Fidelity vs. Musicality...........Is there a tug of War?

kijanki, this thread is not about you and your Benchmark.

Musicality is a rather vague and nebulous term but I think coined to differentiate between a system that is overly detailed and a system that has detail but does not slap you alongside the head. The fixation with detail has lead to systems that verge on the unlistenable when a few of these detail monsters are combined.

I have such a system that allows me to listen to maybe 20% of my files, the others are just screech. I am working to attain a system that truly entertains with the vast majority of my collection. So to address the OP's question, I err on the side of 'listenability'.

The endless striving for detail, detail, detail leaves me cold. The type of detail some systems produce are not heard at a live performance unless you are one of the performers. Have you ever closed your eyes at an unamplified performance and tried to locate a certain instrument? I find I can hear where it is located but certainly not with clinical precision. I feel audiophiles themselves are partly responsible for this sorry state of affairs by elevating detail as a fundamental requirement.

A friend of mine borrowed a Devialet amp claimed to be awesome. I'm sure the measurements revealed vanishingly low distortion etc. but the amp did not stay connected for very long. We inserted his 300B tube job and immediately relaxed with the music, enjoying the sound coming at us. It did not have the bass slam or control of the other amp but it sure did entertain us. My &%^$ detailed system is hardly used now except for movies which used to take a back-seat to the music evenings my wife and I once looked forward to. Sad but true.

I don’t know if it is a tug of war so much as a mosh pit of musicality, fidelity, pace, rhythm and timing. By Omega, I guess. Who even knows what this stuff means? 

Lemonhaze It is not about "My Benchmark" but rather about idea we are discussing.  It could be any other amp of similar character.  I hope you understand it.

Let's summarize what you said:

You don't like very detailed sound
You don't like perfect imaging
You like coloring of the sound by overly warm 300B

You're perfect representation of what Absolute Sound review, I quoted, was talking about.  You have great future on this forum.

Hi douglas_schroeder

I read with great interest your dagogo review of the Legacy class D amp, and have added their 2-ch version to my short list under consideration. So I find it interesting that you mention here the Benchmark amp, which some reviews have called "nearly perfect" but which I wonder may be too clinical or neutral to a fault. That’s another amp I’ve been thinking of auditioning though. Then I read a review of the new Van Alstine monoblocks (by Dave McNair, a mastering engineer https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2021/07/09/audio-by-van-alstine-dva-m225-monoblock-amplifiers-review/) which made me short-list them.

I’m all about fidelity AND musicality to the greatest extent I can achieve within budget and the limits of my speakers (Vandersteen 2CE Mk III, but maybe Treo CTs soon). It hard finding synergy between components at times (I’m trying to choose a DAC and preamp too), because as the saying goes, you should only solve for one variable in an equation at a time.

There’s a question in here somewhere. Part of me wants to just pick an integrated all in one like a Mark Levinson or Aesthetix Mimas (with DAC card) and be done with it. The hunt for the Grail distracts me from just listening and enjoying, as my mind winds up to "How can I make this sound better?" Stop the merry-go-round, I want off. Or not! Thank god for the reviewers who stoke the upgrade fires! :)

This by Lemonhaze rings true:

Musicality is a rather vague and nebulous term but I think coined to differentiate between a system that is overly detailed and a system that has detail but does not slap you alongside the head. The fixation with detail has lead to systems that verge on the unlistenable when a few of these detail monsters are combined.

I have such a system that allows me to listen to maybe 20% of my files, the others are just screech. I am working to attain a system that truly entertains with the vast majority of my collection.

I read a paper by Robert Harley that in essence said that one cannot have too much good detail, iirc. Of course, his current reference system iirc includes $300k Wilsons, and is probably more than $500k overall. It's safe to assume that in his custom built listening room, he has the whole ten course meal. I'm eating tacos from the drive-thru.

"You’re perfect representation of what Absolute Sound review, I quoted, was talking about. You have great future on this forum"

The Absolute Sound (TAS) reviewer was cited because he finds the Benchmark amplifier excellent for ’his’ taste as some posters here share that conclusion. He was exceedingly pejorative and condescending to those whose taste/listening priorities differ from his own. "Cults", "starry-eyed", really? What he finds to be audio perfection is someone else’s dry and uninvolving.What makes his opinion more credible?

douglas_schroder found the Benchmark amplifier to occupy the "clean/sterile" (White sounding?) end of the sonic spectrum. But to him still a fine amplifier, understood. There are listeners who have even described it as cold/analytical/non-engaging. Benchmark advocates versus 300b advocates spans a broad chasm of preference for certain. Neither camp is wrong as it is dependent on how one hears and what they identify as sounding right.

300b "overly warm" how so? Compared to what? All 300b tubes or amplifiers sound the same? One could cite dozens of reviewers praising 300b attributes just as the TAS reviewer did for the Benchmark amplifier. Come on folks, we all like what we like. I am confident that we all can peacefully coexist😊.

Charles