Do Countries Have a "House" Sound

Must be, for many years ago an article appeared in 'Fi' magazine that explored how people in different countries 'hear' differently. When you think about, that is what accents are all about. The article in question explored the British sound, vs. American. The ProAc speakers are a good example of how they 'voice' there speakers to British hearing.

The US really doesn't have a house sound. Popular brands like Rowland, Ayre, McIntosh, Levinson, Krell, ARC, CJ and many others, sound more different than alike.

Also to the nature of the listening rooms endemic to the country of origin. British listening rooms are often small and of brick construct, hence small bass-shy mini-monitors (the room structure does not suffer much bass loss, unlike U.S.A. sheetrock structures). In the U.S.A., the opposite---big speakers with lots of bass.

Of course, though it's not obvious due to a sort of nationalism endemic to all
countries and cultures. People tend to think that all people think like 'we' do.
Hearing, seeing, tasting and evaluation are part and parcel to it.

A few months back I listened to a FM broadcast about a scientist who discovered
that cures and remedies can be vastly different due to different diagnosis
because of cultural beliefs. For example, migraines are thought to be due to
circulatory problems in the U.S., digestive problems in France and kidney
problems in Germany. The remedies are all different but there may be a common
thread in there, somewhere, and science should now look at that data to sort out
a commonality.

So it goes that if ailments are viewed differently and languages aren't truly
interpreted correctly and definitively, and let's not forget the apparent cultural
anomalies (as they seem to us), then what we hear and appreciate and deem as
good is not going to hold up on a worldwide basis.

We are rigid in our beliefs and selves (just yell loud enough and they'll
understand) so it doesn't amaze me that people would think we all hear music in
the same way or that all equipment are designed the same way.

All the best,
Nonoise