The Absolute Sound vs Pleasing Sound

No, we won't give up, but they should find a way to make better recordings. We will appreciate that greatly.

Doesn't it come down to pleasing sound.  The absolute sound is dependent on your ears, the venue, the position where you are  seated, how many people in the audience, how the crew set-up the equipment, etc.   As Heruaclitus said 2500 years ago, if you step into a river it is no longer the same river.   So unless you are  in Sullivan and Adler's  acoustically perfect Auditorium Theartre where nearly everyseat has the same sound and everything else is equal, absolute is not absolute as defined in the opening of this thread, but is a highly variable sound.   Pleasing sound while completely subjective, is a target that is attainable. That said there can be enjoyment in Chasing the Unicorn.

Absolute Sound versus Pleasing Sound?    I agree with these two comments most of all:

  ‘psychranger’   “…get equipment that you know does a great job producing clarity, detail, and completeness, then just pick out the flavor that pleases you the most…” and

  ‘lowtubes’     “…in tweaking my systems is a very transparent sound, with great detail and resolution but with fullness of tone and musicality.  So my setups are super open and super expanded with great detail, height, depth, and resolution but above all, the systems have been tweaked to reveal tonality and musical fullness.”  (That really says it all for me.)

As for me, I also feel unamplified acoustical instruments, bluegrass, orchestra, etc, are the best references for judging timbre. A music system’s ability to resolve highly complex passages with clarity and accuracy is desired too, along with other traits of good reproduction. I too have yielded in extreme dynamics/volume for better tonality and realism.

I want a system accurate and musical. If ‘absolute sound’ is so analytical that my ears hurt I do not want it. Music should not hurt (but I’ve had dumb system combos that did). I can, and do listen for hours at a time and now there is never fatigue. The more accurate, resolving and involving, the better it is. And I love hearing the near ‘absolute sound’ that state-of-the-art high end gear can provide.

Back in 2011 my new speaker purchasing mantra (in addition to accuracy, resolution, full-range, etc.) was “Only buy a speaker you want to turn up.”  If not, or down, then walk away. The Dyn Sapphires I had for five years sure did the trick. I don’t listen that loudly now, and have better speakers, but the thought remains the same.

I have subscribed to every audio magazine ever printed and when "Hi end emporiums existed" I spent so much time in them that my wife swore I was seeing another woman.

I also discovered from reading the comments here on "Agon" we are divided into two types of audiophiles; there are equipment lovers and there are music lovers. Equipment lovers speak of 0 distortion while music lovers listen for the equipment's ability to communicate the music. Equipment lovers dote on "sounds" while music lovers only listen for the equipment's ability to communicate the music.

Equipment lovers who preach 0 distortion prefer solid state, while this music lover would not get within ten feet of a SS pre-amp no matter how expensive, although I have no objection to SS power amps.

The bottom line is what I call "The essence of the music", and not everyone can hear or detect it; consequently, it's a moot point if you can't hear it.

I also discovered from reading the comments here on "Agon" we are divided into two types of audiophiles; there are equipment lovers and there are music lovers. Equipment lovers speak of 0 distortion while music lovers listen for the equipment’s ability to communicate the music.

You missed the essential third group...The group of people that dont oppose sound and music but know how they related to one another...

The music lovers who care for sound but already know that acoustic is the key in audio, not upgrading an already good gear, nor advocating tubes/S.S. or digital/analog... They dont advocate for their taste of gear like people who war against each other in stupid arguing....This third group work had to improve at the lesser cost what they have at hand for listening music...

This third group to which i belong is the much enlightened one because they dont spend money in costly gear but create instead acoustic cheap solutions among also others electrical or mechanical cheap solutions in other audio working dimensions...

😊