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
Mepearson, I'm glad you like it. It really is, as you say, a great sounding record; not to mention, great music. There are a lot of vinyl gems out there for little money. For something different, try Phoebe Snow's self-titled first album. Phil Ramone production, with fantastically natural acoustic piano, bass, guitar, drums, and the unique vocal stylings of Phebe Snow. A wonderfully open soundstage with excellent imaging, and the added bonus of the legendary Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone. I recently bought a NM second copy for $1.90 (!!!). If you like acoustic rock with a folksy vibe, this one is a winner.
No matter how powerful or accurate the system providing reproduction of recorded music, there will always be the simple physical fact that the act of a diaphragmatic/ribbon/other enabled transduction of vibrating air molecules to an electrical signal will always result in loss of harmonic content of timbre, dynamic range due to compression, and a distortion of equalization, among other frictional and lossy characterstics. This is where the greatest loss of the "live experience" happens. I don't care how expensive the Neumanns or Schoepps are. Everything then downstream of that initial lossful capture further distorts the musical from the live experience. There is no way of getting around these simple facts; mechanical energy to electronic energy (often to numbers!) and back again introduces unavoidable transductionally sourced time, phase and dynamic distortions.

I long ago let go the "absolute sound" expectation in favor of simple enjoyment of the playback of well recorded (not perfect) music in my home. Fortunately, the brain can do wonderous processing to make up for upstream losses of the recording process when one is happily listening to music that is truly enjoyable. This is the same brain that allows us to read a good novel and be "in the space" conveyed by words alone on a two dimensional surface. Our single most important and accurate "audiophile" component is that which we received free of charge between our ears.
Stevecham, I couldn't agree with everything you say more. But, using the absolute sound as a reference does not necessarily mean being on an endless, and neurotic churning of equipment, in the quest of an absolute. It simply means familiarizing oneself with the sound of live sound as much as possible to help one make choices when buying equipment. I never understand the implied argument in some audiophiles' argument against using live sound as a reference, that because the absolute is not achievable (it is not), that we should simply throw in the towel, and not even consider the only true reference.
Audiophiles always have systems better than professional musicians who hear live music all the time. Why this is so you will have to draw your own conclusions. John lee Hooker said he liked his sound system "Simple and funky".
Hello, Dan-ed you said, "But with so many other hobbies you can measure in some way the improvement or degradation of a change. In this hobby you can't always find a difference using test equipment or some other empirical data. The only test you have is how it sounds to you in your system in your listening room."

That is not true! You CAN measure in room freq response, which IS important. And it does tell you how the system "sounds".

Bob
PHP143