What makes music so congested?

Thanks all for your replies and Bombaywalla thanks for the technical and links, very educational.

Though I listen to mostly jazz now, it is a shame that some of the rock I still love sounds so bad now that I have nice gear.

Playing in a smallish room, 11x11, Marantz 8B, CJ PV5, Vienna Acoustics Haydns (which are able to keep symphony crescendos very clear). Speakers are pretty much near the middle of the room. Yes, things like Charlie Haden (sp?) and new Stanley Clark are ultra clear but they are not pounding a bunch of electronic instruments frenetically at the same time then getting processed. I guess I just need to try to find the British pressing (and buy a record player). If anybody knows a specific CD version that is better, I could keep an eye out on ebay. Same for early Zeppelin.

Still having recently gotten back into hifi, I find that my two big goals are a good sounding tuning, which ProAc does for me. And clarity/non-congestion. I'm in Phoenix trying speakers again. The Wilson-Benesche (sp?) are truly amazing in terms of clarity, in a way the ProAcs don't approach. But the ProAcs move me more. Arizona Hifi in Phoenix is really a great place.

Thanks for your thouoghts.

River,

I'd suggest taking some of the problematic recordings to a local dealer and see if their setups are able to deliver better results. I'd be interested in your findings.

There is no reason why any decent recording of music you like including Fragile, most any mastering, should not sound cohesive and enjoyable.

It should not require a reference recording to get satisfaction from listening to music you like but there can be many snafus to overcome to achieve with many pop/rock recordings that are a challenge in various ways.

I'll try to give Fragile a fresh listen this weekend. I know this is a recording that I have felt like you about in the past but I believe I have heard sound acceptable to good depending on track in more recent listens since various recent enhancements to my system.

Yes was one of my favorite groups back in the 70s. Close to the Edge is considered one of their classics, but the organ on side one always breaks up on any American copy. There are two editions that don't - the Mobile Fidelity re-issue and the original British.

Of course all the Yes recordings are multi-track studio affairs that will not have the spaciousness of a 2-mic jazz recording, but they shouldn't sound congested...

Ok, i'm listening to the 1994 gastwirt remaster on cd of fragile off the
triangle titus speakers in my rig. . The recording is quite good and sounds
both lovely and powerful at times as if should! Not
congested at all. Pretty close to the best vinyl sound i have heard for this
recording. Yes there is some dynamic compression at play at times, but
minimal for this kind of 70s pop/rock recording. I'd strongly recommend
picking up a copy and see what you have.

River251, have you tried positioning your speakers farther apart or less toe in? Sometimess it helps.

Like majority of audiophiles, I primary listen to well recorded recordings these days. But since I'm running a music server, occasionally I dial up an old well recorded recording such as Billy Joel Greatest Hits 3 CDs set but most are compressed and sounds better on my Logitech Boom.