does a stereo system sound like live music ?

the point of this thread is to observe the futility of configuring a stereo system and expecting it sound like live music and the idea that a good cheap reproducer of music is closer to an expensive stereo than an expensive stereo is to live music.

the other thought is to give you guys someone to attack. it's cheaper than going to a therapist, beating your wife, or other anti-social behavior.

keep those adjectives coming. i'm enjoying every minute.

the purpose of this thread and others is to stimulate thinking about long held beliefs about a lot of subjects.

the idea of comparing good vs bad confronts beliefs held about a subject.

what is meaningless or irrelevant to one person may be relevant to another. as to moderating and winning debates,
with the idea of winning them, this is your interpretation. in a philosophical discussion, there are no winners or losers.

as to this subject.

i consider the experience of listening to recorded music in the home as comprising two phenomena--that of sound and music.

i believe that a cheap stereo can rival an expensive stereo as a medium of enjoying and relating to the musical content, while, presumably, an expensive stero can sound better than a cheap stereo.

so, it depends upon your priorities.

a bad sounding concert of un amplified instruments sounds better than any reproduction in the home.

hi 9rw. it is the opinion of some that sound quality enhances the enjoyment of music. i say that the enjoyment of music has nothing to do with sound quality. it depends upon innner (psychological) qualities which make one receptive to appreciating and enjoying music.

there are plenty of studies, including two from stereophile several yeras ago, to support my position.

i respect your opinion that for you sound is important. but that's your opinion. it has nothing to do with making sense or nonsense.

i think the theme of my posts has been that all experiences are purely subjective, have nothing to do with knowledge and the concept of quality is not absolute.

hi 9rw. there is knowledge, opinion and facts.

your first statement about love of music and accuracy is not based upon knowledge. there is no proof to support your premise.

therefore its an opinion. you can make your statement appear it has some weight, but it is an opinion. is accuracy subjective ? the way to ascertain accuracy in the context of stereo systems is subjective, as there is no definitive comparison between live and recorded music possible. if you mean accurate to the recording, there is no way to know what a recording sounds like and no way to know whether a stero system has reproduced the recording aaccurately, to whatever degree, as there are too many variables.

my guess is that you do not speak of knowledge and your last statement is without merit.

i have auditioned thousands of stereo systems and can say to this day that my favorite stereo system consists of stacked quads with low powered tube amps and tube preamps.

it's still subjective regardless of what you say because your statements are not based upon knowledge.

in my opinion, i have heard many stereo systems that were properly set up, but have disliked the sound of most of them.

if there are reliable ethods to objectively detrmine accuracy, the question is accuracy to what ? is the reference live music, in which case how do you compare the sound of a recording through a stereo system to the sound of the instrument themselves ?

if the reference is the recording, how can you verify the accuracy of the stereo system relative to a recording when the sound of a recording is unknown as well as that of the components which comprise the stereo system.

its fine to make statements but you have no evidence to back them.

you are again providing evidence that this endeavor is indedd subjective and not objective as you state.

in addition , 9rw, you have misinterpreted what i said. i did not say that there was no difference sonically between a $350 personal stereo and an expensive stereo.

there is a difference, sonically.

finally my experience listening to 100s of stereo system and a good set of ears obviously is the basis for evaluating stereo systems.

but i realize that what constitutes a reference system is subject to disagreement, because it tooo is a matter of opinion.

the reference to 10 percent was based upon an article i had read in either absolute sound or stereophile.