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The eternal quandary

Is it the sound or is it the music?

A recent experience. Started to listen to a baroque trio on the main system, harpsichord, bass viol and violin. The harpsichord seems to be positioned to the left of centre, the bass viol to the right, and the violin probably somewhere in the middle. The sound of the two continuo instruments is "larger"/more diffuse than I would expect in "real life". The acoustic is slightly "swimmy". Worse still, impossible to tell if the violinist is standing in front of the continuo instruments, on the same plane as them, or even slightly behind them (in a kind of concave semi-circle). Then that tiny little doubt creeps in: although you want to blame the recording, the acoustic, the recording engineer, the digital recorder, could it be the system that's not quite doing the trick? Could its soundstaging abilities be somehow deficient? After about six shortish tracks I have stop.

Later, I finish listening to the CD on the secondary system. No, the timbral textures are not as fleshed out, no, the sheer presence of the instruments is not as intense, and no, the soundstaging is certainly no better, but I listen through to the end, in main part I think because my expectations are not as high now, and I'm listening to what's being played, not how it's being reproduced.

So are we listening to the sound or the music? Is this why car radios, table-top radios, even secondary systems have a certain, curious advantage over the "big rig"? By having so many expectations for the big rig, are we setting it up for failure? Is that one reason why lots of enthusiasts are on an unending upgrade spiral? Does this experience strike a chord (no pun intended) with anyone else out there?
128x128twoleftears
detlof
1,899 posts
 
Hi Twoleftears,
You make an excellent point. What you describe is the curse of audiophilia:
If the system does not sound right, you do not get drawn into the music and the audiophile devil chases the music-lover angel away. I find there are several ways to deal with this:
1.Tweak the system first with trivial stuff you know well and then listen seriously. If it doesn't sound right, blame it on the software, relax and concentrate on the music.
2. Break off your listening session and wait until the electricity, your mood, the wine, or whatever gets better and try again.
3. Concentrate on the performance. Imagine you have a bad seat in the concert hall, relax and enjoy the artistry of the performers an wait for a better day, seat....

Happy listening,
markphd
667 posts
 
If you listen to and are moved by the music, it does not matter that an instrument is larger/more diffuse/not clearly imaged, etc., etc. Many people listen to the sound and not the music. I feel sorry for them.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears OP
1,457 posts
 
Detlof--wise words indeed!

When you think about it, even before you add that last anti-vibration device to the system, we're already listening to music reproduced at a level that is superior to what 99% of listeners are hearing from their boom-boxes, car radios, etc.

But--and this goes out to Markphd--would the *pure* music-lover be on this site in the first place? Don't they have to have at least a little of the "audiophile" in them? Does this have to do with the fact that so many practising musicians have such notoriously deficient equipment in their own homes?
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