What is meant exactly by the description 'more musical'?


Once in awhile, I hear the term 'this amp is more musical' for some amps. To describe sound, I know there is 'imaging' and 'sound stage'. What exactly is meant by 'more musical' when used to describe amp?

dman777

I can give another example which is about acoustic tuning of speakers specific damping load and vibrations coupling/decoupling controls importance over " taste" for the gear and as much important as the design quality of the speakers themselves ...

There is no comparison between the sound of a speakers well coupled to the desk/room or floor and the same when it is not well coupled /decoupled and relatively isolated ...

You cannot guess it BEFORE experimenting with the vibrations control ...

It is not taste, it is not the mere design of the speakers alone here which will give the experience of sound quality, it will be the vibrations/resonance control as much as the design of the speakers itself ...

This problem can vary with each speakers designs but is always there ...

No speakers sellers will tell you that you must invest time if not money in this absolutely necessary controls , especially if the speakers are costly ... Sorry ...

Money dont give free lunch, we must invest time to learn how to embed what we own ... The end results is an acoustic experience everybody can appreciate because it does not result from capricious changing  taste but from applied knowledge exactly as in the design of an amplifier as explained by atmasphere ...

The fact that a stradivarius sound is better than a cheap violin is a matter of design kowledge about sound experience first not a matter of taste ...

A good meal in any culinary culture is also a question of "informed design " more than a question about taste ... We can appreciate one tradition better than an another, this does not mean that good cooking is a matter of taste ...

People who focus on the gear "taste" forgot that the gear work not in isolation but in an environment and are  coupled to another pieces of gear ...

I will buy if i can Atmasphere design because he based them on psycho-acoustics facts not on his mere taste ...

@dman777

some good replies below

my take on the term musical is when the presented music has a high degree of coherence, fluidity and balance top of bottom, with no particular aspect of the sound calling attention to itself, and thus, allowing a listener to just take in the performance -- and not be at all distracted by anything particularly exciting or bothersome sonically

in effect, what many/most of us who have been at this for a lifetime are looking for... an honest even handed window onto the musical performance we select