chayro,
As a violinist, I also did recording of classical ensembles on an amateur level, still with top Neumann mikes, Bryston mike preamp, etc. I'll take your word that in rock/pop/jazz, the mastering engineers tailor the production sound to what they think will work well in typical audio systems. All this is processed sound on many levels, so the concept of seeking high fidelity on playback is lost. These listeners cannot say whether one component is more accurate than another, so they naturally choose whatever components please them the most.
But there is very little, if any, processing in classical recordings. Most of it remains confined to multi-mike recordings of complex large ensembles on large stages. Even as a performer sitting in the violin section of the orchestra, I experience how instruments close to me sound crisp and clear, but instruments and voices in the back of the stage sounded muddy, with excessive reverb. So I understand the benefits of multi-mike techniques, which do clarify more of the instruments and voices, although the spatial perspective is not natural. Mercury Living Presence classical recordings are the best and most natural ever made, with no processing and few mikes used.
For the rock/pop listener, an accurate amp like Mephisto may well be paired with warm, forgiving components for the reasons above. However, if the goal is highest accuracy and fidelity such as in classical recordings, it is desirable to have every component dedicated to the same goals of accuracy. This is easy to understand. One end of the spectrum involves having all components forgiving, so there are 10 veils of sound clouding the transparency. The opposite end, a system with complete transparency, involves ZERO veils. Nobody has a completely transparent system, but we can achieve perhaps 1-2 veils, and then hear much more of the music coming through. This is done by having all components devoted to accuracy. Yes, some people think of the Mephisto as exposing flaws, but on a positive note, it has the highest accuracy and transparency for revealing more musical content.
Jay stated himself that the Mephisto mono is the best amp he has owned. Why? He finally realized he is bored with the homogenization from other amps. With those amps, all music sounds decent, but not at the cutting edge level he now wants. If he seeks the same from other components, he will attain the highest cutting edge level, coming closest to complete transparency.
