Is Upgrading Degrading?


Is the search for the "perfect system" a kind of vulgarity?

We don't tend to say "I' had an old Bach recording, but I've upgraded to Schoenberg!" We appreciate the wildly diverse character of these two geniuses on their own terms.

ok--it may make sense to say "I've upgraded from the Spice Girls to Bartok" but once music reaches a certain level of seriousness, it seems to me the correct approach is to bask in the aesthetic differences and perhaps the same is true of music systems.

Are we really getting "better sound" along an imagined continuum that runs from ghastly cacophony to some auditory Valhalla or are we just experiencing different wonderful systems with personalities as varied and unique as human beings are?
marburg

Showing 1 response by brf

A better analogy would be that you just heard Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6 "Pathétique" in B minor Op. 74 performed by The NoName Symphony Orchestra and now you would like to hear the same performance performed by either the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra or Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Now that’s an upgrade. Comparing one artirst to another is a matter of personal taste.