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High expectations when listening to an orchestra

If you listen to an orchestra and expect to hear the real thing, you’re certain to be disappointed.
There’s no way you can come close to that experience  with your equipment.  An orchestra in your listening space is an impossibility. Therefore you have to adopt a “suspension of disbelief.”  In other words, trick yourself into believing it’s the real  thing.  You have to bring your imagination to the equation.
The degree to which you can suspend your disbelief, will determine how much enjoyment you get.
Of course, the better the quality of your equipment, the closer you will come.
With lesser forces than an orchestra, such as a few instruments or solo instrument or voice, the easier it becomes to approach reality.
rvpiano

Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
7,543 posts
 
The seats  have at the symphony are behind and below by 10’ the suspended mics used to record the symphony. I have some of the recordings made when I was at the concert. They sound exactly like I would expect given their location.. much more airy (not intended as a joke) without all of the people in clothing around me absorbing sound.
ghdprentice
7,543 posts
 
I have also had season tickets to the symphony for about ten years. In retrospect that experience quickly started influencing decisions I made in system upgrades. I had happened to have accidentally bought a house with a large listening area with unbelievably good acoustics. This has been the most critical component. With the system I had put together... which I had dubbed as my reference system I could essentially recreate the essence of the concert experience at home.  One by one I would work on one parameter at a time... I would also zero in the minimum sound... the maximum sound volume. My seats are 7th row center. I would listen to the symphonies reflections from different walls of the very good acoustics of the symphony hall... as well as soloist directly in front of me... with the hole in the violin or piano reflecting top pointing directly at me. It took about forty years for me to get to this point.
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To do this I used a Audio Research Reference preamp, a Pass x350 amp,  Sonus Faber Olympica 3 speakers, 2 B&W 800 sub woofers and a Sim Audio  650 DAC with external power supply upgrade, and ARC Ref phono stage and VPI turntable, Transparent interconnects. The soundstage was fully defined, an oboe or Stradivarius violin sounded exactly right. The full blended massed violins perfect.I listen to the symphony orchestra with my eyes closed. I would have found it difficult to tell the difference. It was a great accomplishment, however in many ways the result of my dead silent and fantastic listening area. 

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Since then, I have significantly upgraded my system and lost the fidelity. My reference system had much high frequency energy which defined the venue... it really high lighted instruments. My new system is much more musical for other types of music... it does not call attention to the detail as much as my other system did. 
My point is, you don’t need to spend hundreds of thousand to do it. It requires an extraordinary listening space and a very synergistic components and a lot of work.
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