Describe the "new HiFi sound"?

@fsonicsmith by what I hear at audio shows, "the new hi-fi sound" is sterile, precise, cold, stainless-steel metallic, operating room bright.

Not all, but what predominates

In 2019 I attended a show and one room had a world renowned amplifier manufacturer paired with a recently popular speaker coming up through the ranks. 

It was 1 of 87 rooms. If it was not last place, was close to it in my mind. Simply sounded horrible. Felt bad for both manufacturers knowing their gear sounds good when paired with other partners. Just not this pairing.

Wondered if people coming in to the room would think of it as a new take on sound.
Old or New theme, good pairing and setup can make a big difference.

This video shows the transformation od the "old" hifi sound to the "new HiFi" sound at Capitol Records.

Guys, you need to ring out the old to bring in the new:

https://youtu.be/SxaKDNt5v_U

When the audience sits at the center of the performance, and the musicians play around them, encircling them, Atmos might make more sense for music listening.

Most music recordings start in stereo format. Hearing cymbols and instruments playing behind you and above you is odd when comparing to live performances.

@kota1 did you happen to read feedback comments below the video you shared?

@decooney 

IDK what you mean by audience sitting at the center and atmos making sense. 

Before I type a response I just want to ask if you have a system setup for atmos in your home. If we are talking what makes sense we need to be specific. There are good and bad mixes in everything. There are atmos mixes where it sounds like you are standing right at the position of the conductor. There are mixes when you are in the audience and many other types. What specific track or album are you referring to where cymbals play behind you?? Your post is written like you don't have a proper atmos setup or just very little experience.

Do you realize that most mixes start at the microphone into multiple tracks before they get compressed into just 2 channels for stereo? The don't start in stereo at all.

Listen to the way mastering engineer Michael Romanowski describes atmos music at the 1:30 mark, that is a pretty good summary. At 2:20 he talks about the difference between stereo and atmos both from the listeners perspective as well as the composers:

https://youtu.be/zWhJqsg6F30