When a Reviewer "likes" something

Lewm, I think Raul seems to want his system to reproduce what is on the recording with as little distortion as possible. You seem to want your system to sound like a live music. Those seem to be different goals.

I suspect that one might even be disappointed by a live music performance versus an engineered sound studio recording. But that is a discussion for another day.

Bifwynne- Interesting that you say that, because I am actually the opposite. I find that (assuming that they are reasonably well done) I prefer "live" recordings. Don't know why but I can speculate that the audience interaction inspires the artist and the lack of overprocessing/overdubbing/over-manipulating allows the "truth" to come through more clearly. Of course, I can't carry a tune in the proverbial bushel basket so if the instrument or voice is a LITTLE off-key/out-of-tune, I'd never know it.

"Atkinson wrote in that Issue, that in most forums is mainly nonsense written, from time wasters who have absolutely no idea from anything and a professional reviewer who writes in a magazine, is a much more serious source..."

What else would a representative of an archaic species at the border of extinction write?

Being rather a young generation listener, reviewer words mean nothing to me and actually I do not waste my time neither reading any "professional" reviews nor even thinking of how corrupt, non-sense etc they are. I think I live in a parallel universe. Gear problems I try to resolve in various internet communities, with a very strong BS filter applied.

Dear Mapman: ++++ " It takes an educated reader to find where that is. " +++++

you put the finger where it really " weights ": educated reader, educated audiophile and this is part of the overall " problem " subject.

How each one of us was educated? from where that audio education came? whom educated us? and perhaps more important could be that at some time as today we have to ask our self:

ALL WHAT I LEARNED THROUGH MY AUDIO LIFE IS TRUE, IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE TODAY AUDIO ADVANCEMENTS, IT STILL FULFIL MY TODAY PRIORITIES OR THE TODAY NEW STANDARDS? or

EXIST A BETTER WAY TO DO IT, A BETTER WAY TO ENJOY MUSIC THROUGH MY AUDIO SYSTEM, A BETTER WAY TO ACHIEVE BETTER QUALITY PERFORMANCE LEVEL THROUGH MY AUDIO SYSTEM.?

IMHO the audio learning is a day by day process and IMHO we can't refuse to do it and stay passive/sticky with my very old audio training. Passive in the AHEE/reviewers/audio dealers " hands ".

Gentlemans: when in you audio life will be the time for you and only you decide that from TODAY you will take your audio system decisions instead that those decisions still be taken by the AHEE/reviewers/sellers or even other fellows with the wrong audio information?, at the end you are the one who pay for those audio system decisions.

Yes, I know that we think we are the ones that are taken our each one audio system decisions but the true is that's not in that way: we are contaminated by the corrupted AHEE.

This is the bad news, the good news is that each one of us can make things change for the better. Is up to each one of us and from no other source.

As our systems time to time needs up dates we that are the most important part of our audio system need to be up dated continuously.

How do you know if your 500K dollars system is the best way to enjoy music at home? are there better options with the same kind of money?. You can be surprised to learn that not only exist a lot better options and not for the same kind of big money but for a lot less money.

How to achieve it?, IMHO the only way is learning: improving our each one ignorance level improving our each one knowledge level and work to achieve that.
Yes, we all have to do our each one work to have the posibility an opportunity to grow up in favor of the MUSIC and music enjoyment.

The hard part in that learning process is to recognise that many audio subjects we learned are wrong, sooner or latter you will discover this fact.

We all are surrounded of myths, myths that were promoted by the AHEE. One of those myths is: " forgeret about measurements. Your ears are the best judgement. " TAS and other notable AHEE members promoted that.

Yes, our ears are the best tool to identify what is right and what is wrong but only if before we learned what is right and what is wrong. So our ears are as good as what we learned beause what we learned is what we are accustom to listen, our ears are already equalize on what we learned. Example: tubes amps or LOMC or whatever.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Dear Swampwalker: +++++ " may be based on differing goals. Raul says (I'm paraphrasing, so feel free to correct me, Raul) that his goal is to reproduce exactly what's on the recording. Nothing more, nothing less. My goal is to have an emotionally enriching experience listening to an artist's work. " +++++

I think we have not different goals but we need some explanation about.

IMHO that " emotionally enriching experience listening... " or it comes in the recording or it not comes.

If does not comes in the recording then we are adding " colorations/distortions " to the recorded signal and if that comes in the recording then we are really enjoying it.

The emotionally charge in any recording is absolutely independent on any audio system: comes in or not.

As truer to the recording is the quality system performance level as better and truer are that " emotionally charge ".

I like music but I like even more music that wake up my emotions and feelings that permit to enjoy at full the music experience.

I don't like analytical audio systems or " accurate "/specs-oriented audio systems that can't shows that music emotional charge when it comes in the recording.

Unfortunatelly many times the recording producers/enginnerings made so signal manipulations that the main music sense ( emotional charges. ) is losted on the recording process. and believe me: we can't recover it.

All of us know when we are listening a good or bad recording beause we " feel " the RYTHMUM or not on each recording.

I'm not different from you about, maybe more discriminating but I'm always looking for that recorded music emotional charges that with out that the music we hear is only sound.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.