I want to be moved and have the music touch my soul!

honashagensez ...

• I tend to buy recordings because of the sound quality. Steely Dan, Lee Ritenour, Keith Johnson reference recordings, Sheffield Labs.

Therein lies the problem. Stay away from the usual audiophile recordings and get into some recordings made in the Golden Age of Stereo (including reissues). That would be the late 50’s to mid-’60s. Also, consider some of the great mono recordings that were never released in stereo. There are some real gems there. This applies to rock, classical and jazz.

Don’t get me wrong here. I also have a boatload of audiophile recordings, most of which were bought in the early ’80s. They continue sitting on the shelves taking up nothing but space. They very seldom get placed on the turntable. Most of them are soulless when it comes to musical expression, with the emphasis on sound. And even then, most have mediocre sound when you get right down to it.

Frank

• honashagen sez:

I want to hear inside the music. I want to hear the room and the reverbs. I want to hear the spit on a singers lips. I want to hear 20hz on a 32' pipe of a pipe organ. I want fast transients. Above all I don't want strident cringing top end.

In that case, you should be concentrating on lowering the noise floor of your existing system. Lower it enough, and you'll get everything listed above, except strings on poor recordings. They will always have that cringe factor even with a lowered noise floor.

Frank

Honashagen ...

Let's see if I get this straight. You were happy with the sound of your Anthony Gallo Reference 3.5 speakers, then gave them up based upon what your cousin said? 

Here's my advice... purchase another pair of the Anthony Gallo Reference 3.5 speakers and then keep your cousin away from your system. 

It doesn't matter what other's think. It matters what satisfies you musically.  

Frank

I call BS.

Troll alert..!! Troll alert...!!.

Frank

Honashaen sez:

• Could it be I’m always listening as a recording engineer!

Maybe you’ve hit the point. I have a friend who plays the guitar. He’s great at it and has his own band. He studied guitar and music film editing at Berkely school of music. He spent time as a music film editor. He told me that it took many years before he could enjoy a film without constantly criticizing the editing. I have another friend who has spent a lot of time in the recording booth. He has a tendency to listen to the recording before enjoying the music. If there is the slightest thing off in the recording, he doesn’t want to listen to it, no matter how good the music or performer is. Its sort of a curse in a way.

Frank

A check up from the neck up? :-)

+++++ For Geoff.