Rap music on high-end speakers

Patrick123,
I use to have the same problem where I could not listen to certain CDs in my system. I use to own Avalon Radians, Rowland Model 8, Rowland Synergy II, CEC Transport, Classe DAC1, Cardas Neutral Cables, Linn LP12, Plinius M14 Phono. Now when I played CDs if the CD was recorded well (no matter what type of music) the systems sounded wonderful. Maybe the best I had heard to date (2 years ago). When I put in a CD that wasn't recorded well it sounded very bad. So I found myself listening to about 10% of my music. So I had a choice, keep buying CDs and listen to only about 10% of them, even though I loved the music, or change my system. I ended up changing the system because to me its all about the music. If I buy a CD I want to listen to it. When I started looking for a new system the dealers couldn't believe I wanted to change because they said a good system should do what mine was doing. I then told them that sorry but to me its all about the music not the equipment.

Just my 0.02 (before taxes :-))

Excellent point Bryans. What good is a "music reproduction system" when it is no longer "musical" or "enjoyable" ??? Once again, we come back to walking that fine line between "accurate" & "detailed" vs "musical" & "pacey". For a system to work "right", you've got to have equal measures of all of the above. This is true REGARDLESS of the type of music that you listen to. Sean
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If your Levinson amp has over or 100 WPC,I would suggest the B&Ws 801 series 3,a bit easier to drive than the series 2.Has very good and tight bass and nice silky mids and highs,if you fell that the amp cant drive these speakers i would definitly suggest the B&W 802 series 3.Why I have a pair and they do the job very well,I was using Conrad Johnson MF-200 and Premier 3 pre,but got an offer on the preamp that I couldnt refuse.You might want to try out the MARTIN LOGAN speakers,I had the SEQUELS and they sounded great with rap and R&B,soul music.The Martin Logans can handle it too.Also you can check out the B&W NATILUS speakers too.More looot but definitly worth a listen.Try listening to those speakers and decide.Its nice to know that you like tubes in the pre and S/S power,it's a nice combination.Good luck on your search.

My Dunlavy V's with Classe electronics does great job on hip-hop music or ANY kind of music. I listened to all kinds of music. Classical or Jazz one session, Electronica or rock on other and always hip-hop when I want to let loose. Rap music HAS high fidelity elements. Music! All music has high fidelity elements-as lon as there is sytem that reproduces faithfully. Be it violin, vocal, cymbals or electronic music. Rap music has a bad RAP from typical jazz/classic/old classic rock audiophiles. Wake and smell coffee! Why do you think the top ten songs are mostly populated with Rap Artists. RAP IS HERE TO STAY. I always listened to rap/electronica in my car equipped with Pioneer premier front end and PPI amps, generating very high-endish sound.( No boom to speak of). When the mood strikes, Iistened to, for example, any good Mapleshade CDs. Tru, Like you said a great system will make any music sound the way it was meant to be: MUSICAL

Sean, your post summarizes many excellent points including the need to be honest in order to have a discussion.

It also reminds me of a point I wanted to make. Many people out there have minimal exposure to some genres of music be it upbringing (culture), location (city or farm) or the all important resource- interaction with friends who are music lovers. If you rely on exposure to music from the popular media (or hifi shops) you are likely to have opinions like Sean stated:

"As to why people would have the ideas that they do about "rap", "hip-hop", etc..., take a look around. Most of the time that you hear this music or see the participants, the sound is HORRIBLE while the listeners and creators try to portray themselves as being "ghetto gangsters"."

Sean you need to look around a bit more.

It may be true that lots of rap is listened to on "Big woofers in untuned boxes and Piezo tweeters." So is a lot of classic rock. This may represent exactly what the listener wants out of the music or what they can afford to spend.

I am lucky to be involved with a group of people across the US who post music to a private server along with a brief description of the album. Every week I get an email from the system administrator listing the new music posted that week. This is what the internet is all about! It has increased my exposure to rare recordings, different styles of music new and old. A great example of a new way to get exposed to music without listening to commercial radio or music television. There are probably a bunch of Audiogoners who do this too.

MP3 isn't hifi but the recordings I enjoy are eventually purchased in the CD or vinyl formats and enjoyed on that other thing I spend too much time sitting in front of.