Accurate vs Musical

i think most of us can agree on the term "accuracy". "musical" refers to the sound of instruments.

all stereo systems are inaccurate and all cannot reproduce the timbre of instruments correctly.

what is instructive is to listen to a recording of an instrument that one has access to, such as an acoustic guitar. one can compare the stereo system's reproduction with the sound of the instrument.

if it is possible, record an acoustic guitar and compare the recording to the sound of the instrument--in the same room. such a comparison will provide an indication of a stereo system's musicality. this does not tell the whole story, as there are other instruments, ensembles and orchestras. comparisons with other instruments and ensembles may be impractical. a guitar is a good start.

musicality does not mean pleasing or less resolving than "accuracy". rather it refers to the characteristics of music,namely pitch, timbre and harmonics.

thus, if a stereo system is "musical" it reproduces the pitch, timbre and harmonics of instruments correctly. try accomplishing such a feat with commercially available recordings. have fun.

To me, accurate and musical are one and the same when you are listening to a well recorded cd/album on a decent pair of speakers. However, they are not the same when listening to a poorly recorded piece of music with bloated bass, sibilant vocals, ect. Accurate speakers will portray that music as it was recorded........very A-MUSICAL. A so-called "musical" speaker will make the recording more listenable, at the expense of some detail.

I classify a musical speaker as one which is euphonic, laid back and on the warm side of neutral. Accurate speakers to me are just dead-on neutral sounding, colored only by upstream electronics and cabling, room environment, and source recording.

Since i can't make up my mind which type of speaker i prefer, i am thinking of getting another set of speakers to rotate with my current pair of "musical" Quad 11L's. I love the Quads when i can crank them up, which is not too often in my apartment. They are just a little too polite for me at low volumes but are forgiving of poor recordings. I once had a pair of neutral sounding ads L520 speakers which were more involving at low volume levels. I need to get a set that sounds like those.

So there it is:
To me, accurate speakers are better at low volume and musical speakers are better when you can "crank it up".

ok, now time to duck and hide. i can see the arrows flying!

regards,
Paul

The way I understand musicality is that it also means the emotion of a musical composition that is conveyed to a listener. Be it by a musician, orchestra or a stereo system. Accurate system reproduces not only timbre, pitch and harmonics, but should also convey emotions.
If a certain set up makes you fall asleep, this system could be anything - accurate, musical. What it can also mean is that the recording you were listening to was a lousy performance, unworthy of any attention or the listener could simply be indifferent to the composition.

Given a proper recording and an appropriate performance, a musical set up should grab you, put you on the edge of your seat. Listening to an unfamiliar piece, it should make you wonder what's next.

So in my opinion, musical is also accurate.

Now accurate system can also be hard to listen to if the source recording is of poor quality. This is where the challenge is to strike a balance between accuracy, musicality and your level of tollerance of a particular set up.

As far as musicians, there are ones who are accurate and musical at the same time. There are others who are just accurate. Example of accuracy and musicality would be Heifetz, Oistrakh, Jacqueline duPre, Rostropovich. Example of accuary with much lesser degree of musicality if an above mentioned Yo-Yo Ma(great technique, but most of the time lacking in emotion in comparison to some of the greats).

Just my opinion. The way I see it and hear it.

hi paul:

musical has nothing to do with euphonic. musical contains the word music ? what is music ? pitch, timbre and harmonics. the issue of distortion is a non issue.

when you listen to a live performance you hear the sound of instruments. most stereo systems misrepresent, to some extent, the sound of instruments because stereo systems are not perfect and recordings are not perfect.

stereo systems are inaccurate. the distiction you make between so called accurate and musical stereo systems is incorrect. if you consider the definition of the words you will realize that stereo systems are not musical and not accurate. they will represent, inaccurately, the sound of an instrument, to some degree, which cannot be measured.

some hobbyists will attempt to "adjust" their stereo systems to sound more like instruments, while others will try to minimize inaccuracy. both are problematical efforts, because a reference is lacking. the sound of a recording is unknown and most do not have the luxury to record a performance in their listening room and compare the reproduction of the recording with a live performance, which would be an anecdotal approach to assess musicality.

i suspect that so called accurate stereo systems contain inaccuracies of an additive nature, while so called musical systems are inaccurate , subtractively. thus musical and accurate stereo systems will probably sound different, as understood in the connotative ways in which the words are used. but note well again, no stereo system is accurate and no stereo system is musical. it's all a matter of how inaccurate a stereo system is. any ideas on measurement o9f inaccuracy ?

Mrtennis:

some hobbyists will attempt to "adjust" their stereo systems to sound more like instruments, while others will try to minimize inaccuracy. both are problematical efforts, because a reference is lacking. the sound of a recording is unknown

As stated, the premise is correct. However, it presupposes that the objective is the (live) performance.
I don't think that this is a viable -- or correct -- pursuit for sound reproduction.
*For live music we go to a concert.
*To enjoy music, we can also listen to transistor radio, our cell phone, etc.
*A sound reproduction system offers enjoyment through two parametres:
--the actual music
--the system playing the medium on which the music is recorded.

Both variables are at play.

"Accurate", as you present it would indicate "closest to the medium (cd, LP, etc)" AND as you note, we have no real reference to the actual event even through the medium at hand.

So, I would suggest that hobbyists turn to adjusting their systems to "sound closer/more/better/etc" to the instruments.

I listen more to orchestral music and that is what I've (now) turned to.

I used to think that an "excellent" system plays all kinds of music -- i.e. offers the same level of enjoyment playing all kinds of music.
I'm not so sure any more. My system plays classical. I can also adjust it to offer enjoyment playing blues - but it needs an "adjustment.
Cheers