Every recording I own has its own sound, and I don’t mind one bit. As somebody once said, "If it’s good, it’s good." That might have been said more than once...not sure...as Bob Dylan says at the end of his shows, "get me outta here." I always wonder what the "live sound" reference really means...Orchestras that sound absolutely different depending on seating? Acoustic Jazz musicians listened to from a seat on the stage with the band? The hundreds of live concerts mixed by me? (those are all simply wonderful sounding events) Me again, noodling on an acoustic guitar? I think some recordings simply appeal to the audio geek as great sounding, but if the music isn't interesting it sort of doesn't matter...a system is tweaked to personal taste all over the map it seems, with no bottom line although many dive deep looking for it...somebody said once, "if it's fun, it's fun," and that likely wasn't Bob...or maybe it was.
Do we ask too much of our audio systems?
In high school, I taught myself to play guitar and later started playing in rock bands for about 10 years. I used a low powered mono tube record player in my bedroom to study Clapton, BB King, Page, Hendrix, Beck and all guitar heros of the time and learn how to play. In those years, I never bothered to upgrade my system, mostly because nothing seemed to be able to replay what I experienced playing live in a band, with a Les Paul in hand and a screaming tube guitar amp. As the years went by I built half dozen speakers and had a decent Pioneer front end, using a Philips TT. My system sounded better, but never equalled the emotion and involvement of playing live. So, I guess I grew into Audiophilia thinking nothing is as good as live music. Now I have heard some very good systems and speakers, but still wonder..."am I chasing something un-attainable?" Do we ask too much from our audio systems?