- Joined
- Jun 24, 2012
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- 236
Hi all,
I have been thinking about an issue for quite some time now which was touched upon in a way by the above quoted post and it’s playlist.
My general experience has been, both in my first wave being obsessed with audio (1989–2000) and my current one (2019-present), that I haven’t found high end systems much better than the modest ones I’ve had. I’ve never come home and been disappointed. The only differences I remember have been a larger soundstage in bigger set up systems and maybe more volume but not smoother or more natural, maybe not even more detail and most significantly not more enjoyable from an aesthetic or emotional point of view. My hearing’s okay (and certainly was in 1989). I am also relatively musical. I can sing in tune, I can spot an off pitch singer in a heartbeat, though never taught or practiced, I can play a tune on a keyboard by ear. And that may be the problem, which begs the question: Are audiophiles musical or perhaps are they musically deficient?
This has led me to a controversial idea that perhaps if one is musical you can’t see past the music and therefore don’t hear the merits or otherwise of the system? It is like if full blooded heterosexual men are asked to judge a contest between women reciting poetry but all the women are magnificent, I don’t think they’re going to hear the poetry. If the judges are heterosexual women or gay men, the reading will count.
Then listening to the playlist compiled by prossouw in the quote above I found the tracks fantastic for showing off a system but they were more like a collection of special effects than of beautiful music. That led me to believe that audiophiles are more into the sound of the system than the music!-and may not be very musical. Thoughts anyone?
Not being totally lost on the idea of my system sounding good/right, over time I’ve compiled a list of tracks that test/show off imaging and soundstage with the speakers disappearing but the music is more enjoyable. Some of the tracks are horrible musically but the lion’s share aren’t. Tell me what you think?
https://www.tunemymusic.com/share/wqhn2GHTHy
