Onhwy61 makes what I suspect is a very valid point about evolving audiophile perceptions regarding the desirability of 'accuracy'. It is of course not a new observation, and whether it's one that is causally, or only tangetially, related to the point of Sean's original post is open to debate. But I don't want to come across, with my above statements supporting individual preference and the marketplace, as seeming to be totally cavalier about this legitimate issue.
I would generally support the contention that during hi-fi's 'golden age' - despite the state of the art then not being as 'accurate' as is possible today (yeah I know, some would argue that point...) - the *goal* of achieving literal 'high fidelity' to the signal encoded on the recording medium was more enthusiastically embraced by the audio community as being the Platonic ideal the hobby ultimately aspired to. Today, it does sometimes seem that such an ideal is currently regarded, by at least a sizeable proportion of self-described audiophiles, as being distinctly subordinate - if not outright antithetical - to the goal of pursuing the 'Absolute Sound'.
Although I'm all for the recreation of the 'Absolute Sound' as our overarching dream for in-home music reproduction, it is alas an essentially impossible one. As I see it, the problem in attempting to simulate such a perception through the introduction of deliberate non-linearities into the replay system is that such an approach devalues and is often in direct conflict with the necessary (and uncontrollable by the listener) imperatives represented by the signal that is recorded on the software. To me, we *should* be pretty much completely dependent on the recording and software to capture and encode that 'Absolute Sound', and call upon the replay system only to try and transmit that as best we can. But by the same token, it is hard to argue with the position that our replay systems will *always* be non-linear - and in significantly arbitrary fashion (and the same goes for recording systems) - so *why not* attempt to tailor the reproduced sound to render recordings (some, if not all) in the most subjectively pleasing light? After all, isn't this hobby all about personal enjoyment?
Well, yes it is - but: I personally cannot fully enjoy music reproduction that I consider - or the evidence shows (and such evidence could be measured, OR HEARD, and maybe not able to be measured) - to strive for something other than hewing fairly closely to the ideal of 'accurate' reconstruction of the recorded signal. But I realize that's just my preference. I think it's a logical preference, one that I'm most comfortable with, but not one that's shared by all audiophiles. So I'm not going to get upset when gear manufacturers make gear for that segment of our market which has had enough of the pursuit of 'accuracy' and gets more pleasure out of trying create a convincing and pleasing illusion with their systems, even if they know that might deviate from what's strictly on the disk, and despite the problems I myself find with this type of philosophy. In an imperfect world we have to pick our poisons, and if the marketplace didn't naturally dictate that diversity was the right solution, then we wouldn't have the proliferation of firms in this business that we do. I for one can gracefully accept that fact, and still keep my opinions.
I would generally support the contention that during hi-fi's 'golden age' - despite the state of the art then not being as 'accurate' as is possible today (yeah I know, some would argue that point...) - the *goal* of achieving literal 'high fidelity' to the signal encoded on the recording medium was more enthusiastically embraced by the audio community as being the Platonic ideal the hobby ultimately aspired to. Today, it does sometimes seem that such an ideal is currently regarded, by at least a sizeable proportion of self-described audiophiles, as being distinctly subordinate - if not outright antithetical - to the goal of pursuing the 'Absolute Sound'.
Although I'm all for the recreation of the 'Absolute Sound' as our overarching dream for in-home music reproduction, it is alas an essentially impossible one. As I see it, the problem in attempting to simulate such a perception through the introduction of deliberate non-linearities into the replay system is that such an approach devalues and is often in direct conflict with the necessary (and uncontrollable by the listener) imperatives represented by the signal that is recorded on the software. To me, we *should* be pretty much completely dependent on the recording and software to capture and encode that 'Absolute Sound', and call upon the replay system only to try and transmit that as best we can. But by the same token, it is hard to argue with the position that our replay systems will *always* be non-linear - and in significantly arbitrary fashion (and the same goes for recording systems) - so *why not* attempt to tailor the reproduced sound to render recordings (some, if not all) in the most subjectively pleasing light? After all, isn't this hobby all about personal enjoyment?
Well, yes it is - but: I personally cannot fully enjoy music reproduction that I consider - or the evidence shows (and such evidence could be measured, OR HEARD, and maybe not able to be measured) - to strive for something other than hewing fairly closely to the ideal of 'accurate' reconstruction of the recorded signal. But I realize that's just my preference. I think it's a logical preference, one that I'm most comfortable with, but not one that's shared by all audiophiles. So I'm not going to get upset when gear manufacturers make gear for that segment of our market which has had enough of the pursuit of 'accuracy' and gets more pleasure out of trying create a convincing and pleasing illusion with their systems, even if they know that might deviate from what's strictly on the disk, and despite the problems I myself find with this type of philosophy. In an imperfect world we have to pick our poisons, and if the marketplace didn't naturally dictate that diversity was the right solution, then we wouldn't have the proliferation of firms in this business that we do. I for one can gracefully accept that fact, and still keep my opinions.