Plus and Minus
When I first started looking for real high end components it was back in the early 90's and I did like a lot of guys still do and brought my little collection of "reference" CDs with me. Had my little list of sonic attributes to listen for and check off too. All very formulaic and I had it down. One day I track down a McCormack DNA1 and its so wonderfully reviewed I'm really excited even though its a long drive. But the dealer made me come in early and I said sure no problem but leave the amp on overnight I don't want it stone cold. Which that is the first thing I see, a stone cold amp! But oh well I have my CDs and my formula and so I start listening. Few minutes later I come out of the trance to realize I have forgotten all about my stupid checklist and even better, the reason I forgot is because this amp sounds so freaking organically you are there real! I knew that instant that a) this is the amp for me and b) reference disks and checklists are for the birds. From then on its feelings. You guys just have different weird names for it. Really we are talking about the same thing. At least, I think we are.... |
keesue The fidelity of home playback versus live music. After much bantering about, it became, ’How can you tell?" If you didn’t hear it live or you don’t listen to live music, how can you say your playback system is true to live?Trying to recreate "live sound" is elusive. The best you can hope for is to get close to the master tape. If you make your own recordings - and it amazes me how few audiophiles are willing to do that - you’ll know for yourself how close you are. Funny hobby we have. The monkey bone should guide us ...Huh? Is a "monkey bone" some sort of voodoo prop, such as eye of newt or wool of bat? I’d suggest that for audiophiles, reason should prevail. That’s worked well for me for many years, and not just for audio matters. |
Both of the first issues have to do with the reason you buy stuff. For personal enjoyment. We can in fact compare live music to a system and try to recreate that experience, but... I usually don’t want to. I want it to sound good to me. Same with tweaks. We also run into the lack of visual experience in our systems. Lacking the eyesight of the performance we may seek to compensate for it with exaggerated imaging cues, Like Kurosawa adding smoke to a live volcano so the sense of heat transfers better off the film. Personally, I do not care what your guiding light is, so long as it’s your taste and your wallet that are involved and no one else. I’ve become universally disillusioned with the notion that high-end = exorbitant prices. I don’t buy gear to brag to my friends of the weight of my system or the multiple 8 gauge power lines I had drawn from a personal nuclear reactor to power my system. This is especially true with speakers. The list of speakers over $10K I have listened to which I felt were worth it are perhaps 3 brands. Under this amount though, I've heard lots of speakers I could recommend. Best, Erik |
