Enjoyment

Don't even go there; that road leads to obsession, isolation, and financial ruin. 9/10 eventually turn to I.V. drug use and live concerts. Just say "no" to accurate reproduction. Start a neighborhood watch in your own community and learn to read the signs.

Marco

It can lead to more musical satisfaction, especially the first time you slot a new (presumably very expensive) unit in your system. Just a shame that feeling doesn't last very long, you get annoyed with your 'old' equipment, that holds the true abilities of your new toy down. And no Marco, it doesn't lead to all kind of drugs, because we don't have the money for that kind of stuff. And for live concerts: all these people are making noise, the musicians playh a false note every now and then and te technicians screw up. So.... eeehhhh.... what is the point I'm trying to make? Gotta have a dose of hi-fi, before my brain crumbles.

The whole accuracy issue, I believe, comes down to musical preference. If you want to be convinced that you are sitting in front of a performacne of Mahler #8, with close to 1000 musicians on stage, then accuracy is important. If you want to hear one of the greats play Beethoven's piano sonatas, then you would want to hear every detail that makes that music great.

With my system, music that is electronic, amplified, filtered, over-miked, and poorly engineered sounds horrific. There is simply no need for that detail, and it is actually to the detriment of the performance. Someone should outlaw those stupid rhythm machines! Plus, alot of popular artists really don't have very nice voices. I won't name names, but I could understand the desire to smooth things over a bit. Who wants to hear all that.

Rob

No it doesn't. Too much personal preference keeps people from even looking for overall accuracy. Everyone has likes and (less often) dislikes that tend to cause them to look for certain details in the music over other aspects of the sound.

People that really like deep, fast, accurate bass will often be willing to give up accuracy in other aspects of the sound to get that overall preference. Most people will say they want their system to be both neutral and accurate, but their preferences override that desire. The same description can be used for every conceivable aspect of the sound.

This is similar to two people attending a concert. While one person might think it was great because an instrument that they really enjoy to the exclusion of others was featured while the person in the seat next to them might did not enjoy it because of the extended French Horn solo. The music was still accurate, it couldn't be any less, but that did nothing for the second attendee.

It's all personal preference!