Quality of recording while evaluating speakers

A great question. You have probably noticed that the same recordings are often playing at shows and in showrooms. Often they are music with lots of silence. Speakers / systems often sound their best when only reproducing a single sound or few. They can start tripping over themselves when complex music is played. I mean I don’t blame them, they want their equipment to be heard in the best possible light (ok, sound quality).

So, putting together a system / buying speakers is all about this… it is about assembling a system with the gestalt as the objective as opposed to a couple of variables. Listening intently on how much minute detail you can hear is a great way to head down the wrong path… slam also. To do this you need to take in the music and not listen to the system. The music to choose makes a big difference, as well as how you listen. Easy to say, hard to do.

In my opinion a great system is musically compelling and very immune to sounding a lot better with great recordings and conversely bad with bad recordings. To get this you need to pick music you like (not necessarily great recordings) and a couple great recordings… but some music you used to like or kind of like, and maybe a couple not so good recordings. Then with this kind of play list listen to the music, and not the equipment. You do not want the dealer or salesman choosing what you hear… they are going to have (or should) a mental list of great sounding stuff. They should, but you want to either listen to random stuff or your own list to see how different kinds of recordings sound.

This is even more important today because once you start streaming ant the entire world of music opens up, you want everything to sound great so you can enjoy as much of it as possible… for the value of the music… not the recording.

I have brought this up before, I had assembled a spectacular “reference system” that instantly made the mastering and venue obvious… stuck it in my face. Only the very best recordings sounded fantastic… most just sounded bland… although incredibly detailed. My system now sounds great, is compelling and musical. Only the very worst… I’m talking 1960’s Yardbirds… must have been recorded with tin can microphones on a 3” portable tape recorder sounds actively bad. Nothing you can do with those.

I was just listening to Yes Indeed by Elan Mehler from the Being There, Here album. The tune is really compelling… in the background are plates clinking and people talking. I have noticed i am captivated by the music and almost don’t hear the racket in the background. It would not surprise me if that would have driven me crazy on earlier versions of my system. The next tune starts with lots of racket. 

"Focus on the music, and accept the fact that recorded sound quality varies."

bdp24- I don't  think it's possible, based on some of the thread subjects you can read here!

It is a good question that been ask alot. In my prospective to this is that you should evaluate with music you like and familiar with. The reason why music with limited instruments is because space between frequencies. What I mean by this is that like vocals and guitar in a recording, there is that much space so it is easier for the engineer to mix which does not require ant processing.  In the other hand, music with alot of input is a little more complex to mix and may require processing and EQing to sound right. Rock is good example of this since alot of instruments like guitars and vocals have a very strong midrange frequency band. It is the way it is and that is ok. I have to admit that I don't like harsh sounding but when I am in the mood, does it matter? Just enjoy the music