Does Heavy Metal music benefit from a high end audio system?

the bigger and more dynamic the music, the more a serious, mature large scale hifi system will separate itself from a more modest system. big music really stresses room and system set-up and signal path refinement.

really no different than a bad sounding live performance in a hall with bad acoustics or just not well set up. heavy metal can sound bad, or good.

heavy metal played loud sounds like a bunch of noise if the system is not sorted out. i suppose if you listen medicated then it does not matter that much.

Led Zeppelin or AC/DC played at warp 9 on my large system sounds awesome. you can push it and it does not turn to mush. you will never know how heavy metal recordings are suppose to sound unless you hear them on a good large scale system. that music needs headroom in the A/C power grid, amplification, source quality and room acoustics. better reproduction serves heavy metal just like large scale classical.

@audiodidact

"Large scale" reproduction enough to hear resolute sound from that band or any band like it can be done, yes. On a space station.

i disagree.

you have live concerts confused with playback media, whether digital, vinyl or tape. large scale systems, such as mine, in a purpose built, dedicated, 21’ x 29’ x 11’ room with plenty of driver surface, power grid and amplification headroom can certainly do full justice to a heavy metal recording.

how do you suppose they mix and master the recording? it has to work on domestic speakers.

but no one is saying it lives up to the live event. it’s reproduced music.

btw; a space station has tiny interior spaces, and then outside no atmosphere. not music friendly. just say’n.

OTOH space station movie soundtracks are many times beautiful sounding.

@audiodidact

@millercarbon

thanks guys, for the kind comments.

i feel lucky to enjoy my room. and the room tuning-sweat equity part of it, which cost me almost nothing, and took twelve years of learning and effort, is really what makes it special. having a big budget (spread out over a couple of decades of system building) is only a part of it. the pieces need to have synergy. all the little things acoustically have to be right to handle large scale music without it falling apart as things get cooking.

i do listen to heavy metal (that fits my taste) at high SPL’s and enjoy it a great deal. much of my drive to sell my old house and buy the new place 18 years ago, was so i could do justice to large scale music and not have the room hold the musical enjoyment back.

it’s a large commitment but i was all in.