My audiophile take on the symphony last night.

Good thread! I believe when one becomes very focused on the "sound" the beauty and musical message can become quite obscure. One can tailor a system to meet desired sound preferences which may have little to do with actural instruments played live i.e. natural vs tuned sound.

the evidence that high frequencies are attenuated should be provided. instead, one may think they are reduced in spl, because one listenes to a stereo where high frequencies are elevated.

live music beats any stereo.

its like preferring a copy to the original.

As soon as I read the op, I was going to scroll down and post. Then I noticed Frogman already had. What he said.

Just a comment on volume - My local symphony is about 110 musicians and they play in a 900 seat theater. From my seats dead center 10-12 rows back, the volume is perfect and sonically wonderful. I just started going last year, inspired by my audiophilia, and it's true, there is nothing better than a live performance of unamplified music.

Prcinka,

I never had hifi system better then live event...

Well, perhaps you have...consider a live amplified concert in a sports arena versus hearing the album, i.e. analog - hehe, at home.

From Fleetwood Mac to Stevie Wonder and Pablo Cruise to Earth, Wind, and Fire -- the sonics were superior, read more enjoyable, on the record than at the concert...no disrespect intended to FOH pros. It was certainly LOUDER at the concerts, however.

I believe what we may often hear from our rigs is artifact, yet a potentially true facsimile of what is present in the source media, i.e., fidelity to the source which should not be conflated with fidelity of the performance...

Best regards,
Sam