Tube CDP/DAC sound: too "refined"?

Tom, I must say that I am in complete aggreement with you and it is one of the reasons you mention, that I don't like the run of the mill Brits speakers. Most of them I found dull and even the very expensive modern Meridians are too "rich" or "fat" for my liking. One exception to the rule though are Walker's offerings, the old QUAD ELSs and the QUAD 63s. Sometimes and with the right music feeding them, they seem uncannily "right".

Detlof...Yes, I also find the classic British sound lacking in musical dynamics to the point that I become bored or keep turning the volume up. I've owned Spendors and Harbeths and found this to be the situation. It's great to have excellent midrange but, in my opinion, a lot of speakers get that right nowadays. I hate to ruffle feathers but getting the midrange right no longer seems to be a problem.

On the other hand, I don't like the classic French (and German) sound which is too "front edge transient" for my tastes. Music becomes fatiguing quickly. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra sounds just right in Orchestra Hall here. My current system gets closer to that than anything I've had before.

Midrange.......is everything. Getting it right isn't all that easy.
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"It's fun and beautiful to listen at initially but on the long run it becomes... boring. It's like too much crême fraiche: it could be surprisingly tasty, but after a few times it won't surprise you any longer."

I really enjoy my "crême fraiche" and I didn't find it boring....But I guess these are my preferences. I agree with Mrtennis and I like what Tomryan said:

"We are all looking for that perfect balance and everyone has a different point in that balance that sounds right to them."

&

"better to enjoy the
sound" whatever it is than worrying about texture and smoothness. after all, a stereo stsreo is for entertainment."

Tom, yes..the Germans seem to have a predeliction for what they call precision. I recall a visit at the house of an afficionado with a Burmester chain, fiendishly expensive, who joyfully pointed out to me the clinking of spoons and every cough or fart in the audience in that (in)famous recording of "Jazz in the Pawnshop". When the Sax came in, my ears went in to protection mode. French speakers I am not really familiar with anymore, but when I auditioned some many years ago I was never enticed to buy them. I went for Quad, the midrange of which came closest to what I experienced when listening to live music and yes, I agree that stereo is for entertainment, but it certainly is not entertaining if it does not sound "right". Blessed are those audiophiles who avoid being contaminated by a live musical event.(:
Cheers, D

I really enjoy my "crême fraiche"

Off topic: what's the trick to write the accent (btw, it's on top of the i in fraiche, not the creme)??

May I propose the qUote of the day

stereo is for entertainment, but it certainly is not entertaining if it does not sound "right"

Thank you, Detlof (and good to see you back more often).