"If you don't have a $200k [speaker]..."

[Ron Resnick]

Ron, you are one guy who refused to audition a speaker on digital. You would only stick to LPs. How is that different. You are sticking to your estimate of best recording and the analog signal path.

The only thing that differs is me thinking of differences between LPs same way as you think between analog and digital, with emphasis from me on well recorded good performances

I agree that analogy is somewhat valid. But I did not audition with digital only because I could not relax and concentrate.

In no way would auditioning with digital (poor recordings of poor performances for you) have driven me to a different loudspeaker preference.

 

[Lagonda]

I agree that analogy is somewhat valid. But I did not audition with digital only because I could not relax and concentrate.

In no way would auditioning with digital (poor recordings of poor performances for you) have driven me to a different loudspeaker preference.

Maybe your choice of loudspeaker was a valid choice for exactly the variety of music that you like and listen to Ron. You listened with your own records, and some of them are not exactly reference recordings, and you chose speakers that make them sound good to you. You seem to have a lot of pop and girl with guitar music in your collection. My own speaker choice also make even shitty recordings sound palatable.

 

[bonzo75]

In no way would auditioning with digital (poor recordings of poor performances for you) have driven me to a different loudspeaker preference.

How would you know. Would compressed Vs not compressed recordings change your preference?

 

[PeterA]

I agree that analogy is somewhat valid. But I did not audition with digital only because I could not relax and concentrate.

In no way would auditioning with digital (poor recordings of poor performances for you) have driven me to a different loudspeaker preference.

Ron, are you unable to relax and concentrate when listening to digital?

 

[PeterA]

Maybe your choice of loudspeaker was a valid choice for exactly the variety of music that you like and listen to Ron. You listened with your own records, and some of them are not exactly reference recordings, and you chose speakers that make them sound good to you. You seem to have a lot of pop and girl with guitar music in your collection. My own speaker choice also make even shitty recordings sound palatable.

I no longer think of speakers outside of the system context. Everything works together and good matching is important, from panel to outlet, from source to speaker. Familiar music well recorded certainly helps me understand what a system is doing, though most music and recording quality is now enjoyable on my system. I want my system to be able to convey differences easily.

 

[bonzo75]

In no way would auditioning with digital (poor recordings of poor performances for you) h

digital can have great performances. Digital recordings and playback most often won’t let you appreciate it on high end system, and streaming well recorded vinyl rips through a Bose or Sonos type sound bar should be sufficient to listen to that.

 

[itay123]

I no longer think of speakers outside of the system context. Everything works together and good matching is important, from panel to outlet, from source to speaker. Familiar music well recorded certainly helps me understand what a system is doing, though most music and recording quality is now enjoyable on my system. I enjoy a system that is able to convey differences easily.

I have to admit that not only speakers, but every component in the setup and every nuance that is introduced, if of course the setup/resault is transparent enough, the synergy will be more noticeable here or there.

When people talk / consult with me about one or another component, it is not really possible to separate the component and analyze it precisely, but to give an idea and direction.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

in my world you can feed a good system with anything and it will reveal itself
whatever source
it can be planars, horns and on rare occasions monkey coffins
that is in my world......

 

[Lagonda]

I no longer think of speakers outside of the system context. Everything works together and good matching is important, from panel to outlet, from source to speaker. Familiar music well recorded certainly helps me understand what a system is doing, though most music and recording quality is now enjoyable on my system. I enjoy a system that is able to convey differences easily.

I laid my own wiring, 4 dedicated lines from high gouge quality copper wires, with my choice of custom outlets with US receptacle so i could use Davids power cords. Nothing is up to code, but sounds good. I have terminated my own IC and speaker cables of choice. Supported the floor under speaker and subwoofer towers, torn down a wall and reinforced a second wall with a 2 inch MDF plate, covered 2 windows with the same. I can hear differences in recordings and if the origins are digital, but still enjoy bad recordings more than i ever have before.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Maybe your choice of loudspeaker was a valid choice for exactly the variety of music that you like and listen to Ron. You listened with your own records, and some of them are not exactly reference recordings, and you chose speakers that make them sound good to you. You seem to have a lot of pop and girl with guitar music in your collection. My own speaker choice also make even shitty recordings sound palatable.

I understand. If I'm being very precise, I would reply that that is an answer to a slightly different question.

That actually goes back to one of my primary philosophies, which is that musical genre preference drives loudspeaker preference. Kedar is talking about, and I am responding to, something slightly different.

The precise analogy would be whether good performances and good recordings of girls with guitar versus bad performances and bad recordings of girls with guitar would lead me to select different loudspeakers.

 

[PeterA]

That actually goes back to one of my primary philosophies, which is that musical genre preference drives loudspeaker preference.

Ron, is that in your own case, or are you speaking for every case and everybody?

 

[Lagonda]

I understand. If I'm being very precise, I would reply that that is an answer to a slightly different question.

That actually goes back to one of my primary philosophies, which is that musical genre preference drives loudspeaker preference. Kedar is talking about, and I am responding to, something slightly different.

The precise analogy would be whether good performances and good recordings of girls with guitar versus bad performances and bad recordings of girls with guitar would lead me to select different loudspeakers.

Maybe it also comes down to what we focus on in a systems presentation of music, Ked has a high focus on flow and tone of instruments in part because of the music and recordings he prefers. You have focus on voices and suspension of disbelief, i often focus on rhythmic drive and bass nuance and most albums i listen to have no recordings of unamplified instruments If you listen to good recording only, you can probably live with a leaner, more honest presentation of the recording than the speaker systems we have chosen. My MBL's are more honest, but not much fun with bad recordings, the Statements play more of the music i like at a pleasurable level, and by the way at a lower level.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron, is that in your own case, or are you speaking for every case and everybody?

This is in my own case, yes.

No, I am not speaking for "every case and everybody." (In almost no field, except in fields like physics and engineering and math, let alone in a subjective field like this hobby, would it make sense to claim that a theory speaks for "every case and everybody." I do think the correlation underlying my theory is statistically significant. No, I cannot prove this.)

This is in your case, too. (With more auditioning experience you -- an aficionado primarily of classical music and jazz music -- eventually moved to horn loudspeakers.)

 

[morricab]

I am just messing with you Brad, i almost bought a Kenwood L-O7D the other day to hear what the fuss is all about, but i don't use SET's and would probably not get it anyway ! I was never in love with Micro-Seikis's.

Well, if you do, put a sheet of mu metal on the underside of the platter…apparently, the magnetic repulsion in the bearing interferes with the cartridge in a negative way.

 

[morricab]

you have to find the great performances and the best recordings for those performances, budget depending. Not just great recordings of poor performances, or great performances but poor recordings (listen to those on earphones)

So, the performance also has to be great to judge sound quality of a stereo system?? You are conflating the two hobbies of high end Hifi and high end record collection.

 

[bonzo75]

So, the performance also has to be great to judge sound quality of a stereo system?? You are conflating the two hobbies of high end Hifi and high end record collection.

record collection is more about rarity too. There is an overlap for sure as collectors would know which pressings and preformances to chase. That knowledge can be useful for a non collector in the audio hobby too. You could judge audio equipment sound with good recording poor performance but I have no intention of doing so. Why knowingly buy bad music

 

[morricab]

record collection is more about rarity too. There is an overlap for sure as collectors would know which pressings and preformances to chase. That knowledge can be useful for a non collector in the audio hobby too. You could judge audio equipment sound with good recording poor performance but I have no intention of doing so. Why knowingly buy bad music

Bad music, good music…this is purely subjective. People listen to what they like not what you like. At least you admit it is not necessary to have a great performance to judge a sound system… just good recording sound quality.

 

[bonzo75]

in my world you can feed a good system with anything and it will reveal itself
whatever source
it can be planars, horns and on rare occasions monkey coffins
that is in my world......

exactly. so if you feed a system a recording that is scratchy on the highs, lacks tone and flow and breath sound instruments, and has a compressed stage, if the system is transparent to the source it will sound bad. So one will not be able to assess all its strengths.

alternatively if you know the recording is good and the system is not showing some characteristics you know there is an issue too

 

[bonzo75]

Bad music, good music…this is purely subjective. People listen to what they like not what you like. At least you admit it is not necessary to have a great performance to judge a sound system… just good recording sound quality.

If you play a boring violin performance, good recording… you will get tone. You won’t be able to judge inflections/nuances, intensity, as well as say a good chaconne recording or any good cadenza. How well a violin is integrated with the orchestra depends also on the miking and the mastering.

 

[bonzo75]

on the trio of good performances, recordings, and systems you can appreciate the performer better and understand the conductor more, you can hear/visualise the counterpointing.

otherwise it is just one big sound