What is Musicality?


Hello fellow music lovers,

I am upgrading my system like a lot of us who follow Audiogon. I read a lot about musicality on Audiogon as though the search for musicality can ultimately end by acquiring the perfect music system -- or the best system that one can afford. I really appreciate the sonic improvements that new components, cables, plugs and tweaks are bringing to my own system. But ultimately a lot of musicality comes from within and not from without. I probably appreciated my Rocket Radio and my first transistor radio in the 1950s as much I do my high-end system in 2010. Appreciating good music is not only a matter of how good your equipment is. It is a measure of how musical a person you are. Most people appreciate good music but some people are born more musical than others and appreciate singing in the shower as much as they do listening to a high-end system or playing a musical instrument or attending a concert. Music begins in the soul. It is not only a function of how good a system you have.

Sabai
sabai

Showing 3 responses by hellofidelity

This is great!!!! One of the best threads I've been part of since being here.... I would be interested to know what designs, brands and methods everyone thinks is musical vs. non-musical?

For example....

I like single ended triodes and "Gainclone" chip amps, and also NOS DACs and single driver speakers.

I do not like horns, over powered solid state and large, multi-driver speakers.

Are there designs that tend to be more "musical"?
I'll take a chance at this, since I use the term "musical" a lot to describe components and/or systems....

At the end of the day, I just want to have a better experience with MUSIC, and will always choose a component and system based on this. I don't care about technical specs, loudness and analyzing sound....I just want the music to sound as good as possible.

Some "hifi" gear and systems sound dead, lifeless. It seems like some people want to "analyze sound" instead of listen to music. While I have a great appreciation for technical engineering and design, most of the gear is not something I would want, because of both the price and the lack of "musicality".

I'm not saying that my opinion is right, because music and listening to music is a very subjective thing. I also realize that some people say these exact things who like other gear that I would label "analytical", so I'm not completely sure if any of the "labels & terms" work. ;)