What is Musicality?

Musicality is SO subjective. Sabai, you've made some interesting points and the beauty of all this is....when your new components arrive, yr wife MIGHT not think them to be as involving as yr current gear. But this doesn't change one iota of HER inate musicality!

Chazro, I will take a line from Steely Dan. "I'm learning how to meditate. So far so good." I'm learning how to improve my system. So far so good. Once I add the Merlin speakers and the EMM I think my new system will be far more "involving" than my current system. We'll have to wait till September when everything is in place to hear how it all fits together.

Hellofidelity, very nice page and musical tune too. I really appreciated the fact that among all the greats you also have Ludacris's pic. Shows musically how open minded you are!

Sorry for the off topic but may be the tune demonstrates that the musicality is IN you.

Nilthepill, your comment is not off topic. It is exactly what the topic is all about. I also feel that musicality is IN you. The quality and/or synergy of your system creates the technical side of musicality. Most people find they enjoy their music more if they can afford better equipment. Each of us has to define what it means to have a musical system and I think that a short look around Audiogon will show that there are almost as many opinions about what makes a system musical as there are Audiogon visitors. Much depends on what you can afford. Some people are in the position of wishing they had a "more musical" system but they just cannot afford it -- yet. Others make poor choices when they purchase equipment -- I have done this myself in the past -- or are unaware of the value of certain choices that might make for a more "musical" system. One example of this is a friend of mine who "doesn't believe" in cords, cables, plugs and receptacles. He has a modest budget and "doesn't believe" that one choice over another could make a dramatic difference to the sound his system produces. He is a very musical person but has not yet discovered the value of this side of the audio world. But he wants to test one of my cords in his system to see if it will improve the sound. So at least he is open to the possibility that this kind of change could have a positive effect on the musicality of his system. I have found that even small changes can have a dramatic effect on the quality of sound. Change a plug and it can sound like you changed a component. This is very much a process of trial and error. The goal is to minimize error along the way -- not always an easy task.

Hello everyone, In my last posting I forgot to add a comment made by my friend -- the one who doesn't believe in cords, cables, plugs and receptacles -- about my speakers. I have the Totem Rainmakers but they will be soon replaced by the latest Merlin TSMs. When he heard the Rainmakers in my system he felt they were a very poor speaker because of the mid-bass "boom/bloom". Well, the "boom/bloom" was there alright but it was not the fault of the speakers. After he headed home I did a bit or research. I top-loaded each of the Rainmakers with about 30 lbs. of sand and replaced the stock plugs on the end of the Master Couplers with Oyaide plugs. My system was transformed with the "boom bloom" completely gone. The Rainmakers are actually an excellent speaker in their class if they are paired with the "right" equipment and tweaked appropriately. This goes to show how much we have to experiment to find that elusive synergy that will allow our systems to produce the most musicality they are capable of producing.