Hi AudioKinesis - IMHO the reverberant energy in a hall is either a fortunate or unfortunate attribute of that hall - depending on one's tastes and location. I would call it distortion, as compared to the piano in an anechoic chamber. Except that, to get philosophical about it, certain genres, forms, and specific pieces of music were developed/composed with certain assumptions about the acoustical properties of the places or media where they were likely to be heard - especially with regards to classical music, e.g. Russian church choral music wouldn't sound right in a jazz club.
But my point is that the best a speaker can do is re-create what you would have heard at the point where you were sitting - and a microphone has ALREADY picked up all those reflections, time-delayed, and out-of-phase sounds.
As far as the ear's diaphragm is concerned, there are never "sounds arriving at different times in different ways" - there is only one complex waveform which already IS the net sum of all those primary and secondary elements hitting you at any point in time. (That's why there is only one groove necessary in a record). This is what the microphone records, and is all that needs to be re-amplified. Adding omni-directional characteristics to speakers is simply like changing the acoustics of the hall that the piano was recorded in. Some will like it, others won't - but it's not what was there in the first place.
I'm not a purist in the sense of maintaining the original if something else is more pleasing or fun, but personally, I'd rather have a Yamaha DSP that gives all sorts of acoustic playback options - including the option of turning it off. And I'm a big fan of the DBX 5bx dynamic range expander (which actually DOES restore the signal to more like the original.)
I just think that if you want to alter the signal that's on that CD or LP, having your speakers bouncing sound off the walls and ceiling is really not the best way do it.
But my point is that the best a speaker can do is re-create what you would have heard at the point where you were sitting - and a microphone has ALREADY picked up all those reflections, time-delayed, and out-of-phase sounds.
As far as the ear's diaphragm is concerned, there are never "sounds arriving at different times in different ways" - there is only one complex waveform which already IS the net sum of all those primary and secondary elements hitting you at any point in time. (That's why there is only one groove necessary in a record). This is what the microphone records, and is all that needs to be re-amplified. Adding omni-directional characteristics to speakers is simply like changing the acoustics of the hall that the piano was recorded in. Some will like it, others won't - but it's not what was there in the first place.
I'm not a purist in the sense of maintaining the original if something else is more pleasing or fun, but personally, I'd rather have a Yamaha DSP that gives all sorts of acoustic playback options - including the option of turning it off. And I'm a big fan of the DBX 5bx dynamic range expander (which actually DOES restore the signal to more like the original.)
I just think that if you want to alter the signal that's on that CD or LP, having your speakers bouncing sound off the walls and ceiling is really not the best way do it.