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Mono VS Stereo

Hello,

For the last few years I stopped listening to my system in stereo mode and now only listen in mono. As soon as I started listening in mono my listening enjoyment went up about 300%. No longer did I become fatigued by the (Man made) stereo (Effects) created by the engineers in the studio. I grew to hate following these effects from the left speaker to the right speaker and back again with some recordings. When you attend a live performance be it Rock, Jazz, synphony or whatever, the sound comes at you in mono not stereo (Unless of course the sound man has other ideas. But as far as the band and the actual instruments are concerned there is no such thing as "Playing" in stereo. Give it a try, listen to your records or CD's in mono ( I hope you all have a mono selector on your preamps) it will be hard going back to stereo listening plus the soundstage and the way the "Band" comes across will be really cool.
nocaster
gregm
3,415 posts
 
I still think there is a (superbly enjoyable) artefact involved -- so mark your speakers' original positions before repositioning. Just to be on the safe side...
OTOH, if you'll allow me the comment "big money on small speakers (Guarneri)" is hardly "off the beaten track"; those are easily among the best spkrs that manufacturer has offered!
(I would love some of that espresso...)
nocaster OP
52 posts
 
Don't you just love it when you make a perfect espresso! You put the sugar on top and it takes almost 30 seconds before it gets through the creamy top and sinks to the bottom of the cup. That is how the Guarneri make me feel and I agree they are among (For me the best) the best model Sonus Faber has ever made. Now.......Espresso's are something I like in stereo.......Two at a time! All the best.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,491 posts
 
Yeah I'm with Gregm - the Guarneri is the most neutral and transparent of SF speakers and a real gem.
nocaster OP
52 posts
 
Hoestly, I have never listened to a speaker that I have liked as much as the Guarneri. I would advise anyone who is seriously considering any of the Sonus Faber speakers to make arrangements more a very lengthy audition of all the speakers your considering. I took a whole day, it came down to the Guarneri vs the Amati for me. In the end throught he same electronics the Guarneri were music to my ears. The Amati were amazing but there was a certain magic that the Guarneri had that the Amati did not. I think you could probably find many of the virtues the Amati have in more than a few quality loudspeakers, but the "Guarneri magic" is alot more elusive to come by in any speaker. After owning my Guarneri for years I have no desire to own any other speaker. The other thing is that when your not listening to them they still look like art, I've had people in my house think they were just that and not a speaker at all.
nocaster OP
52 posts
 
Well I started listening in stereo as opposed to mono and the results have been very interesting. For some reason I prefer stereo, yes I have changed my mind. Perhaps taking a break from stereo listening for years has made me appreciate it alot more. All of a sudden listening to stereo records in mono sound vague and somehow removed and less involving. On the other hand my new equipment (Mcintosh MC2301's and Mcintosh C1000T) sound heavenly. The improvement over the Mcintosh MC2102 and the C2200 is startling, just amazing. The last mod to my system (I know, famous last words) will be to my Sony SCD 777ES. I'll be sending it in for the VSI level seven mods and an upgrade they call "The breath of life". Apparently with these mods the SCD 777ES sounds pretty much as good as anything out there at any price. All the best.
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