Does loudness play a part in your appreciation?

@komono

Peter Walker, the brains behind Quad amplifiers and electrostatic speakers, said that the volume knob should be treated like the focus control on a camera.  Use it to bring the music into focus, which I interpret to mean place yourself at the volume level intended by the recording engineer, where the balance of instruments best approaches reality.

His byline was "the closest approach to the original sound" and he targeted classical music, which has a much bigger dynamic range than most other genres.  He recognised that it was practically impossible to reproduce typical front-row sound levels, and instead described reproduced music as listening through an open window into a concert hall.

I am pretty sure most people instinctively keep turning the volume up until distortion raises its ugly head, at which point the volume is still way below the peak levels of un-amplified orchestral instruments.  I know that applies to me and I probably play far too loud to not be damaging my hearing.

Completely agree with your comments on how meaningless db 'measurements' can be without further details.

@kokomo 

I have used Quad electrostatics for about 40 years, first the 63s then the bigger 2905s.  They have a built-in volume limit, in that at signal voltages over about 40-Volts they deliberately compress the signal, ultimately presenting as a short-circuit at about 57-Volts.

I have found that newer recordings on SACD and Blu-ray tend to have ever higher peak outputs, as measured by the point at which my Krell power amp trips because the Quads have clamped!

Almost by accident, I recently bought a pair of KEF Reference 1 speakers which also try to emulate a point source of sound.  They can play far louder than the Quads!

My own hypothesis is that many people are looking for a ’smooth’ or ’warm’ sound so are attracted to the pleasant harmonic distortions of some valve equipment and seek an ’analogue’ resonant sound from digital.  I am looking for a realistic experience judged against live (non-amplified) music.  Much of the orchestral music I listen to really is discordant and edgy, as in his time was Beethoven.  (There is apparently no evidence his deafness was caused by playing too loud)

Mahler's second symphony (Resurrection) was played in the first concert after $100-million was spent fixing the acoustics of the Sydney Opera House.  Not my money, but well spent!  This symphony would surely have some of the greatest dynamic and emotional ranges in the repertoire, from pin-drop quiet to cacophony. 

The tam tams (gongs) at the end should be played so hard, they rarely get back to vertical.  Gilbert Kaplan was head of a chemical company but got himself taught how to conduct, just to play this symphony.  He has conducted it around the world and I have a performance on CD.  Not quite as good as Sir Simon Rattle, but Sir Simon is a percussionist ...

I remember as a schoolboy going to an all-Bartok concert at the Festival Hall in London.  The conductor was Antal Dorati and the performance of Bluebeard’s Castle was recorded, I think by Mercury Living Presence.  Anyway, the singer taking Judith’s part managed to ’drown out’ or at least cut through the entire orchestra playing fortissimo, when heard from the rear of the auditorium.

Subjectively, I think about 90% of the sound we hear at a symphony concert is reflected from the venue.  Even outdoor venues need reflective shells over the orchestra to project the sound forwards.

If you ever get the chance, get yourself into an anechoic chamber.  The absence of reflected sound is totally disorienting.  The closest I have come to this in nature was sitting on the top of Iron Knob in South Australia looking out over the Nullabour plain, where only the ground reflected sound.  The only sign of life was a dust trail on the far horizon as a lone vehicle headed for Perth, thousands of km away.  Near total silence.

(I remember a review of a Jaguar being driven from Perth to Melbourne.  On leaving Perth the GPS said ’at the roundabout take the second exit’. The roundabout was 980 km ahead).