Hello Mapman: I had to smile(not sarcastically) a bit as I read your following statement in response to mine above. You said, "Yes, but if the system in fact is 'neutral', then you should get that live-like sound if that is how the recording was made." First, I think the word neutral is one of the most abused in audio. Nearly everything has colors or colorations, and especially reproduced sound. Electronic equipment at the recording site, in the audio shops and in one's home all attest to that. (Colorations are also imparted in/by concert halls and even in the open air, where temperature, humidity and wind all register their effect.)Though colorations are encountered either in a reproduced or live manner, there is still a considerable difference in listenability when experiencing each. I don't care to go into great detail on this issue, since it's been elaborated on before in many instances. I'll just say this: At live concerts, I consistently hear dynamic peaks as well as certain sounds of individual instruments with little or no irritation, sounds that otherwise and in considerable instances do irritate when they are reproduced through high quality(and very expensive) stereo equipment. "How the recording was made", replete with electronic devices and the colorations they impart, will not produce a mirror image of the sound that was generated and heard live. Granted, some recordings and equipment will provide a better approximation than other recordings and equipment. This aside, in a number of instances, I don't exactly like or care for some of the kind[s]of sound[s]produced by the recording process. If I can find frequent but not perfect satisfaction by mixing and matching stereo equipment,even, as you say, by "...attempting to correct for something [I]do not like in the recording..." so what? As you say, "Nothing wrong...if you have the tenacity and desire to make it work." And I'm pleased to say, I have made it work. Sure, not without the kind of effort many of us have gone through. What I want most is the kind of reproduced sound that comes closer to approximating what I hear seated at a live concert. For me, that doesn't mean "clean neutrality", but some "natural" coloration. Thank goodness we're able to choose our preferred illusion of sound.
