet of the performers, the PA system typically does not really pollute what you hear to a great degree. To demonstrate the difference between that sort of live listening and your home system, ask a professional musician to come by your house and play a few tunes in your listening room, preferably standing between your two speakers.  Concerts in large halls are a whole different ball of wax, up or down.

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