My ultimate goal is to fool myself that I am either listening to a live performance or listening in on a studio performance. Hearing more detail than was intended or noticed when when preparing the final mix on material is not productive to enjoying the music in my opinion. I have both played and listened to a lot of live music both acoustic and electric and combinations of both. This is the standard that I evaluate my equipment to. I have one CD in our collection that I have had the opportunity to listen to the studio digital master tapes of. This is one of my best references. With other references I just have to give it my best bet, and am probably going for certain colorations to achieve my version of what music sounds like. One of my favorite test CD's is "Celtic Solstice" by Earth Music Productions that was recorded in St. Johns Cathedral, NY. My pet peaves are percussive insruments followed by voice, strings and brass. Due to budget constraints I do not currently deal with the low LF portion of sound. I have not heard any subwoofers in my price range that I consider to be "musical". In another home I would have (on our budget) opted for Zen SET's and large efficient floorstanders, but with five cats and not enough room I have settled for Musical Fidelty amplification and small stand mounted moniters. The cats gave up on the powder coated stands after a couple of days. I now listen to more classical music than ever before and am finding it difficult to balance my system between popular and classical. The recent addition of a new power cord to my CD player just narrowed the gap quite a bit. I know that we are all searching for an individual sound. I was able to listen to the Ah! Tjoeb CD player and am perplexed by the reviews that it is receiving. It was pleasant for the first 10 seconds but as soon as a piano came in on the piece it failed with an "F", yet this is a sound that many people are looking for. I guess that some people are better fooled than others, lucky them.
What is your reference?
What is the reference by which you judge the sound of a component or a system? I see a lot of confused posts here, and listen to a lot of equipment at all price levels that sound phony, which leads me to believe that a lot of manufacturers and consumers don't really know what music sounds like. I am starting to wonder if many buyers of expensive equipment might actually prefer an artificial, hi-fi sound as opposed to something that approaches real music. I know that we are seeking a mere reproduction of the real event, so don't give me that babble about "nothing can duplicate..." That's a cop-out by those who can't hear or have given up trying. What is the aural image you have in mind when auditioning audio equipment? And what recording best represents that image?