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Should the best systems sound almost identical?

If the overall goal of audio equipment and the various media types is to reproduce recorded music the way it sounded when it was being recorded, then it seems that as an audio system gets closer to achieving this goal various systems should sound more and more alike.

For example, in a utopian world my stereo system would so perfectly reproduce a singers voice that if they were standing between the speaker you couldn't tell the difference in an A/B test. If the equipment is adding a characteristic sound the listener would be able to tell a difference. The less of the systems characteristic sound the closer to the actual singer the recording would be.

Taking this another step, does it make sense that the "better" speakers are the more they should sound the same? Should they not be getting closer to the perfect reproduction of the signal that is given them?

How about the Focal Grande Utopia speakers that retail for $180,000 vs. some of the crazy expensive MBL stuff. I'd venture a guess that they sound nothing alike. Almost seems like speakers at this level should almost be interchangeable in a system at least at the sweet spot.
mceljo
schipo
1,268 posts
 
all comes down to room dependency....and how well the speaker interacts with that said room.
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 
The idea that we all have different hearing doesn't make sense in this context because if I spoke to you multiple times it would sound the same to you each and every time. If a speaker could perfectly reproduce my voice it would still sound like my voice to you.

I agree that it's likely that even if someone were produce the perfect speaker and associated system many audiophiles wouldn't think it sounded the best due to personal preference.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Mceljo,
"Personal preference" is determined by one`s hearing and processing(ear-brain). Ears are always in the equation.

Without ears there`s no perception.
Best Regards,
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
planar speakers do not sound like cone-based speakers.the dispersion of sound differs between driver types.

also it is possible that tube and solid state based systems will sound different.
mceljo OP
1,357 posts
 
Charles1dad - Ears are always in the equation, but is a constant unless you somehow manage to changes ears. Personal preference matters in the real world because we can't match the original sound exactly.

An idealistic listening test for a speaker/system would be to have a singer in a room that is also being recorded. The recorded sound would be played back through the system on deley providing the A to B comparison. The best system would be the one that most closely matched the original sound at the listening sweet spot, but that doesn't mean that it would be the preferred sound in any other setting.

If I was Bill Gates I'd waste my money setting up some listening events along these lines just to see what happened. If money were no object it could be fun. It might even be possible for vendors to come setup in identical rooms so you could see which system most closely approximated the original sound.
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