Forward or laid back


To quote a recent comment by a member: "The most salient characteristic (to me) is that the acoustic presentation of some of these speakers seemed quite forward (row D), whereas that of others was really quite laid back (row M). There was also, quite often, a second correlation between that forward presentation and a (relative) brightness in the treble. As far as I can tell, these features are often preferred and indeed seem to be aimed for in the voicing of many models during their development. To my ears, speakers in this category were the Treos, O/93s, and Veneres. Somewhere in the middle were the CM10s and the Liutos. A bit more laid back were the Dynaudios and the Vienna Acoustics"

You may be in the minority but then so am i! However, little do these audiophile misanthropes know that they do not or can not hear or appreciate the sound of an orchestra or a vocalist in a natural concert hall setting!

I agree again on another point. I can not STAND most of these so called " reviewers" who have lynched the press with their stupid ass observations about live acoustic sound and what it is to appreciate its truthfulness. Every word they utter is punch, Liveliness, BOOGIE (lmao) , exciting, drive etc, etc. Is that how a frickin orchestra or a female ( operatic) voice should sound??? I read their source material used and I want to throw up!! ( not because of the music per say , but that this is the material they use to evaluate loudspeakers??? ( Maybe they've picked the wrong hobby..?) They can spend their money on these components and fool themselves into believing this hobby they enjoy (high end audio) is fulfilling their supposedly objective needs; which is all well and good. It's not , however, the" real " sound of unamplified music. 
I guess, in the final evaluation, their " employers" no little either, or why would they adhere to or accept the rantings  of kids who are engulfed in this music for evaluating music reproduction in the home??????
So admittedly, not having heard everything of the newest designs around today, I can still proudly look back and thank a few people ( some gone now) who have truly..... contributed to the development of natural sound reproduction: Nelson Pass, Spencer Hughes, Peter Walker, to name a few!
PS. I used to publish a small subscription newsletter review myself in the early 1980's.

128x128imaging1

Showing 4 responses by ahendler

I sit in the second row for my San Antonio symphony concerts because I love that really up close sound. My stereo system is voiced the same way. Very much like the control room of a major recording studio where I worked for 25 years. I enjoy the physical feeling of sound. I quickly read your post and am not clear of your point. To say one point of view is right and the other wrong is nonsence. To each his own
Alan
I always wonder what people mean when they refer to accurate. As soon as you set up mikes to record an event so called accuracy is gone. The sound I here in the control room is totally different then the live sound in the studio. Recording is an art form. It is the creation of a performance envisioned by the artist, producer and recording engineer. In my case as the engineer it usually was always what I wanted. .Also regarding accuracy the mixdown also sounds totally different then the master multitrack. The mastering engineer  again changes the sound. So accurate to what. It is all an illusion. The in room speaker response for a speaker is different in every room. Bottom line is you find a speaker that you can emotionally connect with on music you love. Period.  By the way the Magico's are the real deal
Alan
HM1
 You are right
I come home from my live symphony concerts and turn on the stereo and marvel how close the sound is to the live event. By the way I use Maggie 3.6's setup so the speakers literally disappear from the room. It is much easier to hear how close you can get with a single instrument. However as musicians will tell you if you know the live sound you fill in what is missing in the reproduced sound. Still with a single instrument 5 different mikes will all sound different but will still pass the test "Is itlive or is it Memorex"
Alan
The setup For my 3.6's is called the Limage/hk setup. You can do a search for more info.
Alan