Why Don't More People Love Audio?

Sorry, Cdc, but I think your "theory" is ridiculous.

Hi guys, I'm sorry I don't have the time to read through the entire thread bu I'm interested in the debate between Cdc and Rex. I think good points are made both ways. At age 23 I have quite varied tastes from jazz and a little classical to rock, all the way over to metal and a little hiphop, with various rock genres being my bread'n'butter. I like the musicality, detail and presentation of tubes and have yet to be entirely won over by the SS sond despite the punchier bass for rock and hiphop.

I agree that genres like metal and rap don't always sound "right" on my system BUT I've been able to hear some of this type of msuic through some very nice and very expensive SS gear and I didn't necessarily think that those systems were "voiced" better for those genres. I think it's more a matter of music production, not reproduction. The artists, producers, and engineers know full well that the vast majority of listeners of those genres are not going to be listening on high-end rigs, so the production may flat out not be there--this is espeically true for locally engineered indie rock bands. Some of hte tubbiness in the bass of rap and metal records, I'm finding, is either there on the album, or due to poor electrical and slow cabling in my system.

I listened to Type O Negative's World Coming Down the other day on my current rig and really enjoyed it. It was produced with alot of punch to the kick and bass with a nice wall of guitars. I'm auditioning some Kharma Ceramiques later this week and am curious to hear how it sounds on those puppies!

Rex, maybe so, but try and find me a review of a component which is made for rock music. Here are some of Sam Tellig's comments:
Harbeth - not for rock.
Electocompaniet / Musical Fidelity / LFD Mistral - "harmonics, lit from within, etc etc."
B&W - classical recording minitor, not for rock
Omega "Chamber music"

Either most components are not for rock or the people reading the reviews aren't into rock so reviewer's don't gear their review for such genres.

If it wasn't for the "toe tapper" crowd in England I think everything we listen on stereo to would sound like Mozart or Yanni. Well, maybe not quit that bad :-).

CDC and REX, I don't think the problem has to do with what speakers or electronics are made for rock. I believe many rock bands produce music that is either too poorly recorded to be listened to on good systems or the music that is produced is too loud or complex to spund good at a concert, recording studio , or a good system. For instance, I like quite a few Everclear cuts but, I won't buy cd's because it is recorded/ produced or whatever in such a manner that it sounds compressed on any good system. I don't think that you can make a speaker that will cause Everclear to sound good. Then again, I have an AC/DC CD that sounds great and vibrant on my Vandersteens. These speakers are so nuetral they are not biased towards any music except that which is poorly produced or the electronics are poor. Just my .02.

By the way, I am in my early 50's and listen to nothing but classic rock, alternative, punk, and soft rock. No classical or jazz crosses my electronics and my speakers sound wonderful as long as the recording is good.

Eagleman

Perhaps a point that is being missed in the exchange between Cdc and Rex is that nobody really knows what "real" rock sounds like because it is an entirely invented phenomenon; different for each performer, each band, each session, each performance. There is no "real" electronic keyboard or bass guitar sound in the same sense that one can discern the "real" sound of a violin or a piano. Thus, what one must, by definition, seek in a system designed to play rock is what one finds personally appealing rather than what one finds acoustically "correct." When I listen to a recording of a Bosendorfer Halb-Konzertflugel, I can, if my ears are properly trained, determine the extent to which the reproduction sounds like the real thing. On my current system, I can get reasonably close; on Albert's probably a lot closer. But no one can say that any particular recording of the Thirteen Screamin' Wombats sounds like the 'bats really are because how they really are depends on who is twiddling which knob at which moment. That's not to say that rock is bad music or that high end equipment is wasted on rock afficionadi, only that they may be expected to apply different listening criteria than those of us with a taste for acoustic instruments.

Have fun anyway!

Will