Enough detail or too much?


When I go to listen to the orchestra play, the music never sounds as detailed as it does in some high end systems. The closest thing that I have heard to the "real thing" are some of the older nos tubes. There is some smearing but real orchestras do sound somewhat smeared. It seems like the area to get right are the violins. If you can get the violins to sound silky and smooth, that would be the way it sounds, to me at least. Bass always seems to sound somewhat boomy in a big music hall. The instrument that seems the most difficult to reproduce are pianos. I do not know how any system can reproduce the sound of a real piano, at any price. The weight of the notes are so unique, I have heard some extremely high end systems and none get it really right. Just curious how others feel.
tzh21y

Showing 1 response by tzh21y

I am glad I started this thread. It really helped me get a feeling of what hi fi and enjoying music is all about. I remember sitting in the 3rd row listening to Itzhak Perlman play Mozart's Violin Concerto hearing the tone of his violin, and the dynamics associated with the performance. It was one of the most beautiful performances I have ever heard. I think the closest I have ever heard to this sound was through quad 989's, a pair of Mcintosh 275s in mono and a VPI TNT turntable. I think the beauty was coming from the Quads more than any other component. I have never heard a SET system but I would like to someday.

I read the comment about some of the live performaces sounding somewhat dull. I could not agree more and also the overblown bass. Sometimes bass can get pretty deep and powerful especially when I hear a pipe organ. It to me is just not as tight as some systems make it. The orchestra does sound somewhat midrangey, so maybe that is why I like the sound of tubes so much.

Its all in the way the performance is recorded and engineered. Sound engineers should listen to recordings from the late fifties and early sixties. They are some of the most natural sounding recordings I have heard. How did they do that?

I know I am not the only one who feels this way.

Thanks for all of your comments