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What is Musicality?

Hello fellow music lovers,

I am upgrading my system like a lot of us who follow Audiogon. I read a lot about musicality on Audiogon as though the search for musicality can ultimately end by acquiring the perfect music system -- or the best system that one can afford. I really appreciate the sonic improvements that new components, cables, plugs and tweaks are bringing to my own system. But ultimately a lot of musicality comes from within and not from without. I probably appreciated my Rocket Radio and my first transistor radio in the 1950s as much I do my high-end system in 2010. Appreciating good music is not only a matter of how good your equipment is. It is a measure of how musical a person you are. Most people appreciate good music but some people are born more musical than others and appreciate singing in the shower as much as they do listening to a high-end system or playing a musical instrument or attending a concert. Music begins in the soul. It is not only a function of how good a system you have.

Sabai
sabai
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Kijanki, that's precisely why I've reached the conclusion that I am not an audiophile.

I'm a guy who likes great quality sound, but only as a vehicle to the enjoyment of recordings.

I've grown tired of system analysis.
davt's avatar
davt
499 posts
 
Musicality is one of the most important Alities that are in the science of sound and visual interpretation. I will stick with sound here. Musicality is the ability to bring the musical experience to ones psyche, to create the illusion of actual music being heard. It can also be used as a discription for a component that you spent a really lot of money on and though it may not sound any better, you think it does as you are looking at the entry in your check book and suddenly realize how much musicality it brings to your life. The only thing more important than musicality is morality. More of everything. If you have morality in your listening experience you have reached the Absolute Sound, better than live because it has more.

That should be completely clear.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
A musical system will cause your foot to tap and you to think only about how good the music sounds or to get lost in a pleasant reverie.

If you are thinking about how detailed the sound is or how tight the bass is or how sharp the transient edges are but in the back of your mind something is telling you that there is something missing in the music, the system is not musical.

Each person must decide for himself if a system is musical. We all hear differently.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
3,575 posts
 
Tomcy6

I hear this mantra often "foot tapping music", "don't worry be happy - and don't analyze".

So, shall we put random pieces together until it clicks after 1000 iterations? We all analyze, but for some reason don't want to admit it. I'm pretty sure that I would find in your posts analysis of bass, treble, imaging etc. No one is free from that.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
Kijanki, I have no problem with anyone analyzing music or gear, but if your system can only get you to scenario 2 and not scenario 1, then it is not what most people mean when they use the term musical.

I also said, "but in the back of your mind something is telling you that there is something missing in the music." I think that it is important to listen to that little voice no matter how much you want to like the gear or how much you think you are suposed to like the gear.

I also have no problem with people who prefer a system that produces scenario 2 and not scenario 1. As I said, We all hear differently, and let me add that we all enjoy different gear and different music.
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