Sat front row at the symphony...

+1 @ghdprentice

The “best” seats in the house for sound are typically reported as the 7th row center.

To give an example -- in Denver’s hall, Orchestra 1, the closer rows, are $82 each, Orchestra 2, what you’re describing, are $145, and Orchestra 3, further back, are $122. This coincides with both improved sight lines and acoustics.

Glad you were able to see my point. Not everyone has a bulb which lights.

@newbee " ...she was ’blown away’ and exhausted! I should have prepped her better, but I just assumed.....! :-)"

I don’t think I’ve ever had that problem with a date.

Has been in Carnegie Hall for performance of piano with violin (Spivakov)

I could hear coughing and sneezing a lot better than piano and violin. This venue is one of the WORST I've ever been.

Other days had been in Minnesota Symphony Hall and what a difference. I chose seats a-bit away from the front row and music was filling the hall whether it's solo or orchestra.

You don’t even need to go to to an elaborate venue/symphony to appreciate that systems don’t speak the real thing. When my son plays his trombone in our kitchen it alone fills the room in a way that no system can. And even his trombone is a beginner model!

I frequently attend concerts at Boston Symphony Hall given by our outstanding second tier orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic. My series tickets are in the second row behind the mid-hall aisle just off the center. Superb seats for a mix of hall ambience and direct sound. Some prefer front center balcony….mellower balance. I sat in the front row for Beethoven Symphony #9 one year. Overwhelming but not as good to my taste. The recording mics are closer than where I sit, but the engineers capture a lot of what I hear from my seat. Check the Mahler Symphony 6 and 9 by the BPYO under Zander, streaming on your favorite service.