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

Individual choices so good they will be cannot replace simple acoustic controls for example...

No dac, no amplifier and no speaker can beat the room....Especially if we think with S.Q./price ratio in our perspective...

Saying that high end audio is unknown and inacessible for most of us is not false, it is worst than a lie, it is an half truth claimed by sellers....Or it is a common place evident fact... There is always "better" than what i own....

Of course there exist many better audio system than mine....But the goal is to reach optimal S.Q. not perfect S.Q.....With many low cost embeddings methods controls: mechanical,electrical and acoustical....

The only one who will speak otherwise are snobs or sellers....Or a mix of the two....

@mahgister, 
No argument from me in regard to the influence of the listening room acoustics. But one has to assemble an audio system to place in the room.
1 Room acoustic interactions
2 Addressing vibration/resonance effects on speakers and components. 
3 Acknowledging the importance of good quality AC power for the components. 

All of these are further fundamental factors in assessing the total picture of building and extracting the most from your audio system. 
Charles 

@mahgister,
No argument from me in regard to the influence of the listening room acoustics. But one has to assemble an audio system to place in the room.

I am sure that you know the basic ....Your post speak well for yourself...


But assembling a good system at low cost is relatively easy nowadays , thanks to great engineering progress in audio...

Embedding rightfully a good system, mechanically, electrically and acoustically, is less, way less easy than picking a good system to begin with....It was for me at least....

That is my only point.....And my post goes in the opposite direction of most audio thread where the  solution is and always will be upgrading gear....

Then sometimes basic evidence are forgotten....

Just listened to Classic Rock on my Car rig...

High Fidelity?.........not really.......
Musical...................EXTREMELY.

@mahgister I usually enjoy and mostly agree with your posts except this:

Timbre perceptive experience cannot be reduced to a mathematical additive bunch of frequencies and harmonics only ... Acoustic of small room play a great role more than the new hype electronical gear

Timbre is in fact exactly that, it's the fundamental frequency (pitch) with its associated harmonics that allow you to recognise what instrument it is. The effect of the room will determine how you perceive that timbre.

I do definitely agree with you about the room however. You may have noticed that I often join in a thread about acoustics and hold that the room has a huge influence on the resultant sound to the point where I have stated that a mediocre system in a properly treated room (beyond just a rug and curtains) will provide far greater enjoyment and reward than just throwing together a bunch of mega-expensive 'best in class A'  🙂