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How close to the real thing?

Recently a friend of mine heard a Chopin concert in a Baptist church. I had told him that I had gone out to RMAF this year and heard some of the latest gear. His comment was that he thinks the best audio systems are only about 5% close to the real thing, especially the sound of a piano, though he admitted he hasn't heard the best of the latest equipment.

That got me thinking as I have been going to the BSO a lot this fall and comparing the sound of my system to live orchestral music. It's hard to put a hard percentage on this kind of thing, but I think the best systems capture a lot more than just 5% of the sound of live music.

What do you think? Are we making progress and how close are we?
peterayer
mikewerner
119 posts
 
Well, if you play a musical instrument vs. listen to sound, they are obviously very different things!
IMO nothing can aproach the connection you get to the music with playing - even listening in a concert hall. Any electronic copy and reproduction will always fall short.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Mikewerner, while I agree, this doesn't mean that one cannot get closer. I have heard speakers that are very easy to listen to but which are not at all realistic sounding.
hifisoundguy
630 posts
 
I know how a lot of you all feel about BOSE on this forum BUT I think the new and improved BOSE 901 series 6 mk2's gets you really close to the "real thing"...LIVE MUSIC!.
mikewerner
119 posts
 
That's a thoughtful reply.
Does the real thing have to be real?
What are the goals?
I think feeling the presence of live music is different, and being within it is even more so.
Do you ever sing in church? How does that feel? Is it live?
To me there is no percentage comparison. They are different things. Maybe that is what such a low 5% ranking is about from "The Violist."
mikewerner
119 posts
 
How close is a lap dance to the real thing?
Oops!
Honestly, lately I feel this is like pornography. Here we sit, bring it on!
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