How close to the real thing?

Last time I listened to a live concert on my system I stood on my couch with a cigarette lighter for the encore. The next day my wife asked why there were burns on the ceiling. Oops.

I think that too many assume that if we hear live music that is the goal of this hobby but there are big variations in live music. With only limited experience, I think most would agree that some venues sound better than others.

I still remember when CES was still in Chicago, we were eating at Bergdoff's where there was a small jazz group going from table to table. When they came to our table, I noticed that the bass was boomy when the bass player was only about five feet from me, but had not been when he was further away. Some real is good and some is not.

I am convinced that my "realism" has greatly improved in the last several years, but I would never make an estimate of how close it is to a live performance in my room. When I am startled by a new instrument coming in or involved in the emotions of the music, I am happy.

One final comment. Long ago I had a friend who was a concert pianist. He had heard my system often and had often requested some classical piano performances and seemed to enjoy them. Finally, while at his home, I asked what he listened to. He took me into his study and showed me an old Webcor portable record player!! I must have looked shocked as he said he listened only to the performer's choices in the piece and other than that paid little attention to what he was hearing. He said he heard it all in his head.

Most performing musicians seem to spend as much time and money on home stereo as your friend, they tend not to be audiophiles - hmmmm.

That's true but they are listening for the notes, not the sound. Its an entirely different portion of the brain that is used. Try sitting in front of a keyboard and see if you can work out the notes of a favorite melody and you will see what I mean.

If you want a recording of a piano in the home to sound as real as an actual piano in the home, you have a real challenge. The problem is that the sound of the piano exists in the room- if you try to record and play back in the same room, you will have double the room signature. It won't sound right. That's why I stress that understanding the model of stereo is the first step to appreciating how real it can really sound, because if it really is sounding real, it will sound like the musical event, spliced on to the end of your room.

I have friends that perform in the Boston symphony, a best friend that builds guitars for some of the top classical and flamenco performers around the world, friends that dance the clubs in London and Manhattan.

None of them are at all interested in sitting on a chair and listening to a pair of speakers. They have the real "rhythm that is music" and don't care if it's an ipod or a five hundred thousand dollar system. They have the talent to feel the music under any circumstance.

I guess this may be more of being drawn into music. If you have music in your soul you can listen through a tin can and feel the spirit. If you need a certain cable to get interested you might think about finding another passion because music is too much for you to handle. At this point it's the gear you want.

Generally IMO the test of a system is if you love to sit and listen to it. I have a friend with a pair of M5's in a great room. They sound slightly bloated to me but we listen to them at concert levels for hours each week. I have another friend with the Wilson Maxx 3's. Very different from the M5, perhaps more transparent, but I never want to listen to them for more than an hour. Great stage, etc. but man, maybe if was a little older I would need all that intense information placed for me.

I don't think playback can be the same for any two individuals. Sure we can agree on a set of principles, or try to talk about what is real, but we can never trade our very slight preferences if it is real to us.