LISTENING-what not to hear- OR THE BASE LINE

[Varun]

Hello Forum,

The idea that what we like to hear is very much influenced by previous experience- here we are talking of "reproduced sound" and not live sound.

It has just dawned upon me what DSJR Dave has been going on about Master tapes and CD and analogue and valves. He is as usual absolutely right. However-where I think he is wrong is that some how he is comparing the master tape-CD sound with the LP12 type sound.

I also realized that the "tizz" "ring" Euphony produced by Linn-Naim sound was wrong- It needs or took me literally yeas to get used to equipment which did not do that.

To put it simply- it is the dead-unimpressive sound that DSJR is talking about. Heard first it sounds utterly boaring. Well Tempered TTs were exactly like that and the same applies to VPI as well. They go enormous distances to "deaden" the sound- or "dampen it".

Then moving from Solid state (NOT CLASS A) to valves has the same effect- one can then add any number of variables- cables types, supports, cartridges etc and so on.

Then the methodology of what is 'better' sound system-utterly erroneous was introduced by the reviewers in the 80s. They started focussing on physical aspects of sound and NOT music.

We see examples of this on the forum-like the Piano hammer hitting the 'string'; like fingers plucking the string of the bass guitar; or the different skins of the drum!

These aspects of sound have nothing to do with the music the musician is trying to get across to you and might not actually be intended to be heard.

Imagine placing a microphone so close to a 9 foot Steinway?

[John]

Some interesting thoughts and not a 100% sure where I stand on it
My first love is music anything that takes me closer to that experienceis worthy I play a bit of guitar and must of gone to about 2500 gigs at least so no matter how I go about it my experiences and own preferences will guide me
I know a few friends who work in the industry that say I got one of the best sounding systems regardless of price they ever heard
When I describe music from my system point of view I willtalk interms of resolution hearing how the leading edges of a note start and stops how harmonics are portrayed but this has nothing to do with how I experience music for me its a lot more of an emotional connection one I find hard to put into words but when I come back home I can be immersed in it For me a hifi system has a function to give me as much muical enjoyment as I can but its the the music I love and not the system

[Joe]

It's difficult to put into words what makes a good/great hifi system; the usual result is 'reviewer speak' that, as Varun says, picks the music to pieces and loses sight of the whole picture.

To be honest, unless one is a salesman or a paid reviewer, it's probably best not to even try to describe what a system sounds like, because one person's 'lively' is another person's 'artificial', and one person's 'natural' is another person's 'dull'. The only way to know if you like a piece of equipment is to hear it, and the only way to know if it's worth buying it is to hear it in your own system in your own room.

So, I'll stick with my own, entirely subjective yardstick; does this system make me listen to more music (and more types of music)? If yes, it's good, if not it's bad.

[John]

So, I'll stick with my own, entirely subjective yardstick; does this system make me listen to more music (and more types of music)? If yes, it's good, if not it's bad.

Thank you this makes total sense to me

[Ali Tait]

For me the yardstick is how much the sound engages me on an emotional level.I've always counted myself far more of a music lover than an audiophile,it's just that the more "real" the music sounds to me,the more it engages me,hence the constant search for the next emotional level.

[Varun]

Tell us more about which direction your search for next emotional level is taking you Ali?

I presume your pursuit is classical music driven-mainly? Might be worth raising the classical music side in these conversations and I do hope people would not object.

[hifi_dave]

I ( literally ) had tears in my eyes this afternoon, listening to ' Bookends ' by Simon & Garfunkel. The ' Old Friends ' track really got to me - ' Old friends, sat on a park bench like bookends. How terribly strange to be 70 ' I know exactly what they mean.

[Ali Tait]

Tell us more about which direction your search for next emotional level is taking you Ali?

I presume your pursuit is classical music driven-mainly? Might be worth raising the classical music side in these conversations and I do hope people would not object.

No,not mainly,though I do listen to classical,baroque and opera-particular favourites would be Bach,Vivaldi and Puccini.I mostly favour acoustic music of the folk/blues type,though I do have quite an eclectic taste.The next level for me will be the direct-coupled amps designed and built by Nick Gorham for my electrostatics I have already mentioned in a couple of threads.I think this will be as far as I can go where amplifiers are concerned in my system.I don't know of a better way to drive a 'stat.Even the lash-up prototype is amazing.The sorted final version will I'm sure be nothing short of sublime.
The last performance that moved me to tears was seeing Neil Young at Glastonbury-the most amazing live music I've ever heard,so emotional.

[Varun]

You need a rainbow in the sky Dave! Cheer up.

[Varun]

Ali,

To keep the conversation going- Bach to Puccini is a big jump as is Haydn to Shostokovic (the concert Barry was talking about).

Tell us which Puccini opera you like and have you attended !Live! performances? The Glyndebourne Opera I mentioned in the Analogue Vs Digital thread was Verdi's Othello with Othello's face painted black and the blonde soprano wearing glittering white silk.

Talking of classical Music I remembered that it is Jerry who is devoted to it- so perhaps I have confused you with him?