Videos - oomph, tympani, menace, power

[tima]

What do you find so special about the sound, Peter?

Not Peter.

It has an authority and confidence unlike most reproductions.

 

[Al M.]

Not Peter.

It has an authority and confidence unlike most reproductions.

That makes sense. There's much to the sound that I find problematic, but this is a good point.

 

[PeterA]

Not Peter.

It has an authority and confidence unlike most reproductions.

This but also there is an ease, an effortlessness to the presentation. There is no strain, no spotlighting, no thinness. The balance seems right and my attention goes right to the music rather than to the system.

 

[PeterA]

That makes sense. There's much to the sound that I find problematic, but this is a good point.

Al, What do you find problematic about the sound? I realize you don’t like videos and usually dismiss them out of hand, but in this case you seem to overcome all of that enough to listen critically enough to post about it.

 

[Al M.]

This but also there is an ease, an effortlessness to the presentation. There is no strain, no spotlighting, no thinness. The balance seems right and my attention goes right to the music rather than to the system.

I would disagree about thinness. I hear some washed-out bleakness and thinness in the brass.

I don’t know if it's the recording (unfortunately, the original video poster did not provide enough information about it) or if it's how the video was recorded. But compare the brass to this, for example, much more color and saturation of sound on this one:

 

[PeterA]

I would disagree about thinness. I hear some washed-out bleakness and thinness in the brass.

I don’t know if it's the recording (unfortunately, the original video poster did not provide enough information about it) or if it's how the video was recorded. But compare the brass to this, for example, much more color and saturation of sound on this one:

A recording of a live concert generally sounds much different from a phone recording of a stereo playing a recording, just as a live performance generally sounds very different from a stereo.

Do you have an actual system video to share that makes your point about thinness in the brass?

 

[Al M.]

A recording of a live concert generally sounds much different from a phone recording of a stereo playing a recording, just as a live performance generally sounds very different from a stereo.

Do you have an actual system video to share that makes your point about thinness in the brass?

So you agree about the difference in sound then, and that the WE horn sound (at least how the video is recorded) is problematic in the way I described.

I am just focusing on the issues with the sound I am hearing from the video as such, aside from whatever problems with and excuses about system videos there may be.

You claimed there was no thinness, I pointed out that there is. It's really that simple. No Ifs and Buts.

 

[SlapEcho]

Assuming the following is the actual stereo recording, I find the two remarkably similar.

 

[SlapEcho]

- Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice

 

[wil]

A recording of a live concert generally sounds much different from a phone recording of a stereo playing a recording, just as a live performance generally sounds very different from a stereo.

Do you have an actual system video to share that makes your point about thinness in the brass?

I like the sound of the WE system, but to me it shares the same phone video in a small room acoustic that all room vids suffer from to one degree or another. But it's really impressive-- and better than many we hear on the threads.

The YT recording's not better because it's a live performance recording. I'm assuming the WE is probably also a recording of a live performance. The YT recording sounds more like a performance of live music and lacks some of the harshness and hifi signature I hear in the WE.

Maybe the YT recording is done with much better mics than our iPhones -- I'm guessing?

 

[PeterA]

So you agree about the difference in sound then, and that the WE horn sound (at least how the video is recorded) is problematic in the way I described.

I am just focusing on the issues with the sound I am hearing from the video as such, aside from whatever problems with and excuses about system videos there may be.

You claimed there was no thinness, I pointed out that there is. It's really that simple. No Ifs and Buts.

I’ve never heard reproduction out of a stereo system as good as live music. I just think for a meaningful discussion we should be comparing apples to apples. I continue to maintain that I think that video sounds excellent with those ancient Western Electric speakers.

And I continue to wonder if there are any contemporary speakers with heroic efforts to address defraction and cabinet resonances, and have drivers of exotic materials and crossovers that sound this convincing.

 

[morricab]

So you agree about the difference in sound then, and that the WE horn sound (at least how the video is recorded) is problematic in the way I described.

I am just focusing on the issues with the sound I am hearing from the video as such, aside from whatever problems with and excuses about system videos there may be.

You claimed there was no thinness, I pointed out that there is. It's really that simple. No Ifs and Buts.

No, I don't agree with you. There are distinct differences in the recordings themselves. However, going back again to the video I posted I don't think those horns sound particularly thin...I think you are looking for nits to pick.

 

[morricab]

I like the sound of the WE system, but to me it shares the same phone video in a small room acoustic that all room vids suffer from to one degree or another. But it's really impressive-- and better than many we hear on the threads.

The YT recording's not better because it's a live performance recording. I'm assuming the WE is probably also a recording of a live performance. The YT recording sounds more like a performance of live music and lacks some of the harshness and hifi signature I hear in the WE.

Maybe the YT recording is done with much better mics than our iPhones -- I'm guessing?

You would almost be certainly correct...it is a professional recording. Also, it has not gone through a studio processing with all that entails. It would be interesting to play the live YT recording (not compressed with YT algorithm) through that WE system and THEN see what is lacking. For sure it's not perfect, but as you noted, it is still really impressive for a system recording.

 

[PeterA]

I like the sound of the WE system, but to me it shares the same phone video in a small room acoustic that all room vids suffer from to one degree or another. But it's really impressive-- and better than many we hear on the threads.

The YT recording's not better because it's a live performance recording. I'm assuming the WE is probably also a recording of a live performance. The YT recording sounds more like a performance of live music and lacks some of the harshness and hifi signature I hear in the WE.

Maybe the YT recording is done with much better mics than our iPhones -- I'm guessing?

The video that Al posted does not involve a stereo system. It is a recording of actual musicians rather than a recording of a stereo system. I would expect them to sound very different. I’ve never heard a stereo system sound like live musicians and I’ve never heard a recording of a stereo system sound like a recording of live music.

 

[PeterA]

No, I don't agree with you. There are distinct differences in the recordings themselves. However, going back again to the video I posted I don't think those horns sound particularly thin...I think you are looking for nits to pick.

Al is comparing the sound of a stereo system to the sound of real musicians playing in a live orchestra. It’s a very high standard, and I think the WE system does pretty well. Better in fact than the vast majority of other systems, IMO.

 

[morricab]

Al is comparing the sound of a stereo system to the sound of real musicians playing in a live orchestra. It’s a very high standard, and I think the WE system does pretty well. Better in fact than the vast majority of other systems, IMO.

Yes, that is clear from the video and while I there is nothing wrong to remind of the standard, it has to be clear that no stereo system lives 100% to that standard...

 

[Al M.]

Al is comparing the sound of a stereo system to the sound of real musicians playing in a live orchestra. It’s a very high standard, and I think the WE system does pretty well. Better in fact than the vast majority of other systems, IMO.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. That's what I hear from you and others here.

Fact is, you claimed there was no thinness, and there is on the brass in the WE video. I don't care what the reason is for that, but there is thinness, no doubt.

 

[Al M.]

The YT recording's not better because it's a live performance recording. I'm assuming the WE is probably also a recording of a live performance. The YT recording sounds more like a performance of live music and lacks some of the harshness and hifi signature I hear in the WE.

Yes, there is some sharpness and grain in the massed violins on the WE video as well. I am not claiming that the video of the live recording is perfect in that regard either, but the WE video is worse.

 

[PeterA]

Excuses, excuses, excuses. That's what I hear from you and others here.

Fact is, you claimed there was no thinness, and there is on the brass in the WE video. I don't care what the reason is for that, but there is thinness, no doubt.

How about this. The brass sounds slightly thinner over the stereo system than it does from the live orchestra. They sound different, but I still think the recording of the stereo system sounds extremely good and convincing.

Live music is of course the reference for some of us.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Does any modern speaker/amp combination sound like this?

Yes.

Your rhetorical skepticism arises, I believe, from your parochial disinterest in seeking out actively and listening to modern systems which sound natural and real, and which do not sound like what I describe pejoratively as "contemporary high-end dealer sound."

This is simply the very common situation of "we don't know what we don't know." Please go visit any three of the analog-based rooms + systems in my top tier, and then let's talk.