The "great" sound of reel to reel explained

Colouration and distortion are spoken by some talking heads a as a bad thing. But hold on partner. When we listen to even a LIVE event even if the direct sounds are accurate based on the tuning of the instruments and the vocalist we get a preponderance of sound via multiple reflections and each reflection we pick up on is coloured by the surface texture and the shape of it as the reflection bounces to our ears. We live in a world of coloured sound be it live or recorded.

Recorded sound will reflect the design of the recording room or venue. The sound of our listening rooms will colour and distort the sound we hear. And yes the equipment we use from the playback of the source through to the speakers will all add subtle colourations and distortions.

This nonsense that we can engineer a colourless and accurate audio sound track should stop.

Heck, even our ears, the Pinna ??? Outer ear and canal will colour the sound for each of us.

In the end only when sound is gravely coloured, distorted or muted will we find it objectionable. Before that point is reached it is all subjective to our personal preferences.

Better analogue sources can make great sound be they vinyl or tape. Better digital sources can make great sound too. Poor sound is result of poor engineering of both the recording and the equipment made to replay it all.

Yes I was once one of them audiophile types. It was out of some hope I could rectify all sonic anomalies if I just spent more money. Though I have done a lot to build a nice system and I have educated myself on speaker placement and room treatment. I also am now more of an audio enthusiast, trying to enjoy my gear and learn more about the fun of the hobby. I still want to get better performance but I realize perfection is IMPOSSIBLE. I just want to play around with my gear, maybe buy new stuff of even vintage gear from time to time and then enjoy listening to my music and watching movies.