2. analog
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Strange phenomona this hobby.

I can't help but be competetive, that's just me. Not so much with others, but with myself.
Thats why when I heard the MBL system I told myself "self", I have to have that sound in my home.
And I agreed with myself. That was about the jist of the conversation. That kind of realism one does not hear too often or some never hear it.
So where do I stand now?
My system does not scream out "realism realism" like the MBL does. It's quite neutral though, I can play music all day long with out getting fatigued. Merlins are just that type of speaker-great design.
I just recently was forced to change my favorite cartridge, and the sound is different. The sumiko was closer to life-like, but the grado is more engaging.
I am willing to bet the cognoscienti here will agree that live music will not be found in our homes with playback systems that easily.
But I heard it once at the show, actually twice.
So is there a class A++ for those systems that recreate the live event and do I really have to have it. I just went from sumiko to grado and I am enjoying myself more-so.
I am willing to bet that as I gain more experience I will find myself picking up cartridges and cables that don't necessarily cost the most but just work better with the rest of my equipment, no?
Another example is my phono stage the EAR834p. No where near the same price as phono stages in class a , but I would say in the same league with the right tubes and mods.
Now as before I really understand the goners (good way to describe the nuts on this site including myself) owning multiple tt and arms. I was hoping to find one rig that can do it all, but also my intentions from the very beginning were to have three tables at least, for comparisons of arms, cartridges, p. stages and tables. I can't wait to get there, all I need is time because I will catch up to you nuts!!!
I would like to hear your stories or interpretations of vinyl play back. There is some mysticism to this, that may not be understood but is felt like no other thing.
I have had fun hobbies before but this takes the cake!
pedrillo
pedrillo OP
560 posts
 
stringreen,
Very well put.
I found the best seats in the met to be right above the certer tier. The bass sounds full and there are less walls for the music to deflect from before reaching the audience sitting there. I also enjoy the orchestra, you hear a slight delay from the musicians by the time there music hits the ceiling and bounces back. So the voices hit you first.
Fortunately I get to sit in different places at this house and I agree as have always did, live is our reference point but only when you sit in the right place!
piedpiper
753 posts
 
...and only unamplified. Most PA assisted gigs are awful, especially the bigger they get, often downright get-your-money-back abominable.
kencalgary
45 posts
 
Stringreen, your post brought to mind an experience I had at a concert in Calgary. I have found that the sound received at the Dress Circle level of seats is glorious - I usually try to sit near the middle - but recently my seat was on the extreme left of Dress Circle. At time of purchase I thought that was OK as it was still Dress Circle; but the opening piece had a sound that wasn't quite what I was used to. I think my seat was picking up more of the sounds of the brass section situated on the right side of the stage. It disturbed me. Later my brain became used to it, I think, because I could still enjoy the orchestra though it wasn't the best seat in the house.

frogman
7,469 posts
 
Respect for difference of opinion aside, I could not disagree with Stringreen more. Recorded music very seldom comes anywhere near close to conveying the subtleties of the emotional content of music. And isn't the conveyance of emotion what music is all about? I am always perplexed when some discuss aspects of the live music experience with the usual audiophile lingo only. Yes, there are seats in all major (and minor) concert venues that don't do certain aspects of SOUND particularly well. But, I can think of few live experiences that have not trounced recorded sound as concerns MUSIC. The immediacy of the music, the unadulterated harmonic content of the instruments' (or voices') timbre, the hard-to-describe absence of all those resistors, caps, transformers, and wire. One can appreciate a lot of those qualities sitting on the toilet at the local jazz club. What I am talking about has nothing to do imaging or soundstaging; although in the right seats, the concert experience is unequaled in those respects. It's the difference between a drink of cool mountain spring water and city tap water.

Dcstep is correct, one doesn't have to use live sound as a reference to enjoy music. If one hears live music on a regular basis, however, it's difficult to not have it be part of one's reference. To "forget live", as has been suggested, is to miss out on a deeper appreciation of the stuff that is at the core of music making. And there really are components that reproduce those qualities much better than others. It's not always easy to determine why some do it better than others. If we are not intimately familiar with what those qualities are (live sound), how are we to recognize them, or their absence. Think of it this way: When we need to communicate with a person about something really important, wether it is to discuss an important business matter, or talk to a loved one about a deeply personal issue, what is the best way to do it? Is it best to send an email, send a recorded message, make a phone call, or do it in person?
frogman
7,469 posts
 
Pedrillo, I agree with that there is some mysticism to all this; although I would not necessarily call it that. The word mysticism, to me, opens the door for the experience to be less than real, and verifiable; perhaps I misunderstand the meaning of the word. I encourage you to continue to focus on those things that you tried to describe; components that engage you, not components that do this or that piece of sonic soup better than some other component. I also use a Singer-modified EAR 834P, and I completely agree with you about it's ability to make music. It seems to let the music pass through it with minimal alteration to what I feel is at music's core. The fact that it is an inherently simple circuit probably has a lot to do with it.
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