Musicians in your living room vs. you in the recording hall?

I want what is in the recording.   If its a live recording then take me there. 

viridian wrote:

Neither, I go to quite a few live concerts, both classical and popular. I don’t hear imaging and soundstaging in the concert hall, so I certainly don’t want it in my listening room.

I'm always amazed when someone writes that.

If we are talking amplified music, well then ok.   And if imaging/soundstag isn't someone's bag, I get that too.


But this notion that unamplified instruments and voices don't image/soundstage, including orchestras, is really strange to me.  I totally get imaging/soundstaging from live music, orchestras included. 



This week I stopped to listen to several different busker groups playing on the street.  Every time I closed my eyes and whether I was near or far, they imaged like a lazer, totally easily to place, I could point right at them.


We developed directionality in our hearing for a reason, and it really works! (At least mine does, at the concert hall).

In my youth I had season tickets to Andre Previn conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Hein Hall, a noted acoustical venue.  I also listened to live jazz in the local clubs, i.e Modern Jazz Quartet with Milt Jackson on vibes.

They are very different experiences, not to mention seeing Duane Allman just blow the house sown at the Syria Mosque in Pgh in 1971.

My point to all this is that replicating those experiences in your room is NOT simple.  The quality recordings exist, but trade offs must be made to maximize the sound you like best.  

The holy grail is making the all sound original in your room, an elusive ghost IMHO.

For myself, I maximize the intimate sound with my 3.6 Maggies, yet still enjoy cranking it up to listen to Duane work his slide magic.

Just one old guy’s thoughts

"We developed directionality in our hearing for a reason, and it really works! (At least mine does, at the concert hall)." I guess, back when it was a survival skill: some wouldn’t have.