SUT experience

My system is likely very different sounding because I use a PA style horn sub, as well as horn speakers. It sounds a lot like a small venue. When I play a record, it feels and sounds like the house of blues. My sweeps in REQ wizard are not flat. Not even close. My room treatments helped tremendously but I did not want to kill the sound. I like the live sound. It does not sound like a studio. It is not sterile. I can close my eyes and feel like I’m in the audience somewhere. This is my preferred sound. I think if I wanted 100% accuracy, I would try headphones. 

Raul,

We are discussing our preferred approach to the playing of the music here.  We should be adults and agree that if the elimination of as much distortion as possible were the goal (here let us ignore your frequent protests to the contrary) we would abandon the LP, the RIAA curve and all that goes with them and pursue a digital path such as DSD.  No, we do not do that, so right away we are accepting that there will be distortions.  Okay, let up proceed.  You take one approach which for the sake of this discussion we will call a purist approach.  The goal is the straightest path, with the least deviation from the RIAA curve, the flattest frequency response, the lowest distortion and do forth.  Yes or no?  Correct me if I am wrong.  Of course I can do this too.  I can haul out the two box P1 and all that.  On your recommendation last year I bought a Stellar.  But I also have and prefer, strongly in fact, my new C-J ACT Phono, sometimes with and sometimes without an SUT.  And I accept that there might be more distortion.  Maybe.  I am not sure.  I like the way it sounds.  It sounds like my piano.  Really.  Nothing else sounds like my piano.  It is palpable.  I can feel it as well as hear it and the piano is in the same room.  Yamaha C7.

Not too many weeks past I was treated to a afternoon of being demo'd a system being driven by a few different Amp's (SS and Valve, along with a few CD Sources and DAC's (SS and Valve.

The event was based around helping the system owner learn if their Klipsch Jubilees were able to find better synergy from new devices in use.

When the exchanged CD > Valve DAC was added, along with a new design Korg B1 > 300b Valve Power Amp, the Jubilees become much much larger than the listening space, never have I heard such voluminous sound from a speaker outside of a Concert Venue.

There is something very attractive about the being there moment, but an honest evaluation will remind one that the experience has been with shortcomings, where was the visceral bass notes reminding one of their Celiac Plexus being in the body, and I was able to speak straight after, where usually the voice is lost for a few days.  .

As I have stated in the past, sound being produced from a acoustic instrument 'is not' directional, it is a omnidirectional sound. The listener present, experiencing the  the sound, will hear differing variants of the sound being produced as a result of reflections within the room changing the sound at the point it is heard. Not all in the audience will experience the same sounds.  

How can being in a venue with acoustic music being produced become a faithful reproduction when a recording of the event, or something very similar as a production is heard as a directional sound presented through a speaker.

@billstevenson : " Every one of these options is wonderful and they all have distortions. Don’t let anyone try to deceive you.. "

Yes, all links in an audio home system chain develops distortions. The main issue it’s not that but the level and kind of those distortions.

Live MUSIC has its own kind of " distortions " that some of them just do not like to many audiophiles: brigthness, and sometimes even hardness and others.

Listen live MUSIC seated at near field position of the MUSIC source(s) produce some of those natural MUSIC " distortions " but with out that " near field " experiences no one can understand whaT i’M TALKING ABOUT. tHE AUDIOPHILE ADJECTIVE " WARM " ALMOST DOES NOT EXIST IN LIVE music AT NEAR FIELD and not " almost " just does not exist.

Btw, @adrianleewelch Live MUSIC is accurated and accuracy surrounded live MUSIC starting with its notes where the instrument players need to " swim " with true accuracy because MUSIC is not only notes but its accurated automatic developed harmonics and certainly it’s not sterile in anyway never/ever.

I like a lot horns in the mid/high frequency with a help of a supertweeter because is the close kind of speaker that has the immediacy only live MUSIC has.

Accuracy is not enemy of live MUSIC as a fact we need an audio system with high accuracy levels to enjoy MUSIC. Our kind sound taste is a way different history where accuracy is not a main subject.

Over the years I builded a extremely accurated room/system that sounds terrific ( well which chef speaks bad of his food ) not sterile in anyway and with that immediacy and very fast transient response and dynamic power that’s what I love in live MUSIC. Yes I’m still away of the live MUSIC " scenario " but through the time a little more close. First than all like you I’m a MUSIC lover and I don’t like to " listen " my system hardware but listen and enjoy the MUSIC.

Through more than 30 years I learned from first hand experiences and from other audiophiles and even reviewers to stay where I’m. Once by around 10 years I used tube electronics till I learned, used SUTs ( just named and I owned, even I still have the Entré you own. For many years the only trusty option were the SUTs for LOMC cartridges. ) till I learned, etc. etc. Audio life is a learning life day by day, I learned a lot of my " thousands " of mistakes but now I stay HERE and follow learning.

Btw, @billstevenson , as you I still have SUTs but not phonoline preamps due that after several years and after listened the top SS phonolinepreamps we decided ( José and I ) to design and build a unique SS phonolinepreamp named Essential 3150, then improved through the 3160 and rigth now what for us is the ultimate phonolinepreamp Essential 3180.

Yesterday we were listen MUSIC at my place and used this Denon SUT along the Essential 3180 MM stage ( it has too an active high gain MC separated stage ):

https://www.denon.jp/ja-jp/museum/products/au1000.html

btw, this unit I use hard wired with out its input/output connectors and is a formidable SUT that measured ( not by me but from an external source ) flat from 3hz to 250khz and probably the best SUT out there. How measure your made in Germany SUT?

Well, the kind and quality levels that we listenend where nothing less that amazing/outstanding MUSIC where you can’t be aware that a SUT is down there and this fact does not came by free but because the MM Essential stage is just terrific/transparent.To understand we have to live the experience to trust in what I'm posting. 

Yes, my common sense let me to arrives where I’m. My taste? well my taste is live MUSIC and what surrounded it.

R.

and I have to say that I have mounted in my tonearm a LOMC cartridge with 0.1mv as output and even that my speakers has 95db 1 watt at 1 m. no noise at all. Noise floor of the system is extremely low.

R.