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I agree. Tune cannot be added (or encoded) by a given electronic component. However systems that aren't particularly tuneful are missing out an element of the information recorded on the disc
This is absolutely true, but it's just another way of saying that such systems are less accurate/faithful to the recorded musical information on whatever chosen format was used. 'Tune playing' is simply another aspect of a system's presentation that defines how true it is to the source sound. With respect, I think that sometimes you've got 'tune playing' on the brain ;)
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The problem with any notion of accuracy is that it is an all-embracing term for something that is subject to the listener's perception.
Again this is absolutely true. Our notion of "accuracy" in terms of hi-fi will always be subjective and based entirely on our individual level of musical experience. For example, a classical pianist who plays the piano daily will intrinsically know how his or her instrument sounds and would therefore easily be able to judge how "accurate" a hi-fi system could reproduce a recorded version of that sound.
Similarly, although arguably not as easily, a person who regularly attends live acoustic musical performances, or in some other way regularly hears the playing of real musical instruments, and as such becomes familiar with how instuments sound, can through effective aural memory judge fairly accurately how good a hi-fi system is at portraying the realistic sound of such instruments - this is my particular benchmark, which I allluded to earlier.
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Measured accuracy according to the criteria of what can actually be measured certainly isn't necessarily going to, or is even likely to translate into something that the listener believes to be 'accurate.' There are a number of aspects to realism that are more important to any given listener than others.
I see what you mean, but for me it isn't complicated at all: if it sounds 'real', based on what I've described above, then it is real. It's as simple as that.
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There are aspects of inaccuracy too that are more likely to get in the way of suspending disbelief that this is only a recording being passed through an electro-mechanical means of reproduction than others. Again this varies from listener to listener.
I totally agree. My ears are extremely attuned to tonal aberrations, which you have alluded to, therefore regardless of how 'tuneful' a system is if it accentuates any part of the frequency range which cause instruments and voices to sound unnatural then I find it difficult to get past this stage and enjoy the music, or indeed attempt to suspend disbelief as you have described.
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'Tunefulness,' like many aspects of recorded music reproduction, isn't something that can be added by components but it can be taken away. Remember also that the 'tune dem' is only a method of evaluation. It is not a process of attributing magical properties to hi-fi components.
Absolutely. However in my opinion it is a flawed method of evaluation if other important aspects of musical reproduction are ignored. Timbre and tonal accuracy are equally important to get right if the end result is successfully to approach accuracy, i.e. what real instruments and voices actually sound like. For example, how can one suspend disbelief when listening to a recorded musical performance if the voice of a female vocalist is sibilant and tonally unnatural? She just won't be 'there' in the room with you, as she should be if the system gets it right in every way, not just in terms of 'tune'.
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I guess the problem that component designers, those assembling and setting up systems and listeners alike all face, is that anything added to what was recorded on the disc is not a good thing and taking anything away isn't any good either. Unfortunately the latter is inevitable and that's where compromises and choices often have to be made as to what should remain.
Spot on. But for me the goal will always be the same: my system reproducing the recorded information on the record or disc as faithfully as possible. I will always strive to maintain the integrity of the source 'sound', and in turn allow music to be heard as near as possible to how the performer and recording engineer intended.
Marco.