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Should the best systems sound almost identical?

If the overall goal of audio equipment and the various media types is to reproduce recorded music the way it sounded when it was being recorded, then it seems that as an audio system gets closer to achieving this goal various systems should sound more and more alike.

For example, in a utopian world my stereo system would so perfectly reproduce a singers voice that if they were standing between the speaker you couldn't tell the difference in an A/B test. If the equipment is adding a characteristic sound the listener would be able to tell a difference. The less of the systems characteristic sound the closer to the actual singer the recording would be.

Taking this another step, does it make sense that the "better" speakers are the more they should sound the same? Should they not be getting closer to the perfect reproduction of the signal that is given them?

How about the Focal Grande Utopia speakers that retail for $180,000 vs. some of the crazy expensive MBL stuff. I'd venture a guess that they sound nothing alike. Almost seems like speakers at this level should almost be interchangeable in a system at least at the sweet spot.
mceljo

Showing 2 responses by dekay

dekay's avatar
dekay
5,381 posts
 
Mceljo:

To understand what the "original/perfect" recorded/intended sound is you would have to use the original sound engineers brain and ears (probably while listening to the music through a variety of crappy sounding speakers used in the "original" studio, as well).

"True to the source" Hi-fi quests are dumb @ best, IMO.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,381 posts
 
Mceljo:

It would seem that you may not understand my post, as your response does not make any sense in regard to what I posted (what I posted was clearly stated, IMO).

Simply put, there is no achievable "true to the source" documentation/measurement as to what the original ears/brains involved in the musical production listened to.
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