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Home HiFi better than Live?

From all the magazines and discussions I have seen, it appears that almost everyone of them compares systems and equipment to Live music as the reference standard. That may be the ultimate comparison but it appears to me that I prefer a good home HiFi setup and well produced software to Live music any day. I have been to numerous concerts and never ever get the feeling that the performers are performing for me alone as I do in my own system. I feel alot more emotional involvement from the entertainers in concerts but I don't feel it is any better sound than my HiFi at home.
Admittedly I will say that I do not have the best sense of hearing every nuance in musical performances but I actually like the way my system make warmer, clearer, and softer sounds than live music. Am I the only person who feels this way?
BTW, my own system consists of Levinson reference components and Amati speakers, the analog part is Oracle, Morch and ZYX, so I may be spoiled a bit in this regard.
fwangfwang

Showing 1 response by kthomas

kthomas
911 posts
 
Home Hi-Fi is a better experience than Live in many cases, but the reverse is true often as well. There's no question that a good quality system reproduces music at home in an incredibly good manner, and gives you a lot of flexibility on what you want to experience.

On a strictly sound quality basis, there are at least two instances where Live is definitely better. One - I saw John Williams, the guitarist, live at an intimate venue with fabulous acoustics. I was about 7 rows away and had direct view of his playing. Fabulous. Second - rock concerts with really good acoustics sound so much better than anything you can create at home (or would want to :-) Genesis, Tool, Creed - all examples of rock concerts I've seen where the sound was just incredible, as opposed to the blurry sound you get at many rock concerts.
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