Can a great system make a mediocre recording sound good?

I recently tested A) a ca 3500 usd active small speaker system at a holiday house for some weeks, compared to B) my main system at home with amps and floorstanding speakers, costing a lot more. B sounds much better. But I knew this from before, so on this holiday I brought my "secret weapon", speaker stands, to the A system.

The old rule about speaker positioning was dramatically confirmed, more than I had expected. I could micro-adjust the speakers and stands, on a concrete floor (ideal). The A system now turned from "lower mid-level at best" to "fairly good". Good recordings now sounded quite good, and mediocre recordings sounded a bit better - easier to get into, understand - than before.

Afterwards, coming home, I listened to the B system. It does sound much better. Mediocre recordings sound better and many of the bad ones sound less bad. The B system excels in "in-room" energy, with more reverberant sound than the A system. Also it uses expensive tube amping rather than low cost solid state (so it is an unfair comparison, yet interesting).

One major difference is that B has a richer timbre, so it is easier to hear what goes on, simultaneously, at different frequencies. I can listen more deeply into different voices and instruments. The B system is maybe a bit "warm" or "euphonic", but the amps are OTL, known to be quite analytical (within the tube camp). So B sounds almost as "sharp" as the pinpoint A system, only in a different way.

I have not tested exactly, but roughly, I would guess that if 50 percent of my LPs sounds OK on the A system (precisely positioned on stands, only 30 percent without!), 70-80 percent sounds OK on the B system.

So it seems that many poor or non-optimal recordings can be "saved" by better timbre. Better timbre makes it easier to listen for the good stuff, away from the faults (even if these are also often more pronounced in a good system). It makes music more coherent and cohesive. Thereby also, solid state and digital hard sound can be counteracted, if not fully corrected.

At the same time, my experiment indicates that you don’t need costly speakers to improve the sound. Much can be done with the speakers available. My guess is that many here at Audiogon would re-discover their LP collections (or streaming), if they worked more with the speaker positioning and other acoustic control. If you position (and maybe damp) your speakers right, you will get a richer and wider timbre. This is an overlooked dimension I think. Forget about exact flat frequency,  timing, PRAT etc, - instead, go for the timbre. Not sure about this - but maybe a way forward.

A great system makes good recordings, sound amazing. Listening to anything not meeting that standard, will be played once and put back in its case. never to be heard again. Once you hear what you think is perfect, how can you listen to anything less. So yes to good systems making good recordings sound great. And bad recordings sounding ok at best 

@o_holter

"At the same time, my experiment indicates that you don’t need costly speakers to improve the sound. Much can be done with the speakers available. My guess is that many here at Audiogon would re-discover their LP collections (or streaming), if they worked more with the speaker positioning and other acoustic control. If you position (and maybe damp) your speakers right, you will get a richer and wider timbre. This is an overlooked dimension I think. Forget about exact flat frequency, timing, PRAT etc, - instead, go for the timbre. Not sure about this - but maybe a way forward."

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Yes, I’d also say positioning really matters. My Tannoys sounded heavy and muddy when placed on the floor. I was so disappointed that I began to doubt my sanity in buying a 1970s speaker.

After a few days, mainly to avoid the prospect of selling them on, I tried placing them on some IKEA benches that served as stands and this helped the soundstage enormously.

The last mod was to put some sorbothane under the feet and this was another jump forward in sound.

Suddenly the bass began to play notes!

So I’d say it matters, in fact with some designs it’s more or less critical.

When it comes to good timbre though things are not so clear as I've heard some quite expensive speakers sound "bleached out" and at the other end I've heard good timbre coming from some TVs and iPads etc.

[The last speakers I heard that had good timbre were the Kudos Titans].

Hello lcs01.You can tell by the many responses - Great Question! By "a great system" I think you mean a system that reveals ALL of what the recording engineers give us. This is a dangerous as seeing a new girl friend without her makeup and supportive clothng. I have some recordings made "in the field" under less than ideal circumstances. It's the only way I can hear this music, so I can ignore the "sound" and enjoy the rhythm, instruments, and voices. A good system tells the truth and the truth is not always pretty. A friend of mine brought over some of his favorite music and was horrified to hear how it sounded on my system! It's not his favorite music anymore. But he could have kept it and just listened to it at home - it's how we feel about what we hear that matters. Some people talk about "forgiving" speakers. Maybe "everything" is not what they want to hear. Some folks want to hear the sneeze in the back row of the audience X number of minutes and seconds of a particular recording; or a dropped mute by a clumsy trumpet player. I just want to hear the music.

I'd never want a system that could only sound great with the best recordings. To that end I've always voiced my systems to sound GOOD with mediocre recordings since this is where the vast majority of music resides. As I and others have mentioned, get the timbre, tonality right and  mediocre recordings can be involving, great recording simply follow along and become even more involving.

Mostly, I want my system to be musical, certainly I seek maximum resolution but not at the price of musical, I do believe these are not mutually exclusive goals.