How often should you re-calibrate your ears?

If live were still where it's at, we'd be accessing ticketron instead of audiogon.

Tarsando

Like everyone else you are certainly entilted to your opinion. I'm curious though - to what, or, to whom, do you listen on your system?

While I generally enjoy live music, I don't believe that what a person hears at a PAC or small club usually sounds very good. Concerts are fun because a person gets to sit in the room while a favorite musician interprets favorite tunes. It is the experience that people enjoy more often than the quality of the music.

There are a few audiophiles who will admit that their systems sound better than most live music. Generally they will not post it here though, for fear of being mocked and ridiculed.

Some people think the only way to determine the accuracy of their system is to use live music as their standard, but in reality this is simply impossible. The listener does not have enough information to determine the accuracy of what they heard at the show, and what they hear at home.

Everyone should attend concerts regularly, which I will be doing Saturday night, but I don't have any illusions about the ability to determine anything from it.

Yes in deed. And if you can situate yourself right in front of the mixing board in most cases you'll get the best sound. We did that at www.magmusic.com just this past weekend for some truly great american roots music. And the absence from your system for a few days makes it sound even better when you get home.

Nrchy is correct. Live performance and recorded music are two completely different things, from an auditory standpoint. Audiophiles have a false sence of real if they think that what they hear from their system is a live or real sound.

I stand before live musicians every day. From my observation, live is certainly not the same as what comes from my system every night.

Recorded music is so much more controlled than live music. Even recordings made from live performances have more controlls put on them than one tends to realize.

It is simply my hope that music lovers, not necessarily audiophiles, will continue to support live performance. Without support, live performers will cease to do, what it is that they do....perform. :-(