I suggest everyone here look up the meaning of "musicality". The "performance" and "composition", ime, is what I listen for, from my recordings. Timbre and tonal color, while important, has been changed from reality, once the mic and mixing console has been brought into the picture. Here is a question, as an example. Take your favorite musician (let’s use a vocalist for this), place this vocalist in two different settings. (1) a grand concert hall, (2) an airport bathroom. What will sound better? Now, take a mediocre vocalist who is not very good, and place him/her in the same two locations. What will sound better? I would always take the concert hall scenario for the acoustics, but if I was given a choice, I would rather listen to the better vocalist in the bathroom, vs. the inferior vocalist in a concert hall. This is me, and I look/listen for the performance 1st. What I am saying here is, I have heard so many multi thousand $ systems in bad rooms, and average systems in great rooms. Listening for the performance and composition over everything else, would determine which I prefer......and let’s not forget...the reality is, the recordings for many audiophiles, are the bottlenecks with the entire sq presentation. This is why so many listen only to those rare "great recordings", and pass, on some excellent performances and compositions. I know some of this might not make sense, but......comparing live, unamplified music to recordings, is a destination we will never get to......for timber, warmth, etc. The performance, and the composition....these two elements are in all of our recordings. So, buying a piece of gear, because it seems to get the timbre right? The timbre has been altered already. What about the microphones, the selected placement of the mics, and everything else down the line prior to our ears experiencing it....this is generally decided by the producer and maybe the artists........my current system is less expensive than what I once had (my choice), and it brings me greater enjoyment to the two basic characteristics I listen for. Honestly, this is some rant, if there ever was one. BTW, I would take the bathroom scenario any day, to hear the better vocalist, if it came down to it......whatever works best for you.......can you guess my answer to the question asked? My best, MrD.
What is the most overlooked consideration?
What is the most overlooked consideration when buying a piece of audio gear? We all buy gear and we all have to make choices as to what component to get, what brand, etc. What is at the top of your criteria for choosing a piece and why? Synergy? reputation of brand ?hype your heard? it’s the best compliment to my system? warranty and service? I just wanted to try a cable? I only buy brands from the UK? Etc
So you can tell what’s at the top of your list but mostly I want you to share what you think is a much overlooked consideration and why?
For myself I often think customer service gets overlooked as being very important.