high end standmounts that do not punish poor recordings?


recently arrived a the realization that the variety of music I listen to simply does not lend itself well to many  'audiophile' speakers

closest I had to my current goal were Dynaudio Special 40's

Next best was Heritage Specials and then Totem element Fire v2 (screeching tweeter on the Totem)

Harbeth 30.2xd's and Super5plus xds definitely did not work for my recordings 

shortlist at the moment is Franco Serblin Accordo, KEF Reference 1 meta, Dynaudio Condifence 20

simple system to  be paired with my REL Carbon special and Hegel H600 (really love both these pieces)

appreciate any recommendations

 

audiocanada

How forgiving your system is a result of your whole system, not just the speakers: components, acoustic treatment and the room. So the place to start is with your whole system. If your could create a virtual system under your user ID and put some photos and your components that would give us a place to start. I emphasize photos, because in situations like this it is easy for there to be a glaring reason that doesn’t show up in a list of components. 

I have been pursuing high end audio for over fifty years. At times, with good intentions and by careful listening tests before purchases, my lust for details pulled my system from musical and natural sounding over to unforgiving and overly detailed... if you keep going on this continuum then it becomes harsh. It is really easy to do. As you implied, you figured that out as well. Some component manufactures produce products that create incredibly detailed sound, scraping every last nuance from the recording. Nothing wrong with this. but the presentation can become very detailed and dry and make anything but the very best recording sound bad. It does so by emphasizing the details... especially that of the ambiance,  presenting fine details out of proportion. A good way to tell is, if the first thing that occurs to you when listening is the ambience and mastering of the recording then there is something wrong. Instead of being pulled into the music and forgetting about the system. When you are pulled to listen to the system instead of the music, you have a problem. Unless, of course that is what you want. Lots of folks enjoy the technology and listening to the violinist in the third row foot movement as it is a solo instrument. 

There is also a segment of that works to reproduce music with all its nuance. These then to be tube systems and are forgiving... not of a truly hideous recording of course. From a speaker point of view these are Sonus Faber and Serbin.

There is simply no way to build a high-quality, high-end audio system to primarily cater to a few bad recordings without sacrificing overall sound quality.  However, assembling a high-end audio system is like Burger King, you get to have it your way, LOL!!!.    Happy listening.    

Another option would be to use an EQ unit in the signal path. Use something as simple as a 4 band Schiit Loki Mini and you can tone down strident or spitty vocals or add a bit of warmth, boost or tone down bass, or even add a bit more sparkle. The nice thing about the Schiit units is there is a switch to completely take the EQ out of the signal path when you don't need to use it.  This lets you keep the speakers you love for the good recordings but gives you an option to improve things for the bad recordings. 

My goal was first creating a system/room able to reveal the acoustics  recording conditions and information hidden in any album. It was not to create a sound pleasing me so much that creating  a revelatory acoustic translation ...

Bad recorded albums can be enjoyed on a good system/room better than on a bad system/room because we are able to retrieve more lost information from a good system/room ...

Audio is not about tastes, marketing is about "tastes" conditioning, audio is about acoustics...

Audio is not about gear design pricing  but about the conditions making possible for any system at any price to reach his specific optimum peak ...Then audio is about acoustics with an "s" not just mere room acoustic.

 

I'm assuming that you are in Canada based on your screen name. You should definitely check out Gershman Studio speakers. They are very detailed but never bright or etched. The easiest speakers I've ever had in terms of listenability. I had Kef Reference Ones and sold those after getting the Gershmans. I also have Harbeth Compact 7 30th anniversary, which are very nice but not as smooth as the Gershmans. The Gershmans also do the disappearing act and create a huge sound stage and produce a surprising amount of bass for their size.