How close to the real thing?

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.

Bjesien wrote :

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....

Weseixas:

Bravo , bravo ... An Audio truism, if there ever was one..

Bjesien, I fully agree that playback satisfaction varies greatly. I suspect that for performing musicians listening to recorded music is not relaxing and staying at their best entails much practice. My friend used to read a great deal within a silent study.

I do find it valuable not withstanding that we share our experiences, but to assume any consensus is beyond us. I have some friends whose options I greatly respect, that is the best I can do in guiding my buying decisions.

Once I allowed myself to think that I was hearing 90% of what was real. Shortly after that I got something new and thought it was a very great improvement suggesting that before it I was only at about 50%. I decided that this was a waste of time. Sometimes when I leave my music room with something playing, I close the door and while descending the stairs, ask myself whether it sounds like real music being played. My answer always, thus far, is no.

Tbg, Have you ever had a live musician in your music room?