Mood

My mood doesn’t seem to affect my perception of the sound of my system. 

@ghdprentice 

You have a gift! I cannot rely on my audio perceptions because they swing so much. I noticed this back when I used to play string bass. It would sound rich, warm, and full to me one day, and then thin, raspy, and scratchy the next. I thought it was just me, but a lot of musicians report this same phenomenon. 

Just curious, do you have perfect pitch? I wonder if that makes a difference.

@rvpiano I have read your posts with interest as I have the same issues. Do you have these listening issues with live music or sounds in daily life? Recorded music is inherently unnatural. There is a lot of subconscious adjusting our brain need to do.

Have you tried "nearfield listening"? Your Tritons are too big for that but there are many studio monitors that are designed to be listened to in the nearfield.

1. It eliminates room issues.
2. Most recordings (I assume) are mastered with nearfield monitors. So it makes sense that is how recordings will sound the best.
3. It kills the sound stage presentation - or something to that effect - which is a big contributor to dissatisfaction to my ears. Unless sound staging (sound spread out across the room) is done correctly, it is a detriment to the music IMHO. Soundstaging is a big contributor of detail and things which can sound good if done right but all too often bad because things are done wrong. For example, I listen to a Mark Teamaker song "King Quiet". It is a simple song which allows hearing the many recording errors. Like pops on a record, you have to listen through the hash to get to the music.
4. I find listening requires a lot less investment on my part. The "real stereo" in the living room offers more, but also demands more from me.

I have found that nearfield listening is the ONLY way to shut off the "audio critic" in me. FWIW, I use 2 3/4" single (paper) driver with 3 wpc amp and listen from 2 feet away. Driver integration and volume levels are non-issues with this set-up.

I searched real quick for something you might like and came up with Earthworks Sigma 6.2 loudspeaker.

@ghdprentice may be listening to orchestra or jazz which is recorded in real-space. That is a different situation that may work okay for far-field listening.

+1 @baylinor 

In general, I really like the way my speakers sound the way they are.  My friend who has the same speakers listens near field.  They don’t sound nearly as  good.  It’s just those times when I hear a bad recording and it sets me off into critical mode that I have problems. I listen to orchestral music mostly.