I feel that there is no "best" piece of audio gear. There is only a best for a specific listener, in a specific space with a specific setup. This is why I always try and post as much context as possible about my preferences and associated gear when I post on a forum. For me that "real person" feeling in the core of midrange is the most important thing. This is the range that the human ear is the most sensitive to for a variety of evolutionary reasons. It is also the area that conveys the bulk of the emotional meaning of the music. While I certainly appreciate the bombast of the bass drums in large scale orchestral music and the subtle timing that a well played high-hat can add to a rock or jazz number, they are always secondary to me. Sure they still convey some emotional meaning (the bombast tells me to be scared or elated for example) but I think the bulk of the meaning, even in a generally large scale work like the 1812 Overture for example comes from the musicians working in the middle of the sound range. In an ideal world it would be great to have that midrange covered beautifully as well as the extension to the extremes of the frequency range with perfect timing accuracy. Unfortunately this ideal is not realistic even for those on the most extreme of budgets (which I am not). We all make choices about what is the most important to us and chose to maximize those priorities (this is true in all aspects of life, not just audio).
To tell the truth, even if one of the posters to this forum had exactly the same system as I do and a very similar room and similar tastes in music, I still would not blindly follow his recommendation. The choice is far too individual. The reason I post is to hear some of the differing opinions and try and synthesize a view on the world that works with my own preferences. So keep it coming with "Koetsu's are grossly coloured", "Koetsu's are made by magic elves with special magnets made from metoers that were sent to earth in the Great Age of Sound by the God of HIFI (and that is not J Gordon Holt and certainly not Harry Pearson). You should bow down before them and not even subject them to the insult of playing anything less than the most Holy of music (Famous Blue Raincoat by J Warnes, I think).", "Rega is crap and shouldn't have anything more valuable than a cactus needle for a stylus" and "Rega is the only true tonearm and all other tonearms are actually machined from the femur of the devil to ensnare us into spending too much money".
To tell the truth, even if one of the posters to this forum had exactly the same system as I do and a very similar room and similar tastes in music, I still would not blindly follow his recommendation. The choice is far too individual. The reason I post is to hear some of the differing opinions and try and synthesize a view on the world that works with my own preferences. So keep it coming with "Koetsu's are grossly coloured", "Koetsu's are made by magic elves with special magnets made from metoers that were sent to earth in the Great Age of Sound by the God of HIFI (and that is not J Gordon Holt and certainly not Harry Pearson). You should bow down before them and not even subject them to the insult of playing anything less than the most Holy of music (Famous Blue Raincoat by J Warnes, I think).", "Rega is crap and shouldn't have anything more valuable than a cactus needle for a stylus" and "Rega is the only true tonearm and all other tonearms are actually machined from the femur of the devil to ensnare us into spending too much money".
