Warm vs Revealing—the struggle for balance

inna            I think, you are headed in the wrong direction. You don't really want to find warmth/detail balance, you want to find the sound that is as close to the reality as possible. 

I agree. The best way to pursuit the reality is recreating the original music by comparison. The orig music is a reference and betters to all reproduced audio sounds. It is hard to compare your system sound and the orig music because your ears trick you always. You need to live record your sound system and compare with the original music.  Alex/Wavetouch

Well trained ears as a result of experience are the only way to know for sure what something should sound like.

And guess what?  No two pair of ears hear exactly the same which explains why we are where we are.

Oh yeah - been on both sides of that struggle too many times: Fun, dynamic and lively sound, BUT too aggressive and fatiguing, or leaving the midrange AWOL (a dry midrange is a non-starter for me, which is probably why I've gravitated to VAC electronics and Japanese cartridges over time). OR: smooth warm and lush romantic sound, seems perfect at first, but then I want some more sparkle up top and get bored.

The "baseline" ideal balance in my head can sway from day to day, or even drift over time.

Eventually I’ve gotten my speakers & power amp combo "centered" where I want them for each room. That’s really the important anchor to a system IMO. It dictates the level of dynamics and scale a system can render. The amp in particular is a huge piece to me (I listen loud). Past that, I’m such an analog junkie I can (and do) roll cartridges, tubes and even phono stages all day to drift around that "center" as the mood strikes me.

There is an easy solution: more than one system. Headphones/earphones count as well in that.

Variety is the spice of life.  One must open their mind to other possibilities in order to enjoy all the fruits of life.

mapman Resolution is way overrated

I agree.  Almost my live recordings are MP4 or MP3. Alex/Wavetouch

If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot, Live recording

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 - Hilary Hahn, Live recording