Top two most important sound qualities

what’s the difference between imaging and soundstage depth? Isn’t imaging depth and with? (and height?)

@grislybutter Imaging is interesting to me because the way I think about it, it’s a complex thing. It can be discussed in much more detail than simple H/W/D for a soundstage.

One thing I’m interested in, for example, is image regularity. For example, in the horizontal dimension, you can have a wide soundstage, but the image can warp and become too wide or two narrow at the outer edges of the SS. A cymbal there can seem twice as wide as the same cymbal positioned near center stage, while at the same time the center image can be squished so that the singer seems like a stick figure. That’s what I’m calling irregularity.

Or there can be vertical irregularity. On speakers that stack their drivers’ frequency response from low to high, bottom to top, a piano will often sound like it’s dropping downwards vertically as lower keys/pitches are played. This type of vertical inaccuracy can sound like the whole piano is titled at a significant angle, but different cymbals and toms may still be at or near the proper heights.

Image definition can be thought of as the capacity to be located ever more accurately in space and have the sense of the precise boundaries of the shape of each thing which is producing sound in the recording. So in the example of tilted piano issue, with very good image definition there could even be a slightly different locatable vertical+horizontal position in space for every single key.

Vertical irregularity can also be a result of good definition in the upper frequencies, but poor definition in the bass and mids. Then you have something like defined, floating heads and cymbals, and a more fuzziness and lack of definition near the bottom half of the stage.

Tonality plays into this stuff, especially in speakers with stacked drivers because, for example, when there is image definition but inaccurate tonal balance, cymbals can seem vertically compressed when they are lacking a full expression of all of their frequencies. Acoustics are also a big part of how a system can image, of course.

Dear @gladmo : Transient response/dynamic power ( both directly telated and we can’t aisle each from the other) and very very low every kind of room/system developed distortions.

Which the main difference between live MUSIC and home reproduced sounds?:

for me precisely transient response that develops the MUSIC dynamic power and with dynamic power I’m not refering to SPL. Each instrument played at any SPL has its own dynamic power. Transient response/dynamic power is what develops the overall natural tone color in live MUSIC where between you and the MUSIC source exist almost only the air. For me all the audiophile adjectives for any room/system characteristics comes from there added by several kind of distortions that puts several kind of " colorations " to the whole room/system tone " color ".

To stay truer to the recorded source we need those characteristics before looking for any other. We need to put at minimum evry kind of distortion developed at each link in the room/syastem chain, it helps. 

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

To start with, without rhythm, there is no music.  Timing is everything to music (just a single tone repeated at an interval can be considered music whereas random sounds do not constitute music).  So, number one, the audio system has to maintain a good semblance of rhythm.  

Second, for me is the palpability of the sound, primarily mid-range where 90% of the music occurs.  

After that, it's your choice also dependent on type of music.  

@rauliruegas Yes, I chose tonality + clarity, and clarity is primarily a consequence of minimized distortion. Cheers

Great post.  Obviously difficult to narrow it to two. I choose tonality and dynamics