Evaluating a system - what do you listen for?


I have been in this hobby a long time and my opinion of what I want to hear in reproduced music continues to evolve. Having owned many systems - and critically listened to many, many more - I am now looking for an overall sound that as accurately as possible captures the tone and tempo of the music with enough of a bass foundation to convincingly portray an orchestra at full tilt or club beats while still nailing the timbre of an upright bass. Decent portrayal of leading and trailing edges is nice, and a high end that’s fully present and balanced without stridency is a big plus. Detail’s good, but hyper detail without musical flow can be distracting. Airy treble and pinpoint or large soundstage are also nice to have, but if what’s coming out of the speakers doesn’t make me want to tap my toe or cry a little bit when a vocalist holds a note just so, then what’s the point? That’s what I’m looking for these days - what about you?
knownothing

Showing 1 response by strongarm

I used to be tbg. In the last five years thanks to several manufactures, I have gone to realism that I never thought was possible. I had thought that I was hearing all that was in the recording. I was missing many of the instrument harmonics, much of the decay of notes in the hall or studio, and many noises of the performers breathing, changing positions on the strings that you probably would only hear were you as close as the mikes, but now my speakers vanish and the speaker end of my large listening room is replaced by the hall or studio and instruments appear where I never heard them. The old saw of hearing the piano in another room and knowing whether it is real or a recording is lost-everything is real.
In no particular order I thank Miguel Alvarez, Rick Schultz, Roger Paul, Audio Points, Star Sound Tech Rhythm racks and Platforms, Zilplex cups, Mr. Ikeda for the Kai cartridge and recording engineers for capturing more than they could have ever heard.