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Evaluating a system - what do you listen for?

I have been in this hobby a long time and my opinion of what I want to hear in reproduced music continues to evolve. Having owned many systems - and critically listened to many, many more - I am now looking for an overall sound that as accurately as possible captures the tone and tempo of the music with enough of a bass foundation to convincingly portray an orchestra at full tilt or club beats while still nailing the timbre of an upright bass. Decent portrayal of leading and trailing edges is nice, and a high end that’s fully present and balanced without stridency is a big plus. Detail’s good, but hyper detail without musical flow can be distracting. Airy treble and pinpoint or large soundstage are also nice to have, but if what’s coming out of the speakers doesn’t make me want to tap my toe or cry a little bit when a vocalist holds a note just so, then what’s the point? That’s what I’m looking for these days - what about you?
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Showing 2 responses by wolf_garcia

wolf_garcia
6,598 posts
 
Undertones, overtones, and Dap Tones.
wolf_garcia
6,598 posts
 
If you have a relatively accurate home system it's going to reveal good and bad things, including what the recording engineer did with the pan pots on the mixing board. One of my pet peeves (which I can ignore if I like the music) is the "20 foot wide drum kit" syndrome which exists on a lot of the jazz trio (and other stuff) recordings I listen to…unless somebody is in the far corner of the room playing just a high hat or a tom…in that case it's fine. I like coherency, which I've determined is the key for me both in my home rig and the concerts I produce and mix. Live shows always (except for musicians getting stuck in traffic) have a sound check where you try to get a balance that the artists like, and that is sometimes destroyed at show time by a musician who decides to play much louder (rare, but man…) requiring re-mixing on the fly…I still get paid. However, tonal coherency keeps you from losing interest…screechy treble, boomy bass…no no no.
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