Hear my Cartridges....🎶

Thank you Harold for the above Post.......
Full of emotion and enthusiasm 🥳
I suspect however that you meant it to appear in the 'Glanz Thread' where it would be read by more appropriate contributors.....?🧐
Regards

Wow Frogman........🤯
I wasn't expecting THAT...!!
Firstly....I agree completely how far we are from truly creating the illusion of a 'live orchestra'....even for million dollar systems (and I've heard several).
That's why at HiFi shows.....even Munich.... you rarely hear a room prepared to demonstrate its gear with a complex massed orchestral piece.
Well recorded studio sessions of female soloists with minimal backing instruments, are relatively easy (less demanding) for hifi systems to reproduce impressively.....even for midfi systems.
That's why you hear the same, boring female vocal tracks played interminably in the demonstration rooms at hifi shows and on web-based hifi zines like AV Showrooms...🤬
Even jazz ensembles are far easier for systems to reproduce convincingly in the living room.
And this may be one of the keys to the limitations with orchestral music.
To reproduce the reflections and volume of a concert hall with 80-120 instruments playing simultaneously, in a domestic living room, is simply asking too much.
However....there are some concert halls I've been in..... with seating from which the 'sound' is LESS impressive than that which I hear in my living room.
Now a trained musician like Frogman will still hear the sound of "real" even in these poor seats in mediocre halls.
I, it now appears......listen (or hear) things completely differently 🥴🙃?!
For instance...even now...after reading Frogman's illuminating review of the Palladian vs the LDR.....I can still listen 'live' (in my living room)...and not be able to tell which cartridge I was listening to (if I were blindfolded)...🤔
This has caused me endless consternation recently as I feel like an 'idiot'...😵
On what basis have I selectively assembled a system and conducted comparisons of a dozen tonearms and countless cartridges...?
Perhaps my hearing requires testing.....I've made an appointment 👂

I think you’re being a little too hard on yourself. You are obviously a very astute and experienced listener and you have assembled a killer system. Your criteria for choosing your gear are obviously pretty darn good; I would not despair about that.  Please keep in mind that I don’t particularly enjoy nor seek any kind of mantle of authority about this stuff. It’s a fun hobby and talking about the music is far more interesting. Also keep in mind that I spend, on average, a minimum of about 4 hours a day, every day (some days, much more) around the sound of live acoustic instruments. Again, I don’t claim any kind of authority on this stuff; I try and put my opinions out there based on what I hear and some may roll their eyeballs and think I’m full of it. That’s ok, I know what I hear. You might find it interesting to know that the level of nuance in sound that most professional musicians deal with when choosing and tweaking their instrument, not to mention when performing, is often considerably finer and more elusive than anything we as audiophiles discuss. You may be surprised at how much time is spent analyzing the differences heard between, for instance, saxophone ligatures (that’s the little “clamp” that holds the reed to the mouthpiece). Not to mention the differences between the reeds or the instruments themselves; or between skin and leather pads. It’s pretty endless.

You are absolutely correct. The sound of our systems can be more “impressive” than the sound in some halls. And, yes, orchestral recordings like the Bartok are extremely difficult to reproduce (the reason that I asked for one). However, there are certain qualities in the sound of live music that will be there no matter how impressive, or not, is the overall sound compared to the sound of a good system. These qualities are usually in the areas of timbre and immediacy. Some of it is elusive and difficult to describe and one just knows it when one hears it; like the sound of a musician practicing saxophone coming out of an open window. High fidelity? Not compared to the “impressive” sound of our systems; but, in certain ways it is ultimate fidelity and one immediately knows that the sound is live. Re the two cartridges:

I think you shortchange yourself when you say that you wouldn’t be able to tell which one was playing. First, these two cartridges are, IMO, the two best so far.....FOR ME. As we all know, as gear gets better and better the differences tend to get smaller and smaller. Still, given the way that you have described what you hear from the various previous cartridges, I’m having a little trouble believing that you wouldn’t be able to tell which was which. Besides, being able to tell which is playing “while blindfolded” is not quite the same as being able to hear differences between the two and I have no doubt that you can.

Anyway, forgive the rambling and I don’t mean to get preachy about any of this. Thanks again for letting us experience vicariously the sound of these great cartridges. I think that being an audiophile should always remain fun while keeping the focus on the performance aspects at least as much as on the sound of it. My two cents.

Regards.

I know what you mean.....
Whenever I hear the Mr Whippy van come down the street playing Greensleeves, I know it’s ‘live’......