My audiophile take on the symphony last night.


65 piece Santa Cruz Symphony at the Civic Auditorium.

My wife said it wasn't loud enough and I agreed. The highs were rolled off and there wasn't an expansive soundstage. I couldn't "hear behind the instruments" like I can at home on the hifi. The soloist sounded small and far away and the bass drum lacked definition.

In spite of all that we were listening to a live and real performance. Our seats were the highest price available.

This was very interesting, intriguing and food for thought audio-wise. Also great people watching.
bizango1
.

Difficult to comment unless I was there siting near you. I would think a
rolled off high end would be a problem with your seats or the hall. Hard to
imagine they all had instruments that were rolled off.

Soundstage is a different issue. Unless the hall completely scrambles the
sound how can you not have a soundstage? The violins are up front, the
basses are far right, percussion back left, horns in the back, etc. The
instruments are where they are? ........ Bad hall ?.?.?

However, I did attend our local symphony last night (Evansville IN) with
good seats and it was sonically excellent.

So I'll take this opportunity to encourage you to support your local
symphony.
Herman,

It was my first time and next time we are going to get floor seats closer to the orchestra.

As far as soundstage-I always get the perfect seat at home!

Bizango1,

I expect the symphonic sensory experience one has from the conductor's podium will be different than being 10-12 rows back, dead center.

What we experience vis-a-vis our audio system/room is the reproduction of recorded sound...a sound that may be multi-tracked, equalized, compressed, mixed, mastered, and ultimately...may sound "better" than the de facto event.

Best regards,
Sam
I frequently attend Colorado Symphony performances. In spite of imperfect hall acoustics, I never fail to come away exalted by the live performance. I love listening at home, but there is nothing like a live symphonic experience, even though the acoustics could be better. Hell, anybody who attends concerts, classical or otherwise, knows that the acoustics are often a disappointment in a wonderful evening. I wouldn't let the hall keep me away from the performance.

If you live in Colorado, please support the orchestra, which is struggling financially, like most orchestras today.

And if you're coming to Colorado for RMAF, please consider attending a symphony concert. The weekend of RMAF, they will be performing Beethoven's 7th Symphony, Phillip Glass' Violin Concerto No. 2 "The American Four Seasons", and Bernstein's Overture from Candide. Contact me and I'll help get you tickets.