2. amps-preamps
  3. 1294230972

Natural and Neutral could be boring ..

Hello Guys,

First .. Happy New Year to everyOne!

Building my hi-fi setup I have always searched for "Natural & Neutral" sound and so I have added every piece of my rig thinking and searching in this direction...
Yesterday night , during a listening session , I was thinking about this and theoretically I couldn't be happier about the result

Here my gears:

The loved phono section:

TW Acustic Raven One
Graham Phantom MKII / IC70
Benz LP
Whest Audio PS30 RDT SE
Mogami Neglex balanced to the preamp

The not so loved CD rom session:

Philips CDD 882 (transport)
Philips DAC 960 (converter)
Mogami Neglex balanced to the preamp

Pass Labs X1
Parasound Halo JC1's
IC cables Mogami Neglex balanced

Thiel CS 2.4
Speaker cables Cardas Golden Reference

My room is quite a large room (36 ft. x 20 ft. 10ft. high) and Thiels are pratically in open air :-)) 7,5 ft. from the wall and more from side walls.

Well , I think to have reached an hi-fi setup that sounds pratically Natural and Neutral .. maybe not the 100% but IMHO I'm not far from that.
Yesterday night I was philosophize with myself , during a relaxing listening session , about how much could be boring this Natural & Neutral research.
It's true .. by a large majority .. the Audiophiles are searching for this result .. "Natural & Neutral" .. and the end justifies the means.
But when you get this or you're almost near .. the pleasure is only perceived or obtained by the software .. aka LP's or CD-rom's .. aka Music.
And sometimes the Music could be boring ...
So which is the solution?
Sincerely I dunno .. probably it's into the Tube world that's is often on the romantic side .. even at neutral and natural cost
I have been a great Tube fan some years ago when I had Jadis JA 80 and Klimo preamp .. I sold them when I decided to try Solid State and probably that was a pity!
Now I don't want to re-change all my hi-fi setup buying all tubes .. further I should be compelled to sell my Thiels too
But I could try adding a Tube Preamp .. just to aromatize the rest .. this could be a good idea .. isn't it?

But which tube preamp?
There are lotsa tube preamps that strive for the Neutral and Natural side .. I'm thinking to ARC , CJ , BAT etc.. and I don't need one of them .. I already own a very good natural and neutral preamp!

A good choice could be a Air Tight , Shindo , Supratek , Joule Electra .. but I have to pay attention to the "electrical marriage" with my two Parasound JC1's..

What do you think about my thoughts .. and any other idea about an Aromatic Tube Preamp.. Guys?
128x128curio
opus88
530 posts
 
Sorry if I was responsible for any misunderstanding. I was trying to say that I like some of the natural colorations(e.g., warmth or soft sounding contours of some instruments) that I hear at live concerts. I also don't care for a number of the artificial colorations, especially lean, bleached, annoyingly bright and extremely tight that are fairly often presented by reproduced music through various types of electronic equipment and cables that claim accuracy under the guise of neutrality. If these components were as neutral as claimed, they wouldn't be imposing so many artificial colorations. Besides, don't a fairly good number of audiophiles seek out and use equipment to either add some warmth to their system's sound or lean out "excessive" warmth? Again, colorations are virtually inescapable. We move closer to or further away from neutrality in sound, especially reproduced, but it's pretty tough to achieve absolute neutrality---if that's what one wants. I still maintain neutrality is often an abused and misused term in audio. Taste of nearly any sort is replete with flavor.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
I believe as you do, Opus88, that most of what is sold in audio messes with the real music not enhance it.

I am almost a lone preacher on the necessity of the simplest path for the music signal. Anything thrown in the way attempting to improve the signal, merely lessens it's content.

However, I shun adding warmth or leanness. For best results, let the music be.
learsfool
1,215 posts
 
I am mostly with Opus88 on this one. Also with NilthePill's comment: "Ideally Neutral is supposed to emulate natural but *it almost never does* in real life.'" This has definitely been my experience - just about every system I have ever heard that was described foremost as "neutral" sounded terrible - far too bright, and nothing like real, live, unamplified, acoustic music.
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Ok, almost any CD containing Julie London will give the listener a wide range of breathy voice blessed by the gods. How about more in this vane.
opus88
530 posts
 
Though perhaps interesting, all of this might just be a tempest in a teapot. It seems that either despite colorations or because of them, what really matters most is do we enjoy the kind[s]of sounds we hear or not? Of course, within this context, the manner in which the performances are given, the individual's or group's capabilities/talents and the nature of the piece of music itself are equally or more or less important. Some fellow Audiogoners say if one enjoys 75% of the sound heard through their system, they've got it made. How does that prospect or reality sound???
More to discover