Has anyone else found the need to balance compelling aspects of sonics with forgiving/euphonic sound?
My examples here are headphone amps (but the points generalize to speaker amps).
I had a friend in the New Jersey Audiophile Society build me a custom 12AU7/FET headphone amp. I was amazed by its dynamics (micro and macro), it's musical detail and PRaT, expressive power. Very attention-grabbing sound.
I sold one of my other headphone amps at the time. Another one I had broke, so I ended up using this amp ever since then, about 8 years now.
I massively improved my digital front end last year and although I found a much more dynamic and detailed sound, I had a lot of problems with overactive transients and this problem I have with certain sounds activating my tinnitus. I spent a lot of money trying to get something that had all the good qualities and none of the aggravating qualities.
Long story short, I tried a McIntosh headphone amp recently and all the "aggravating" factors disappeared. They were all in my 12AU7/FET amp! I didn't even realize that, and I could have solved my digital issues (which turned out not to be the digital) a lot quicker and cheaper if I had.
At this point I realized I hadn't really ENJOYED my headphone system for a long time, and the McIntosh amp is more enjoyable.
No it's not as dynamic or detailed or exciting, but it's the better option. And I used the word "euphonic" in the title, and it does seem that the Mac flatters certain low-quality recordings (such as YouTube classical music).
I got tricked all those years ago because the 12AU7/FET amp was so engrossing.
It seems that certain "attention-grabbing" qualifies of sound can also become fatiguing so they must be balanced with "pleasant" sound.
